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Interested in trying Mysore Sandalwood oil as a fragrance, what to expect? - Page 2

post #61 of 77
4/1/11 at 1:16am
I also have 2 of QT's vintage sandalwoods The wild mysore royal D super fine and the wild royal indonesian fine. They are the best I have ever found but very dear for 1ml but very worth it. No other sandalwoods come anywhere near the real thing. It wouldn't be so highly prized if they did really. The only fragrance that ever came close is a vintage Morny Sandalwood. You can occasionally pick that up still. It was a cheapy counter perfume at the time too.
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post #62 of 77
4/1/11 at 12:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by afartherroom View Post


A tip: those "lesser" sandalwoods, like the spicatum (Australian) and the austrocaledonicum (Vanuatuan) often get a lot better with age. If you let them age long enough, they'll often lose their acrid top-notes and start smelling a lot more like Santalum album -- although, alas, they never quite get there. Nothing like the real thing, indeed!

Try putting aside your Vanuatu Sandalwood and ignoring it for a year or two. You may be surprised by how nice it smells after it's aged a good long time. Patience can really pay off with a lot of these wood oils.


Thanks for that tip, Afartherroom! I must admit, it had not really occurred to me that allowing the Vanuatu Sandalwood oil to age might markedly improve it, as it does for Mysore/Indian Sandalwood oils.

Unfortunately, I have already returned the oil (which EB was very gracious in taking back), as that strong urine-like quality simply turned me off to it altogether --- I think that almost no matter how it might improve with age, unless it lost every microscopic trace of that undesirable scent (which I somehow doubt), I would always continue to smell it, if you know what I mean. Once an unpleasant aroma becomes "fixed" in the brain, and associated with a specific oil, or a particular person, or place, or item, it can be exceedingly hard to remove it from one's memory and mind.
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post #63 of 77
4/1/11 at 8:00pm
Hi to Sandalwood lovers,
I have been sampling sandalwoods for the past year or so and find myself with an obsession to find the finest...I have had one from R. K. & sons Amit Tandon which had quite a powerful top buttery note, balsamic middle with a fragrant dry down. I loved inhaling this and the scent last and lasts. I have also sampled one of QT's which has a smoky wood top note and fragrant finishand and can recommend Lala Jagdish Prasad & Co. Their sandalwood is light, fragrant and fresh with an assurance that it will mature. I am looking forward to trying QT's Royal Mysore, apparently this is the only one the monks use to aid meditation.

Thanks for sharing your sandalwood experience.

Bella Bell

I have sampled some very fine sri lankan and on that basis ordered some on the net I have forgotten the name of the company
but anyhows it was disgusting and I mean disgusting, obviously synthetic and the smell clung. i actually felt ill and got a headache from is so I understand your experience.
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post #64 of 77
4/2/11 at 2:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by akguy View Post

I think that almost no matter how it might improve with age, unless it lost every microscopic trace of that undesirable scent (which I somehow doubt), I would always continue to smell it, if you know what I mean. Once an unpleasant aroma becomes "fixed" in the brain, and associated with a specific oil, or a particular person, or place, or item, it can be exceedingly hard to remove it from one's memory and mind.

I know exactly what you mean! And you're probably right: you likely would always smell it. I'm glad to hear that EB was so gracious about it. I've never ordered from them but I have them on my list, and I keep hearing such nice things about them that I suspect they'll be getting my business sooner or later.

It's funny about memory and scent. People often cite the strong connection between the two as if it's an unqualified positive, but it certainly has its down sides as well. The other day I was sampling a fragrance I'd never tried before when I came across a review on MakeupAlley likening its scent to dog shampoo. It was a connection I hadn't made myself, but the instant I read that review, I had an overwhelmingly vivid sense memory of washing my dog as a child with a shampoo that, indeed, smelled very much like the fragrance. And since we only washed the dog when he'd rolled in something nasty, the smell was then immediately linked in my mind to the smells of all those less pleasant things that dogs like to roll in: feces, rotting meat, etc. I wound up having to scrub the sample off, because once that connection was made, I just couldn't stop smelling it.

Not always a good thing, that associative power of scent!
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post #65 of 77
9/14/11 at 6:38am
See next post ... couldn't seem to delete the one that was in this field...
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post #66 of 77
9/14/11 at 6:40am
Real East Indian (Mysore) Sandalwood Oil has a very sublime, woody fragrance that is tenacious and complex. I have some from several sources, the newest being from Polarome, and the oldest being some EXACTLY 100 year old, well stored oil from Dodge & Olcott. (Date coded on the bottle). Without hesitation, I will completely agree with the oft stated observation that well stored Sandalwood Oil improves with age.


