Ingredient Library
Sandalwood
Santalum album
Sandalwood for skin means calm. The oil of this prized aromatic wood helps cool the look of redness, softens dry or sensitive skin, and evens the look of the complexion, with a warm, woody scent that settles a routine.
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Sandalwood brings its calm and its warm, woody scent to this nourishing face oil.
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A natural history
Sandalwood is one of the oldest fragrant materials known, its heartwood treasured in southern India for some four thousand years and named in ancient writings from Kautilya's manual of statecraft to the great Indian epics. Its scent, unusually, deepens with age, hidden in the heartwood and roots of a slow-growing tree, which is why mature sandalwood has always been so coveted: traded along old routes, burned as temple incense, and carried far from its home.
For the skin, sandalwood has a long, specific tradition. A cooling paste of the ground wood, called chandana, was smoothed onto the face and body to calm heat and irritation, especially in the hot season, and the wood is classed among the traditional complexion-supporting botanicals. That cooling, soothing role is exactly how it is used in skincare today.
What it does for your skin
Sandalwood's character on skin comes largely from santalol, the main compound in its essential oil. A 2019 review in Natural Product Research describes alpha-santalol as lowering markers of inflammation in skin models, which helps explain sandalwood's calming reputation.[1] A dermatology review in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology likewise reports that sandalwood album oil has shown anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity, supporting the look of clearer, more soothed skin.[2] We use it for that gentle, cooling comfort rather than any single claim.
References
[1] Bommareddy A, Brozena S, Steigerwalt J, et al. Medicinal properties of alpha-santalol, a naturally occurring constituent of sandalwood oil: review. Nat Prod Res. 2019;33(4):527-543. doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2017.1399387
[2] Moy RL, Levenson C. Sandalwood album oil as a botanical therapeutic in dermatology. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2017;10(10):34-39. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29344319
Questions, answered
It calms. Sandalwood oil helps cool the look of redness and comfort skin that reacts easily, while softening dry patches, so skin looks calmer and more even.
Yes. Its oil sits within rich formulas that soften dry skin, and its calming nature suits skin that gets both dry and reactive.
Yes. It is prized for cooling and calming the look of redness, which makes it a natural fit for sensitive, reactive skin.
In traditional use its ground-wood paste was applied to soothe heat and irritation, and that soothing reputation carries into skincare today.
Soft, warm, and woody. Its scent is one of the most treasured natural fragrances in the world and lends a quiet calm to a routine.
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