Benefits and Uses of Sandalwood Oil

Sandalwood oil from the Indian sandalwood tree or santalum album is becoming rare these days because the trees are overly harvested. As an alternative, many manufactures are turning to the Australian sandalwood or santalum spicatum. Another option is the amyris balsamifera or West Indian sandalwood.

Besides India, Australia and Indonesia and other parts of Asia, santalum album trees are also found in Malaysia and are known as pokok cendana. Sandalwood trees are root parasitic plants. They get their water and nutrients by attaching their roots to the roots of adjacent plants which are called the hosts.

Sandalwood has been used for religious purpose and funeral pyres. It was also used as medicine to treat ailments such as burns, fever, headache, acne, itching, dysentery and gonorrhea.

Sandalwood timber is used for woodworking, carvings of decorative objects and sandalwood beads. Because of its fragrance, sandalwood sap is used to make incense and joss sticks. Sandalwood powder which is obtained from the sandalwood bark is used as homemade face mask.

Sandalwood essential oil is obtained from the roots and heartwood through steam distillation. The oil is used in aromatherapy and as stabilizing or preservative agent in cosmetics, detergents and soaps. Sandalwood essential oil is used in perfumes with woody fragrance such as Pleasures by Estee Lauder and Sandalwood by Elizabeth Arden.

1. One of the organic compounds present in sandalwood oil is santalol. An online report published in August 2010 at the biomedcentral.com states that santalol has the potential to fight against skin cancer development.
   
   
   
2. Because sandalwood has antiseptic and astringent properties, it is used as skin wash, soak and poultice to treat skin inflammations, cuts, bruises, rashes and burns to prevent infection. It is also used as a face wash to improve complexion and for glowing skin.
   
   
   
3. When you diffuse the oil and inhale the fragrance, it relaxes your mind because it produces a sedative effect. This is one of the reasons why it is used as a remedy for anxiety, stress and sleeping disorders.
   
   
   
4. Inhaling the vapor of the oil diluted in hot water may help relieve the symptoms of bronchitis such as fever, fatigue and chest discomfort. It also helps as an alternative treatment for persistent cough, laryngitis, sore throat, nausea and vomiting.
   
   
   
5. Massaging a drop of sandalwood essential oil on your temple may provide relief from migraine headache. And a dab of the oil in the middle of your forehead may open up your third eye chakra and help you gain insight and visualize.
   
   
   
6. Sandalwood is also used to treat impotence and frigidity. Diffusing the oil, using it as massage oil or sprinkling it on your bed sheets are some of the ways to stimulate or arouse your senses.

Chinese medical practitioners believe that sandalwood essential oil has anti viral properties and recommended that people burn sandalwood incense during the SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.

Whenever you plan to use concentrated or pure essential oil on your skin, be sure to blend it with carrier oil such as sweet almond oil or jojoba oil. And even though sandalwood essential oil has shown to be non-toxic, avoid using it if you are pregnant or breast feeding because there is lack of study on its side effect.

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