Christine Esposito, Managing Editor08.19.21
With a history of use that can be traced back more than 2,000 years, sandalwood oil and powder can be incorporated into a variety of beauty and personal care applications from face washes to creams and gels to masks, says Dr Danny Hettiarachchi, product manager for Quintis Sandalwood, one of the world’s largest suppliers of premium and sustainable Indian and Australian sandalwood raw materials.
We asked Dr.Hettiarachchi about this unique component and how it can be used in formulation that appeal to modern day beauty consumers.
HAPPI: How long has sandalwood been used for beauty/personal care applications? What are ways it was used?
Danny Hettiarachchi: Sandalwood is a tree deep-seated in culture and history, with Indian sandalwood heartwood (Santalum album) one of the most valuable ancient cosmetic and medicinal ingredient, often described as the “wood of the gods.”
It was adopted across Egypt, Greece and Rome centuries ago for religious practices, what we now call “aromatherapy,” medicine and cosmetics. Ayurvedic skin care is topical treatments based on principles of a 5000-year-old Indian health system. Sandalwood is listed in the Charaka Samhita, an Ayurvedic Sanskrit text, which was written more than 2,000 years ago.
Loved for its versatility, sandalwood oil and powder offer myriad uses in beauty and personal care applications. Indian sandalwood oil is known as “liquid gold” due to its high demand in perfumery and cosmetics.
In modern day cosmetics and skin care formulas, sandalwood oil is being used in face washes, creams and gels, and the wood chips can be ground into a powder to use in face masks.
Sandalwood has a nostalgic, sweet woody scent. Sandalwood notes are found in nearly 50% of all modern perfumes created since 1790. Natural sandalwood oil serves both as a fragrance and an active ingredient with psychological and dermatological benefits. The establishment of sustainable Indian sandalwood plantations, through companies like Quintis, has led to a resurgence in the fragrance industry.
HAPPI: Why should cosmetic chemists consider sandalwood oil for their modern beauty and wellness formulas?
DH: Sandalwood oil is a great natural multipurpose ingredient for cosmetics. It is an effective protective and anti-aging active ingredient, and it has scientifically proven bioactivities with multiple benefits for skin.
A peer reviewed study recently published in the Cosmetics Journal, which was commissioned by Quintis, found that Indian sandalwood oil is a more potent antioxidant than the known lipophilic antioxidant vitamin E (alpha tocopherol). Researchers found that with subsequent exposure to environmental stressors, Indian sandalwood oil recorded a reactive oxygen species reduction that is 30-40% higher than the recorded reduction from vitamin E.
The study also found that Indian sandalwood oil is capable of significantly decreasing the damage to collagen in skin tissues caused by stressors such as blue light from solar and digital sources, and pollution from cigarette smoke.
HAPPI: Are all sandalwoods the same? How so, or why not? Does it matter?
DH: There are more that 15 different sandalwood species found in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. Several species produce a highly aromatic wood that retains its fragrance for decades. Indian and Australian Sandalwood are considered the most important of these, and Quintis produces high quality oil from both.
The magic of sandalwood lies in its chemical makeup. Each species is different and offers unique olfactory profiles. Sandalwood’s main sesquiterpenes (aromatic components), and also therapeutic components, are alpha-santalol and beta-santalol. In Indian sandalwood, these compounds make up more than 70% of the oil, up to three times more than other sandalwood species, giving it the status of “nature’s true wellbeing ingredient.”
HAPPI: Consumers are more concerned about sustainability or how an ingredient is obtained. Can you share insight into sandalwood production/processing and if there are any issues related to these aspects that beauty, personal care and wellness product makers must take into account?
DH: Producers or formulators are increasingly drawn to suppliers with ethical and sustainable practices, who also offer transparency and traceability in their raw products. Beauty, personal care and wellness product makers must be careful where they source their sandalwood, and they must make sure that they are buying it from an ethical and reputable source that can guarantee reliability of supply.
Many may not know that illegal poaching and harvesting of Indian sandalwood in India pushed supply to the brink in the 1980s. These practices landed Indian sandalwood on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) vulnerable species list in 1998. Illegal harvesting continues; however, there are ethical suppliers of Indian sandalwood.
Quintis, in particular, has dedicated the past 20 years producing and advocating for an ethical supply of Indian sandalwood to combat “black market” activity. Establishing the very first sustainable Indian sandalwood plantation in 1999, we now own and manage one of the largest Indian sandalwood estates in the world. It spans more than 12,000 hectares across northern Australia and is home to more than 5.5 million trees—a vast and reliable supply available for decades to come.
It’s no secret that consumers are returning to more natural options, including natural sources with minimal manipulation. It’s with that in mind, why our trees are grown without hormones or artificial stimulants, ensuring 100% natural products. Each one of our logs is assigned a unique identifier for full traceability back to each plantation.
