Sandalwood CO2 extract

Soft wood, milky, slightly sweet, with a resinous and smooth-skin tone. A brief conifer and citrus-peel top fades fast. The drydown is creamy and lasting, close to freshly planed sandalwood.

Sandalwood has no dedicated standard in the IFRA 51 index.

In the EU, Regulation 2023/1545 adds sandalwood oil (Santalum album oil) and santalol to the allergens that must be labelled above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products.

IUCN lists Santalum album as Vulnerable. Indian wood is subject to harvest and export controls; lots need documents proving legal origin. Store dark, sealed and cool.

Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) is a hemiparasite: its roots attach to host roots to draw part of their water and nutrients. The oil sits in the heartwood and roots of mature trees. Oil content rises with age, so harvested trees are usually several decades old.

India, especially Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, was once the main source. Overharvesting sharply reduced wild supply. Plantations in Western Australia (the Kununurra area) and Indonesian sources now supply most commercial S. album. Australia also harvests its native S. spicatum.

Sandalwood oil is usually steam-distilled over many hours. Supercritical CO2 extraction recovers the santalols at lower temperature and keeps part of the heavier fraction. The CO2 version is often described as rounder and creamier, with fewer burnt notes.

Sandalwood quality is judged mainly by santalol content. ISO 3518 sets α-santalol at 41 to 55 percent and β-santalol at 16 to 24 percent for S. album oil. CO2 extracts have no ISO standard of their own.

In perfumery sandalwood is the creamy woody base of many floral, amber and woody structures. High price and limited supply have made synthetic molecules such as Javanol and Sandalore widely used replacements.