Sandalwood is the heartwood of small trees in the genus Santalum, chiefly Santalum album, native to southern India. Its oil, distilled from old wood and roots, smells soft, creamy and slightly milky. It is one of the most widely used woods in perfumery, and one of the most often replaced by synthetic molecules.
A tree that partly lives off its neighbors
Sandalwood is a hemiparasitic tree. It carries out its own photosynthesis, but its roots attach to those of nearby plants to draw water and minerals from them. A sandalwood plantation therefore needs host plants, which makes the tree harder to grow.
The scent is not found throughout the tree. The sapwood, the pale layer just under the bark, smells of almost nothing. The oil is concentrated in the heartwood, which forms slowly as the tree ages, and in the larger roots. A tree has to be at least fifteen years old or so before it can be harvested, and the quality keeps improving beyond that. Because the roots are rich in oil, the tree is usually uprooted rather than felled.
The oil is obtained by steam distillation of the wood, reduced to chips or powder. It is made up mostly of santalols, the molecules that carry the characteristic scent of sandalwood.
Mysore, Australia, New Caledonia: the origins
Mysore sandalwood refers to the Santalum album of Karnataka, in southern India, around the former city of Mysore. It is the historical benchmark, and its oil is considered the softest and creamiest. India long kept tight control over the felling and trade of sandalwood, and overharvesting has depleted the wild resource. Santalum album is now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Australia produces two kinds of sandalwood. Australian sandalwood in the strict sense, Santalum spicatum, grows wild in the west of the country. Its oil contains fewer santalols: it smells drier, greener and more resinous, with less roundness. Australia also grows Santalum album on plantations in the northwest, which yields an oil close to Mysore's, with a traceable origin.
There are other sources, such as Santalum austrocaledonicum in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Amyris, sometimes called "West Indian sandalwood", belongs to a different botanical family. It smells drier and is used mainly as an inexpensive substitute.
Natural and synthetic sandalwood
The price of sandalwood oil and the scarcity of Mysore sandalwood pushed perfumers to look for alternatives. Since the 1970s, several molecules have reproduced one facet or another of sandalwood: Sandalore, Polysantol, Ebanol, Javanol and Bacdanol. Some are creamy, others milkier or more diffusive. Javanol, for instance, is extremely powerful and is used in tiny doses.
In most perfumes today, the sandalwood note comes from a blend of these molecules, sometimes topped up with a little natural oil, often Australian. The result is not necessarily worse. A synthetic sandalwood is stable, diffuses better and blends easily. The natural oil has a depth and softness that molecules alone do not quite deliver. When a product page specifies "Mysore sandalwood" or "Australian sandalwood", it tells you what the house was aiming for. The pyramid describes a scent; it does not give away the formula.
What sandalwood smells like
Sandalwood smells of soft wood. It is creamy and a little milky, with a slightly sweet facet and sometimes a hint of rose or dried apricot. It has neither the dry, pencil-shaving character of cedarwood nor the earthiness of vetiver. On the skin, it stays discreet and warm rather than projecting.
It is a base note. It evaporates slowly and extends the longevity of the other materials, which is why it appears in so many pyramids, often on the last line. It pairs naturally with rose, jasmine and white flowers, with vanilla and coconut, with frankincense and spices, and with tea.
In India and across much of Asia, sandalwood also has a ritual use: incense, sandalwood paste, carved objects. Several perfumes in our catalog play on this memory of temples and palaces.
Sandalwood perfumes from our catalog
All the perfumes below list sandalwood in the note pyramid published on their product page. Some make it the main subject, others use it as a base.
Sandalwood in the foreground
From ChuJian, Zijin Sandalwood N°P28 takes its name from the Forbidden City. The opening brings together clove, spices and pink pepper. Moss, fig and cedarwood lead into a base of sandalwood, white musk, guaiac wood and creamy notes. It is a dense, spicy, powdery sandalwood, in the register of incense.
ChangBai Sandal N°M37, from the same house, goes in the opposite direction. Citron, pink pepper and lime up top, a quiet heart of tea and fig, then sandalwood, white musk, papyrus and powdery woods. Here the sandalwood is bright and light. Comparing the two shows how much ground a single note can cover. Our profile of ChuJian covers the house and its perfumers.
