Frankincense and Sandalwood

[CLMP]

Hi everyone I'm still trying to put together an order sometimes it takes me days to put a order together because it takes me a while to decide what I want. I'm still trying to decide if I should buy the white sandalwood. I'm going to get the red one but not sure about the white one, it said the internet that the white one is a essential oil. So I wouldn't even know how to measure it because it's a powder plus I can't find any info of a person ever using the white one. All the info for putting sandalwood powder in soap points to using the red one in soap. So I'm still thinking about it.

 

[CLMP]

When I first started looking for sandalwood EO I was surprised by the very high prices, but then I read that some of the most prized sandalwood tree species have been over harvested and are now considered endangered.

If you're still thinking about using a sandalwood FO - I initially tried BB's Sensuous Sandalwood, which smells a bit like cigarette ashes to me, then tried Oregon Trails Mysore Sandalwood, which I love and use and have found to be popular with my soapy people. It has the added benefits of behaving well and not discoloring my soap. I've also tried BeScented's Sandalwood, which was okay, but my soap turned a dark tan color.

Wow I didn't know that about them being endangered that's interesting. I read it is well used for religious reasons plus it's well used by the Asian cultures for everything that's a whole lot of sandalwood being used around the world daily. I'll keep in mind your suggestions for sandalwood FO I do try to buy most of my stuff and scents from Canada so I don't have to pay duties and all that because I'm Canadian. But I might try BB someday I've always wanted to try their stuff.

 

[CLMP]

So I'm trying to do as much research on white and red sandalwood as I can and one site says you can use white sandalwood powder in soap but then somewhere in the article it says to distill it into oil or something like that. But it also said you can take a tsp of white sandalwood powder and mix it with a bit of rosewater or anything to make a paste to put directly on your skin so I'm thinking I might be able to put it in my soap.

 

[A-Polly]

Wow I didn't know that about them being endangered that's interesting. I read it is well used for religious reasons plus it's well used by the Asian cultures for everything that's a whole lot of sandalwood being used around the world daily. I'll keep in mind your suggestions for sandalwood FO I do try to buy most of my stuff and scents from Canada so I don't have to pay duties and all that because I'm Canadian. But I might try BB someday I've always wanted to try their stuff.

If you do ever get to order from Bramble Berry, they have 2 fragrance oils with sandalwood notes that I've tried: Sandalwood Vanilla (my favorite, usage rate almost 5%, discolors to brown), and Sunflower Sandalwood (much higher usage rate, does not discolor). I had only a sample of the former but it was lovely; however, the FO was re-formulated in Oct 2023 and I think my sample was from before that, so no clue if it will smell exactly the same. And one more caveat, I've never had any actual sandalwood essential oil for comparison — I just liked both of these FOs a lot.

Also, I've used red sandalwood powder in a soap before, but only for the appearance of the red speckles. I based the amount on a blueberry thyme CP project on the old Soap Queen website. Here is a picture of their project — NOT mine, which was different and not so pretty, but I remember liking the speckled effect — where they used 2 tsp. red sandalwood powder for about a 3-lb. loaf: