Everything You Need To Know About Sandalwood Scents

October 17, 2022

While numerous scents on the market can create a specific ambiance in your home, sandalwood is one of the most popular. This incredible aroma is an iconic and sophisticated scent that makes an excellent addition to candles. If you’re trying to pick a scent for your home and are considering sandalwood, we can help you make your decision. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about sandalwood scents.

The History of Sandalwood

Despite its widespread popularity, sandalwood was not initially used in candles and perfumes. It was first used in burials in several different parts of the world. Ancient Egyptians used sandalwood when they embalmed their dead for its antibacterial properties and scent. Arab doctors in the Middle Ages would also capitalize on sandalwood’s antibacterial properties and use it medicinally. Many Muslims in India also burned this fragrance at the feet of their deceased, hoping that the rising smoke and accompanying scent would help guide their loved one’s souls heavenward.

Eventually, Europeans discovered sandalwood and used the wood to improve the scent of other materials, like leather. People began using sandalwood in perfume in the 1800s, and soon afterward, scented candles became a popular household item. While we don’t know exactly when people started using sandalwood scents in candles, we can infer that it happened sometime in the 1900s.

Using Sandalwood in Candles

Now that you know a little bit more about the history of sandalwood and how we started using it as a scent, you can learn how we add sandalwood into candles. The key to this process is fragrance oil, which is like perfume, except most of the time, we use it for a wider variety of functions, and some fragrance oils aren’t safe to apply directly to your skin. However, there are ways to make your own fragrance oil with perfume, so the two remain closely related.

Let’s start at the very beginning of the creation process. Sandalwood is a tree, and the most famous variety is the Indian Sandalwood, although this tree is now protected since humans have over-harvested it. Most sandalwood scents now come from Australian Sandalwood and New Caledonian Sandalwood. The aromas from these two trees are like the original Indian Sandalwood, but each has a distinctive scent.

To create a sandalwood scent, people harvest the heartwood and roots of the tree, often done when the tree is between 30 and 50 years old, as the tree’s maturity helps develop the scent. After harvesting the heartwood and roots, manufacturers extract its scented oil through steam distillation. Once extracted, we can use that oil in various ways, most popularly in candles and perfumes.

Characteristics of Sandalwood

So, what does sandalwood smell like? The effort it takes to harvest sandalwood and extract its scented oils leads many people to believe it smells like nothing else in the world. This is partially true, but we categorize sandalwood in the woody fragrance family because of the rich, warm, elegant scent characteristic of these fragrances.

However, sandalwood stands apart from the other woody fragrances due to its unique characteristics. While we describe these unique characteristics, we invite you to try to imagine them if you’ve never smelled sandalwood before. Sandalwood scents offer an incredible combination of soft wood, rich earthiness, musk, sweetness, and spice. Many people describe it as tropical, exotic, sensual yet comforting, and smooth and creamy. It is brighter than most woody fragrances and blends well with various scents, making it an ideal ingredient in candles and perfumes, as we’ve mentioned above.

Specific Sandalwood Scents

When people first began using sandalwood as a perfume, they characterized it as a masculine scent. However, we know that various sandalwood combinations can complement any lifestyle and aesthetic. As a candle, it can fit in any home looking for extra warmth and elegance.

Some of the best sandalwood combinations are fruits, florals, and other woody and natural scents. Due to its potency, sandalwood is often the base fragrance when combined with these options, making it the first scent to hit your nose and the one that lasts the longest. Lemon and orange are two more popular fruit scents to pair with sandalwood, as the citrus helps complement the spicy and sweet notes within the wood. Jasmine and rose are two popular floral scents that pair well with sandalwood since the jasmine helps complement the musk, and the rose helps complement the earthy sweetness. Frankincense and cedar are popular for complementary wood scents, adding sweetness or depth. Natural scents like vanilla and amber pair well with sandalwood due to their warmth.

The Best Sandalwood Candle

We’ve described a lot of scents that pair well with sandalwood, but the best sandalwood candle on the market is our Amber Noir, which features a unique combination of cedar, sandalwood, and amber. As we’ve previously described, sandalwood’s rich earthiness, musk, sweetness, and spice pair well with almost anything, but adding the depth of cedar and the warmth of amber helps turn this iconic scent into something that promotes relaxation and deep thought. While there’s much you need to know about sandalwood and its incredible aroma, you should trust the professional pairing process as we create scents you want to enjoy in every room of your house.

We’ve done our best to efficiently wrap up everything you need to know about sandalwood scents. You now know the history of this iconic scent, the harvesting process and how it’s added to candles, the scent characteristics that make it unique, and the ideal candle fragrance that we’ve created with it. Whether you’re looking for a housewarming gift to show a loved one how much you care or you’re adding extra elegance to your own home, our amber and sandalwood candle will give you precisely what you’re looking for. Sit back and relax as this pure soy candle permeates your home.

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