~! Australian Sandalwood vs. Mysore Sandalwood !~

Australian Sandalwood is a bit sweeter and slightly lighter than standard sandalwood.
I like it in Larrikin For Men.
Renato

Australian Sandalwood is nothing like Mysore Sandalwood. Compared to Mysore Sandalwood, the Australian Sandalwood is trash.

Fragrance pyramids are what I call fantasy pyramids, they have little or no relation to what is actually in the fragrance.

I have a few sandalwood EOs, one of which is Mysore (santalum album) the other being Vanatu (santalum austrocaledonicum) which Ive heard is similar to the Australlian (santalum spicaum)
To my nose, the Vanatu smells nice, maybe a little cardboard like initially but it rounds out ok. The Mysore also has a little bit of the cardboard but also has a richness and woody spicieness that the Vanatu seems to lack. The scent profile of both of these changes alot when they are mixed with alcohol as a carrier, the cardboard note pretty much vanishes. While Ive read that the predominant note in Tam Dao is cedar, that isnt my perception of it. There might be a quick flash of cedar in the top notes, but it quickly dries down to what smells exactly like Mysore sandalwood to me. Santal Noble also drys down to a similar note but in a much sweeter way in the transition from the lightly spicier top notes. Original santal doesnt smell much like sandalwood to me.

They are both liquids and both have sandalwood in the name. Beyond that I don't see any similarities. The Vanuatu material, once you get past the rubber topnotes, does have an odor profile like that of the East Indian Sandalwood. The Australian material has no similarity of odor to me.

Three quarters of the way down this article, there is an interesting piece on Australian Sandalwood.

http://www.essentiallyoils.com/Newsl...ewsletter.html

Mysore sandalwood is much much more better than Australian sandalwood... mysore sandalwood gives me a peaceful feeling inside when i get a wiff of it...Mysore is much more sweeter and have that awesome creamy note that Australian sandalwood does not have....Australian sandalwood does nothing much for me at all....

It really doesn't matter to me - I like all sandalwood.

Now that's what I call a Lazarus thread!

The usual suspects of Tam Dao and Santal noble just do not do hit the spot for my Sandalwood fix and even a lot of Sandalwoods in fragrances seem to be a fantasy take on the note. Has anyone actually really nailed the true scent of Mysore/Australian Sandalwood in a scent?

I also prefer mysore sandalwood. I smells divine. It is exactly that, creamy, sweet and the occasional wafts make for a pleasant experience.

Mysore is very strong and long lasting. Australian sandalwood is sharper imo, it has almost a peppery smell to it, similar to cedar. It's also slightly powdery. I really don't have much experience with Mysore, since it's very rarely used in perfumery now a days (may even be banned).

I can tell you, that I had a Mysore essential oil.. sadly, one day I was bored and started mixing my essential oils, with hopes of a marvelous outcome.. that didn't work out lol. Regardless.. I recall the Mysore to be more syrupy, more dense, more smooth, and more sweet. You can probably find the essential oils floating around here and there, on Ebay too. Some of the older fragrances like Crabtree and Evelyn's Sandalwood from the 70's, use Mysore. Serge Lutens also has Mysore in Santal de Mysore (so they claim) -- it's hard to tell, because the sandalwood doesn't really stand out to me in this fragrance.

Absolutely agree with the above. The australian oil is "poor man's stuff". The two cannot be compared.

I feel the need to contribute. This has been a subject I have followed closely.

Indian government regulations have banned export of Mysore Sandalwood, due to overharvesting. It is considered "endangered". Period.

Here is a great link on a release (with some notes and history) from Serge Lutens - http://www.perfumeniche.com/content/...ng-july-6-2012

That is one very clear-cut example. Another one outside of niche is from the house of Givenchy. Up to the last formulation of Monsieur de Givenchy in the squared bottle, Sandalwood was used (Vintage used Mysore Sandalwood, specifically). I have some of both and the quality is higher in Vintage overall (a touch of powdery civet may be in there too, but the creaminess of the sandalwood is gorgeous). The later reformulation still has a nice base note of sandalwood - but it is less in quantity. I cannot confirm whether or not it is Mysore.

