What Does Sandalwood Smell Like?
Deeper Dive Into the Special Aroma of Sandalwood
Sandalwood is frequently found as a fragrance element in candles and in men’s cologne. It is beloved for its rich, exotic, and nuanced aroma that separates it from pretty much anything else on the planet.
Warm, smooth, and sophisticated all at the same time, there’s just something about sandalwood that plays with our sense of smell and energizes our bodies.
Suppose you’ve been thinking about getting your hands on fragrances. In that case, some candles use sandalwood as a backbone ingredient, but if you’ve ever wondered what sandalwood smells like personally, hopefully, the inside info in this quick guide helps you out!
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How Does Sandalwood Smell?
As we highlighted above, sandalwood has a more complex and nuanced kind of scent and aroma structure than something like vanilla or something like citrus.
The initial wave of aromas with sandalwood is very upfront, very energized, and very obvious — but it doesn’t take long to start to notice different smells underneath that initial wave that add quite a bit of complexity and layers to this fragrance compound.
Let’s dig a little deeper into all the things that make up what sandalwood smells like!
Woody
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the sandalwood scent’s most prominent component would be as woody and as “natural” as it is.
Sandalwood fragrances, after all, are usually steamed out of exotic trees found in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Hawaii, and Australia. You will pick up on some of that woodiness straightaway, all of which adds a lot to the way sandalwood smells.
Earthy
There’s also a lot of earthiness to sandalwood fragrances, again not at all that surprising considering the fact that we are talking about oils and aromas steamed out of a tree. Your nose will pick up on damp earth, natural oils, and forest smells pretty quickly.
Spicy
One of the most exciting things about sandalwood as a fragrance is how spicy it can be, especially when you’ve chosen sandalwood fragrances from Hawaii and Australia. The oils from those trees are a little harsher and have a more pronounced aroma about them.
The spice is going to be felt in your nostrils and the back of your throat when you breathe the sandalwood fragrance in. Still, it is usually (and pretty quickly) mellowed out with the bouquet of other aromas — including the softer, creamy undertones we highlight below.
Softer Undernotes
After the initial wave of sandalwood aroma hits your senses, you’ll then be able to pick up on sweet, creamy, warm smells and sensations that round things out quite nicely.
One of the big reasons why sandalwood is so commonly chosen to add a bit of “something extra” to fragrances and candles is because of this complex arrangement of undernotes that many other fragrances can’t quite offer.
All of these elements come together to create a very exotic, instantly recognizable, and easy to fall in love with an aromatic arrangement. These scent components are what make sandalwood smell so good!
What Scents Go Well with Sandalwood?
If you are looking to make your fragrances or your candles and want to play around with sandalwood and pair it with complementary aroma, you’ll want to try:
· Floral aromas, especially those that are pretty pungent and pretty straightforward that pair nicely with the woodsy elements of sandalwood
· Citrus aromas, especially orange and grapefruit as well as lemon — all of those aromas played nice with sandalwood, giving it a bit of an extra bump in the sweetness department, and even help to round out some of the harsher and spicier elements of some sandalwood fragrances
· Vanilla aromas, mostly because it’s almost impossible to find any scent on the planet that cannot be elevated with a bit of extra vanilla. The creaminess of vanilla adds complexity to the creaminess of sandalwood, making something particularly special.
· Cedar is another way to go as well, combining one woodsy aroma with another, really making the most of the complimentary aroma components that play so well off of one another.
One famous perfume used sandalwood as one of its main ingredients is Santal 33 by Le Labo. It is one of the top-selling fragrances in the United States. Launched back in 2011 but always appear as top pick ever since until now.
Or if you are into a perfumery adventure you can easily find high quality sandalwood essential oils in Amazon for you to mix and match. You can also easily find other organic essential oils that comes in a set of 10 essential oils which you can mix and match with sandalwood, and you’ll be able to come up with some cool combinations. When someone asks, “What does sandalwood smell like?” you’ll tell them, “It smells amazing!”.
Product References (Affiliate Link)
References
Non Affiliated Link
https://www.amazon.com/Santal-33-Eau-de-Parfum/dp/B0792JYM8H
https://www.amazon.com/Sandalwood-India-Essential-Oil-Therapeutic/dp/B07FZXV91C/
https://www.amazon.com/PURA-DOR-Therapeutic-Lemongrass-Frankincense/dp/B07NJJSS68
https://www.amazon.com/Labo-Santal-PARFUM-Original-Authentic/dp/B01EX5SPOU?&tag=li4te-20