Mysore and Indian sandalwood
Virtues, by Cæleste, opens its very rich base on Mysore sandalwood, with vetiver, cypriol, patchouli, frankincense, benzoin, vanilla, labdanum and musk. The top is spicy, with star anise, cinnamon and clove, and the heart brings together jasmine, orris, honey and cocoa. Sandalwood serves here as the foundation of an amber, resinous perfume. The house is covered in our article on Cæleste.
Mango Ambrosia, by Zhufu, pairs Mysore sandalwood with Hainan coconut, Madagascar vanilla and white musk, beneath a heart of mango, orange blossom and tuberose. The milky side of the sandalwood extends the coconut and softens the fruit.
From Spiritica, Atmayatra evokes a ritual on the banks of the Ganges. Holy basil, cardamom and peppermint open, the heart blends benzoin, frankincense and rain on earth, and the base sets down Indian sandalwood, patchouli, honey and vanilla. Here sandalwood returns to its religious use.
Australian sandalwood
Oborotsuki, by Tada Parfumeur, is a 100% natural perfume. Thai oud, camphor and frankincense up top, jatamansi, rose otto and vetiver in the heart, then Australian sandalwood, patchouli and orris concrete. Australian sandalwood, drier than Mysore, suits this green, earthy register. The house has discontinued this fragrance, so the bottles in stock are the last ones.
Sandalwood with coconut and milky notes
Two eaux de parfum by Tada Parfumeur build on the affinity between sandalwood and coconut. Lamoon lays sandalwood, ambrette seed, a coconut cream accord and vanilla beneath a heart of white flowers, jasmine sambac and palm sugar. Itim Kati, inspired by the coconut ice cream sold by Thai street vendors, finishes on toasted coconut, vanilla and sandalwood oil. Our profile of Tada Parfumeur tells the perfumer's story.
From Aaron Terence Hughes, Kayos follows its citrus opening and blue raspberry heart with a base of sandalwood, vanilla, tonka and nutmeg. Fever places sandalwood among Madagascar vanilla, tonka, honey and white musk, beneath a plum heart. In both, sandalwood brings roundness to a gourmand base. Our profile of Aaron Terence Hughes explains the house's concentrations.
Sandalwood with tea and frankincense
Aged Pu-Er Tea, by Zhufu, starts from pu-erh tea and bergamot, moves through cedarwood and vetiver, and ends on sandalwood. The perfume is short and easy to read, and the sandalwood rounds out a rather dry tea.
Black I, by Widian, places sandalwood in the heart, with frankincense and cypress, after an opening of cinnamon and cardamom. The base of musk and cedarwood stays restrained. Further into the oriental register, Yue Tan Li Yuan, by Cinojad, combines white sandalwood, cashmeran and Tarakan agarwood beneath a top of Chinese pear and apricot kernel. Its name means "the garden of sandalwood and pear trees in the land of Yue". Our article on Cinojad presents its other creations.
Sandalwood as a heart note
Naki, by Pernoire, shows a less usual approach. Sandalwood appears in the heart with fig leaf and white flowers, after aldehydes, peach and almond blossom. The base brings together osmanthus, white musk, vanilla and sea spray. The sandalwood gives a milky touch to a bright, fruity floral. See also our profile of Pernoire.
You will find more sandalwood compositions in our selection of woody perfumes. Sandalwood also accompanies many oud perfumes, which we cover in our article What is oud.
Frequently asked questions
What is Mysore sandalwood?
It is the Santalum album from the Mysore region, in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the benchmark for the quality of sandalwood oil, considered the creamiest. It has become rare and expensive after decades of overharvesting.
Does a sandalwood perfume contain real sandalwood?
Not always. Most perfumes use synthetic molecules that reproduce the scent of sandalwood, on their own or with a little natural oil. An origin stated on the product page reflects a choice by the house, without telling you how much of the formula it accounts for.
What is the difference between sandalwood and oud?
Sandalwood is a naturally fragrant heartwood, soft and creamy. Oud is a resin that the Aquilaria tree produces after being wounded. It smells darker, smokier and more animalic. The two are often paired in oriental perfumes.
Does sandalwood last long on the skin?
Yes. It is a base note with low volatility that lingers for several hours. It projects little: you mostly smell it up close, in the final stage of the perfume.
Is sandalwood a men's fragrance?
No. In India as in the West, men and women both wear it. Its softness suits florals and gourmands as well as spicy woods.
Further reading
Sandalwood is one of the materials covered in our Perfume materials guide. To compare a bright sandalwood, a spicy sandalwood and a milky sandalwood on your own skin, the perfumes mentioned are available as 2 ml samples, depending on the house, on our samples page.