However, in 2007 (before the ban, but with sandalwood prices going steadily up), the house of Givenchy in their Les Parfums Mythiques release actually got rid of sandalwood altogether - not just switching to Australian essential oil. It actually has Hinoki Wood. I have not tried the fragrance, personally, but I am a purist and adore the Vintage Monsieur de Givenchy.

Hinoki Wood, itself is actually a very interesting and rather rare, precious wood as well - so I am not knocking Givenchy as a house. Instead of going to cheap sandalwood (which indicates that perhaps the last formulation before still had Mysore sandalwod), they opted for a higher quality wood that would add more dimension to the scent. An interesting write-up on Hinoki Wood:

Hinoki is one of the most prized types of wood in Japan. This tree is a type of a cypress that grows only in this part of the world where it is considered a sacred wood. The wood of this tree is nicely lemon-like scented and distinguished by its light color and straight grain. Due to its exquisite features, hinoki is for centuries used for palaces, temples, and shrines. Hinoki is also popular as ornamental tree in all temperate climates of the world.

This conversation, not to hijack it, is actually more (to me) about what perfumers are doing in response to the ban on Mysore...

Here is an online, essential oil seller who kept Mysore Sandalwood for 3 years (Aged) and this was offered until late last year (10ml - $65!). The foresight has been there as the Indian government was reducing the amount allowed over time until the ban was put into effect. http://www.scents-of-earth.com/mysore-oil.html

Great thread - thank you for posting.

Cheers,

ericrico

The only true mysore sandalwood that you can get your hands on is mysore sandalwod soap by KSDL... this has a very strong and beautiful mysore sandalwood note...

Mysore

I have a 10 ml attar of Mysore Sandalwood Oil, its absolutely astonishing. Australian sandalwood I am sorry to say, does not hold a candle to Mysore sandalwood, it is vastly inferior. Mysore sandalwood contains 85-90% natural santalol, where as Australian Sandalwood only contains 10-15%.

very true... comparing mysore sandalwood to australian sandalwood is like comparing fine scotch to a light beer like natural light beer... no comparison....

I think these Santal this and Santal that things from Tom Ford, Hermes and the rest of them should be shot down. It's the perfume equivalent of calling cheap sparkling plonk from Chile or anywhere else in the Southern hemisphere 'Champagne'.

It's all very well hiding behind the excuse that it is "sandalwood, really, that's what it's called, honest" when the difference between Mysore wood and the Oz and Pacific Island variations of the plant is VAST. I recently compared pure essential oils from a perfumer just to be sure I wasn't over-reacting and the Oz stuff might just as well be a completely different wood - no relation in feel or scent profile to Mysore at all. Zero.

Unfortunately so few people have ever worn or smelled a decent pure Mysore oil or some of the fragrances that used the stuff well that it seems to be open season for the perfume companies these days. Honestly, even a lot of the older ones that crop here with monotonous regularity as 'favourite sandalwoods' don't have the stuff in them anymore either but at least they did once upon a time . . .

What does KSDL stand for please ??

Modern perfumery is predicated on lies and the withholding of information, and the use of Mysore sandalwood is a complete fantasy. It's been at least twenty-five or so since it was last used much.

Guerlain and Chanel (perhaps a handul of others) probably still spend the money on it for a small number of their best fragrances, but most of what's being used are a wide variety of sandalwood synthetics, which are always improving but lack the nuance of Mysore sandalwood, and various combinations of Australian sandalwood-cedar-rosewood-lavender-synthetic woody amber, whatever type synthetic odorant combinations.

There are hundreds of synthetic sandalwoods - Santaliff, Javanol, Polysantol, Firsantol, Ebanol, and a ton of others. These are what are in most fragrances made today.

Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited