Sandalwood -- Santalum Album

Sandalwood's aroma is, perhaps, one of my favorites.  It's a deep, exotic-sweet-wood scent that has an immediate calming and relaxing effect.  This is not a surprise since Sandalwood has been used for hundreds of years in spiritual ceremonies.  The oil itself is quite thick, so it's a good thing that it takes very little to achieve the desired effect.

As mentioned above, Sandalwood is calming and sedating.  Along those lines, it's antispasmodic, can decongest and open the lungs, lymph, and veins.  While these attributes may not sound related, they are.  As the airways and blood vessels open up, we breathe more easily and deeply, and oxygen is better circulated.   This can help calm our nerves and relax us -- even help us fall asleep more easily.  

Perhaps the next best property of Sandalwood is its affinity for the skin.  Like Patchouli, I tend to use Sandalwood more in skin care products than anything else.  It can cool hot, inflamed skin issues, and help protect and maintain healthy skin.  To go with that, it's antifungal and antiviral.  It's can be used on Athlete's Foot, minor skin irritations, and cold sores.

There are different species of Sandalwood, and because it's expensive, sometimes the oil is adulterated, so it's important to get a GC/MS report when you buy it.  (The expensiveness is due to over harvesting.) Robert Tisserand recommends a topical maximum of 2 % dilution (12 drops per ounce of carrier oil).