Looking at various commercial perfume formulas, you'll find that it is used in generally quite small amounts < 2-3%, yet it's value is almost indispensable. It certainly IS a fixative and in smaller amounts contributes greatly towards that end, in larger doses, it gets to shine a bit more. Smelled "neat", it reveals that it is somewhat of a true perfume in it's own right by virtue of having a detectable Top, Heart and Base note.

To my nose, the other species of Sandalwood Oils ( Australian, Vanuatu etc.) that are being sold so often nowadays don't quite measure up. They're nice, they're useful to a degree, but In addition to their more "2 dimensional" quality, I find that these latter oils tend to have a somewhat objectionable note that smells like a rubber toy balloon... that balloon smell eventually evaporates, but it hangs on way too long for my liking. That being said... I just need to find a suitable use for the balloon smell and I'll probably like using the stuff :-)

BTW: You may also see stuff listed for sale called West Indian Sandalwood Oil... it's nice, woody stuff, but hardly sandalwood oil...
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post #67 of 77
3/20/12 at 6:56pm
This precious thread needs to be resurrected. After so many years maybe things have chanced. So, is there any reliable source to buy real "Mysore Sandalwood" from?
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post #68 of 77
3/21/12 at 5:46am
There are plenty of good tips here, I doubt anything much has changed. Actually it is much better if we all looked for good farmed alternatives. The older Mysore is wonderful because it is very 'old' and mellowed but we all pay dearly one way or the other to get it.
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post #69 of 77
3/21/12 at 6:32am
I agree wholeheartedly about buying farmed. This is one of those cases where some suppliers are making great efforts to build a sustainable industry to replace the unsustainable one that has failed and I think they deserve our support. In particular I think the buying of Vanuatu sandalwood is the right idea - and the best grade is very good indeed (for a new oil).

One day there will be Santalum album derived oil available from Vanuatu as well as plantations are now being cultivated (first plantings were only in October 2010 so there wont be any oil from them for some years yet).

All this is good for the rural community in an new nation without great wealth that has only relatively recently become independent.
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post #70 of 77
3/21/12 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Bartlett View Post

I agree wholeheartedly about buying farmed. This is one of those cases where some suppliers are making great efforts to build a sustainable industry to replace the unsustainable one that has failed and I think they deserve our support. In particular I think the buying of Vanuatu sandalwood is the right idea - and the best grade is very good indeed (for a new oil).

One day there will be Santalum album derived oil available from Vanuatu as well as plantations are now being cultivated (first plantings were only in October 2010 so there won’t be any oil from them for some years yet).

All this is good for the rural community in an new nation without great wealth that has only relatively recently become independent.

Very informative, indeed. Where can I buy this Vanuatu sandalwood EO? Apparently EB ran out of stock for it. Also, which one is better Sri Lanka sandalwood or Vanuatu?
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post #71 of 77
3/21/12 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Habbe View Post

Very informative, indeed. Where can I buy this Vanuatu sandalwood EO? Apparently EB ran out of stock for it. Also, which one is better Sri Lanka sandalwood or Vanuatu?

Thanks.

If you are buying enough of it you can buy direct, but personally I dont buy that much and I imagine most of us here dont. I have two sources both stocking the best grade of which one sells retail and ships worldwide: Hermitage Oils

Better is a very subjective term: Sri Lanka does not yet have a properly sustainable sandalwood farming industry and most of the oil from there still comes from endangered, wild trees. Efforts are being made to change that, but there is still extensive poaching.

On the other hand, if you get good stuff the Sri Lankan material is from Santalum album, which is native to the island as it is in southern India. It will probably have a similar to higher percentage of santalols too - typically some 70% or more of the oil, compared to 60% in the best Vanuatu, so the scent may well be better. It will generally cost more too and as always with expensive oils there is the risk of not getting what you paid for - adulteration and passing off are not quite as prevalent as with rose oils but still quite common.
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post #72 of 77
3/21/12 at 1:32pm
Any one up for clubbing together to buy a pacific island and planting sandalwood, agarwood, vanilla and whatever else takes our fancy?
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post #73 of 77
3/21/12 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe C View Post

Any one up for clubbing together to buy a pacific island and planting sandalwood, agarwood, vanilla and whatever else takes our fancy?