Our team, including foresters, agronomists and chemists, nurture our trees through harvest and into production. All are committed to producing sandalwood in a sustainable and natural way with a rigorous tree planting program, which we know is important for beauty, personal care and wellness product makers.
We asked Dr.Hettiarachchi about this unique component and how it can be used in formulation that appeal to modern day beauty consumers.
HAPPI: How long has sandalwood been used for beauty/personal care applications? What are ways it was used?
Danny Hettiarachchi: Sandalwood is a tree deep-seated in culture and history, with Indian sandalwood heartwood (Santalum album) one of the most valuable ancient cosmetic and medicinal ingredient, often described as the “wood of the gods.”
It was adopted across Egypt, Greece and Rome centuries ago for religious practices, what we now call “aromatherapy,” medicine and cosmetics. Ayurvedic skin care is topical treatments based on principles of a 5000-year-old Indian health system. Sandalwood is listed in the Charaka Samhita, an Ayurvedic Sanskrit text, which was written more than 2,000 years ago.
Loved for its versatility, sandalwood oil and powder offer myriad uses in beauty and personal care applications. Indian sandalwood oil is known as “liquid gold” due to its high demand in perfumery and cosmetics.
In modern day cosmetics and skin care formulas, sandalwood oil is being used in face washes, creams and gels, and the wood chips can be ground into a powder to use in face masks.
Sandalwood has a nostalgic, sweet woody scent. Sandalwood notes are found in nearly 50% of all modern perfumes created since 1790. Natural sandalwood oil serves both as a fragrance and an active ingredient with psychological and dermatological benefits. The establishment of sustainable Indian sandalwood plantations, through companies like Quintis, has led to a resurgence in the fragrance industry.
HAPPI: Why should cosmetic chemists consider sandalwood oil for their modern beauty and wellness formulas?
DH: Sandalwood oil is a great natural multipurpose ingredient for cosmetics. It is an effective protective and anti-aging active ingredient, and it has scientifically proven bioactivities with multiple benefits for skin.
A peer reviewed study recently published in the Cosmetics Journal, which was commissioned by Quintis, found that Indian sandalwood oil is a more potent antioxidant than the known lipophilic antioxidant vitamin E (alpha tocopherol). Researchers found that with subsequent exposure to environmental stressors, Indian sandalwood oil recorded a reactive oxygen species reduction that is 30-40% higher than the recorded reduction from vitamin E.
The study also found that Indian sandalwood oil is capable of significantly decreasing the damage to collagen in skin tissues caused by stressors such as blue light from solar and digital sources, and pollution from cigarette smoke.
HAPPI: Are all sandalwoods the same? How so, or why not? Does it matter?
DH: There are more that 15 different sandalwood species found in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. Several species produce a highly aromatic wood that retains its fragrance for decades. Indian and Australian Sandalwood are considered the most important of these, and Quintis produces high quality oil from both.
The magic of sandalwood lies in its chemical makeup. Each species is different and offers unique olfactory profiles. Sandalwood’s main sesquiterpenes (aromatic components), and also therapeutic components, are alpha-santalol and beta-santalol. In Indian sandalwood, these compounds make up more than 70% of the oil, up to three times more than other sandalwood species, giving it the status of “nature’s true wellbeing ingredient.”
HAPPI: Consumers are more concerned about sustainability or how an ingredient is obtained. Can you share insight into sandalwood production/processing and if there are any issues related to these aspects that beauty, personal care and wellness product makers must take into account?
DH: Producers or formulators are increasingly drawn to suppliers with ethical and sustainable practices, who also offer transparency and traceability in their raw products. Beauty, personal care and wellness product makers must be careful where they source their sandalwood, and they must make sure that they are buying it from an ethical and reputable source that can guarantee reliability of supply.
Many may not know that illegal poaching and harvesting of Indian sandalwood in India pushed supply to the brink in the 1980s. These practices landed Indian sandalwood on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) vulnerable species list in 1998. Illegal harvesting continues; however, there are ethical suppliers of Indian sandalwood.
Quintis, in particular, has dedicated the past 20 years producing and advocating for an ethical supply of Indian sandalwood to combat “black market” activity. Establishing the very first sustainable Indian sandalwood plantation in 1999, we now own and manage one of the largest Indian sandalwood estates in the world. It spans more than 12,000 hectares across northern Australia and is home to more than 5.5 million trees—a vast and reliable supply available for decades to come.
It’s no secret that consumers are returning to more natural options, including natural sources with minimal manipulation. It’s with that in mind, why our trees are grown without hormones or artificial stimulants, ensuring 100% natural products. Each one of our logs is assigned a unique identifier for full traceability back to each plantation.
Our team, including foresters, agronomists and chemists, nurture our trees through harvest and into production. All are committed to producing sandalwood in a sustainable and natural way with a rigorous tree planting program, which we know is important for beauty, personal care and wellness product makers.