I love sandalwood. I mean, I LOVE sandalwood! Years ago I stumbled across an Aveda salon, and ended up purchasing a tiny bottle of sandalwood essential oil. It was good stuff, and I am pretty sure that was the beginning of my love for essential oils and natural scents.

There are multiple species of Sandalwood trees grown in various parts of the world. The Indian Sandalwood (Mysore) is generally the most highly prize, and is certainly the nicest to my nose. However, there are serious sustainability concerns regarding the harvest of this tree.   The trees take 20-50 years to mature, are very difficult (if not impossible) to grow commercially, and are generally harvested in its entirety - root and all. The other, related varieties of sandalwood are less fragile, easier to harvest and propagate, but are noticably different in scent.

The Aura Cacia site has several lovely pages all about sandalwood, it's uses, history, and botanical info.

And, I very much like the respectful stance of Eden Botanicals, regarding Sandalwood, and agree: It's a precious resource and should be conserved, savored, and treated respectfully.

And, if you want to purchase sandalwood, please, do be very careful! Because of it's cost, this oil is very often adulterated. Go to a quality supplier that you can trust! Personally, I'd call Roe at Sun Rose Aromatics, or Marge at Nature's Gift.