Could we let a few civets loose on it too?
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post #74 of 77
3/21/12 at 2:43pm
I'm in. How much is a tiny weeny one?
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post #75 of 77
3/21/12 at 8:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor01 View Post

A question to Sandalwood aficionados: I've come to think of Sandalwood in general and Mysore Sandalwood in particular (as the pinnacle of the genre) as soft, creamy, incensy, woody scent, think along the lines of Diptyque Tam Dao (minus the cedar and the "pickle note"), Etro Sandaloo, Floris Sandal etc. I realize that the typical "sandalwood" frags focus on different aspects of sandalwood and most likely use synthetics for the large part, but I am mentioning these scents as a discription of the archetypal sandalwood smell I am expecting from pure sandalwood essential oils in general and Mysore in particular.

I have had a chance to try several essential oils and now I am very confused by my experience. Out of about 8 or 9 sandalwood oils I've tried, only two kinda smelled like my idea of sandalwood - Ham_Firl's (ebay seller, aka QT) old stock "aged Mysore" (dunno if it's really aged or "Mysore" but it smelled lovely, unlike the new stock which smells like cedar to me) and "Mysore Sandalwood" from AT-AV (anatolian treasures). All the rest of the supposed "Mysore" oils and Australian oils have what to me is a very sharp, medicinal, peircing ammonia-like note, which a fellow basenoter called "urinal", an assessment which I tend to agree with. The note is present with varying degrees of strength in all the sandalwood oils I've tried except the two I've mentioned above (well, it's still detectable in the AT-AV sample, but nowhere near as much as say Sandalwood Superior from Eden Botanicals, or their Vanuatu oil).

Could someone with more experience and knowledge of sandalwoods please tell me what the heck is wrong with me - am I super-sensitive to a note that others either don't smell or perhaps smell but don't find unpleasant? Or is this note supposed to disappear on the skin leaving the soft, rich, creamy, incensy delight of sandalwood (sure doesn't happen that way on my skin)? Or are these oils too concentrated and need to be diluted to get rid of the sharp medicinal ammonia? Or is it something else that I am missing entirely?

Should I give up on my quest for an all-natural all-pure sandalwood bliss and try to embrace the commercial "sandalwood" fragrances composed mainly of synthetics?

Sandalwood Superior sample
Mysore Sandalwood Oil from pure-incence.com sample
Mysore Sandalwood Oil from AT-AV (anatolian treasures) sample


I haven't wasted my time trying to find so-called "real" sandalwood (besides, what makes Mysore sandalwood more "real" than Australian or Vanuatu sandalwood anyway?), with all the alleged fraud, etc. Perfumer's Apprentice's "Sandalwood Key Accord" is superb - it has a wonderfully addictive soft and creamy smell that I can't get enough of. Add to that some Okoumal or Ebanol, and you've got a damn good synthetic sandalwood that smells better than a lot of primarily natural fragrance I've tried.
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post #76 of 77
3/22/12 at 3:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamu1 View Post

I haven't wasted my time trying to find so-called "real" sandalwood (besides, what makes Mysore sandalwood more "real" than Australian or Vanuatu sandalwood anyway?), with all the alleged fraud, etc. Perfumer's Apprentice's "Sandalwood Key Accord" is superb - it has a wonderfully addictive soft and creamy smell that I can't get enough of. Add to that some Okoumal or Ebanol, and you've got a damn good synthetic sandalwood that smells better than a lot of primarily natural fragrance I've tried.

I broadly agree with this standpoint - I certainly agree that a combination of synthetics can give you a really great sandalwood effect that works in most fragrances extremely well.

The reason I still buy and use the natural product, despite its substantial cost, though is that like most naturals it will give you a level of complexity that is very hard to achieve with synthetics alone. So even though most of the scent of sandalwood may be build up from synthetics, I still always like to incorporate some of the natural product to add that extra dimension.
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post #77 of 77
3/22/12 at 4:56am
You're certainly right about that. My only complaint with the synthetics is that they lack the complexity of the natural oil. The rock-solid stability of the synthetic ends up being an impediment in terms of scent depth. I've been adding small amounts of natural oils to my sandalwood blend - patchouli, myrrh, e.g. - to give it an extra dimension.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Fragrance DIY › Interested in trying Mysore Sandalwood oil as a fragrance, what to expect?