Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
What is Sandalwood?
Creamy santal — milk and temple wood, now mostly farmed. Wild Mysore is a story, not a supply chain.
EDP vs EDT — what changes?
Concentration is oil in alcohol, not a quality score. EDT (about 5–15%) shows more top; EDP (about 15–20%) shows more heart and base. Houses vary; this is not a lab assay.
How should I wear Sandalwood?
One or two sprays on skin or cloth — sternum or hair, not a cloud in a lift. Let it turn an hour before you add more.
Which season fits?
Cool to cold, close to skin. Heat turns creamy wood into sun lotion.
Does skin chemistry change it?
Yes. Warm, moist skin amplifies sweet and spice; dry or cool skin can turn the same juice woody, soapy or short. Test on your skin, not only a blotter.
What about IFRA and oakmoss?
IFRA sets industry limits on some naturals and synthetics. A reformulation is usually a legal edit, not a betrayal. This atlas is not a safety sheet.
Craft for Sandalwood is solvent, steam, headspace and dose — not a mood.
The six steps below are a studio loop; they are not a safety sheet.
Methods
- Heartwood distillation — Only the core is worth the still.
- Deg-bhapka receiver — Attar into sandal oil, not alcohol.
- Synth chassis — Javanol first, a drop of oil for truth.
- Plantation traceability — Legal album as a selling point.
- Avoid sawdust cuts — Filler woods destroy milk.
Steps
- Say which santal
Album, spicatum, or Javanol.
“Mysore” on a €30 bottle is a fiction.
- Pair with one flower
Rose (attar) or jasmine (Samsara).
A bouquet hides the milk.
- Keep smoke low
Incense turns it oud-adjacent.
A pinch of benzoin is enough.
- Dose synths like toxins
Javanol is loud in traces.
Deafness follows overdose.
- Macerate fats
Natural sandal settles slowly.
Haze is normal; filter.
- Wear on skin, not only wool
Milk needs heat.
Cloth alone is pencil.
Limits
- CITES and fraud — Album claims outrun supply.
- Mysore mythology — The word is now mostly marketing.
- Pickle split — Santal 33 taught a generation a non-creamy sandal.
A good Sandalwood formula knows its IFRA ceiling before it knows its ad.
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