At Alight Candle Company, we use sandalwood oil as a base note in a number of our scented candles. Sandalwood’s distinctive fragrance has relaxing properties, reduces stress and can promote restful sleep.
Sandalwood oil has a gorgeous sweet and woody fragrance and is one of the most expensive and desirable ingredients in the world. The wood is fine-grained and heavy and retains its fragrance for a long time. Sandalwood has been highly valued for its fragrance and is commonly used as a base note for incense, perfumes and cosmetics. It is among the world’s most treasured natural extracts, cultivated and used for generations across Asia, Australia and the Pacific.
Sandalwood has been harvested in India for over 5,000 years, and the Ancient Egyptians imported the wood to use in medicine and for embalming their dead. In the Hindu religion, sandalwood is considered sacred, and Indian Hindus use extracts from the wood to pay homage to the God Shiva, creating a paste which they used to mark the forehead during religious ceremonies.
Quality sandalwood oil should have a soft, warm, smooth and creamy fragrance, with a long-lasting bouquet that invokes the milky woodiness of the heart tree. Its sweet, soft scent induces relaxation and calmness, and promotes positive thinking, clarity and concentration.
We can safely say that sandalwood will always be one of our favourite fragrances.