When is Sandalwood really Sandalwood?

Let us know how you like it.

... I didn't realize that Caswell-Massey stopped producing shaving soap ...

Sorry, I was wrong about that. They do indeed make shaving soaps, including Sandalwood. I may try it out of curiosity; I really do like the bath soap.

PS: Just ordered a puck. If it doesn't work out, I can always use it as a bath soap.

 One of the first soaps I bought was the Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood shaving soap expecting the wood scent.  Instead it wasn’t anything like the scent I get from the actual wood.  

QCS, Proraso Red, and Cyrus R Salter seem to be Mysore Sandalwoods. To me they smell like a dark peanut butter.

TOBS and most of the others are the cologny/perfume sandalwood, entirely different, to me - not even close.

Had my first shave with Caswell-Massey Sandalwood soap. The lather was a bit airy, but it provided good cushion and glide and I got my usual irritation-free devette shave. Same wonderful scent as the bath soap, too.  

Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood also produces an airy lather, so I wonder if this is a characteristic of sandalwood shaving soaps. I will be experimenting with the C-M Sandalwood to see if I can get a thicker lather (possibly by using less water). It can only get better, I feel -- definitely a keeper.

Had my first shave with Caswell-Massey Sandalwood soap. The lather was a bit airy, but it provided good cushion and glide and I got my usual irritation-free devette shave. Same wonderful scent as the bath soap, too.  

Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood also produces an airy lather, so I wonder if this is a characteristic of sandalwood shaving soaps. I will be experimenting with the C-M Sandalwood to see if I can get a thicker lather (possibly by using less water). It can only get better, I feel -- definitely a keeper.

Viseguy, I could never get a decent lather from any Caswell-Massey shaving soap I tried.  I finally just gave up.  Ah well, as the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Had my first shave with Caswell-Massey Sandalwood soap. The lather was a bit airy, but it provided good cushion and glide and I got my usual irritation-free devette shave. Same wonderful scent as the bath soap, too.  

Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood also produces an airy lather, so I wonder if this is a characteristic of sandalwood shaving soaps. I will be experimenting with the C-M Sandalwood to see if I can get a thicker lather (possibly by using less water). It can only get better, I feel -- definitely a keeper.

Viseguy, I could never get a decent lather from any Caswell-Massey shaving soap I tried.  I finally just gave up.  Ah well, as the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."  I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Freddy, I had my second shave with the C-M Sandalwood tonight. I tried making the lather with less water, to see if it would come out  thicker. No dice. It was actually thinner!   Cushion and glide were still acceptable, and the shave was A-OK. The devette actually calls for a somewhat thinner lather, like a straight, so my experience may not be typical. I can certainly understand why you gave up on C-M.

I'm leaning toward my original idea of mixing the C-M with an unscented soap that produces a thicker lather but will allow the sandalwood scent to shine through. Stirling's or Mike's unscented offerings should fit the bill nicely, methinks.

True sandalwood essential oil on the west coast of Canada, goes for about $200 per oz. It really does smell like the wood, however , to get that scent in a shave soap, I need about 1/2 oz per small batch, and it has to overcome the scents of the oils and the saponification reaction. Based on that price alone, it would add $20 to $25 to my cost per puck.

That would bring the product up in the MdC price point.

Most Sandalwood oils I get now are 10% dilutions, which give a hint of the scent and are much more affordable. I only use it now in my beard oil products.

True sandalwood essential oil on the west coast of Canada, goes for about $200 per oz.  It really does smell like the wood, however , to get that scent in a shave soap, I need about 1/2 oz per small batch, and it has to overcome the scents of the oils and the saponification reaction.  Based on that price alone, it would add $20 to $25 to my cost per puck.  

That would bring the product up in the MdC price point.

Most Sandalwood oils I get now are 10% dilutions, which give a hint of the scent and are much more affordable.  I only use it now in my beard oil products.

Probably why the one soap I use has sandalwood flecks of wood in it to also help the scent. I knew the oil was high priced and seen it listed on some of the soap making web sites for the kind of money you mentioned. I just find it odd to name a soap sandalwood and have some completely different scent. Sort of like selling an 'orange' scented soap that uses vanilla as the scent.

I am guessing some of the ones mentioned here are using sandalwood fragrance oil as opposed to essential oils.

True sandalwood essential oil on the west coast of Canada, goes for about $200 per oz.  It really does smell like the wood, however , to get that scent in a shave soap, I need about 1/2 oz per small batch, and it has to overcome the scents of the oils and the saponification reaction.  Based on that price alone, it would add $20 to $25 to my cost per puck.  

That would bring the product up in the MdC price point.

Most Sandalwood oils I get now are 10% dilutions, which give a hint of the scent and are much more affordable.  I only use it now in my beard oil products.

Probably why the one soap I use has sandalwood flecks of wood in it to also help the scent.  I knew the oil was high priced and seen it listed on some of the soap making web sites for the kind of money you mentioned.  I just find it odd to name a soap sandalwood and have some completely different scent.  Sort of like selling an 'orange' scented soap that uses vanilla as the scent.

I am guessing some of the ones mentioned here are using sandalwood fragrance oil as opposed to essential oils.

I think you and onethinline hit it on the head. The supply of the wood has driven up the price. This forces soapers to fiddle around with blends that mimic the scent. Then you get 100 different versions of a soap creators idea of sandalwood. It's unfortunate, but a sign of the times. The only sandalwood I like is the Proraso red. I am glad to hear from those that have held the wood in their hand verify that it is close, if not the actual true scent of sandalwood. I was surprised to see that Will added the sandalwood to his Latha line given his drive for perfection and critical nose. I havent tried it so I dont know how close it is to the Proraso red. I havent read his ingredient list either so I am ill informed there also.

I saw a video, or read somewhere about the Mysore soap in the Indian culture. Much like Lemon is in the Turkish culture, is is deeply woven into the fabric of their existence. In fact, the Indian government owns a soap factory and that is the main soap they make, Mysore soap. So when I found it at a international store, of course I bought it. Horrible. Yuk. Smelled to high heaven. But, I guess if it is part of your culture, and the g'vt supplies it to you, and its all you have, you learn to like it. It was the most chemically contrived detergent scent, worse than lysol, that I have ever smelled in a soap.

To close, I remember reading a couple of yrs back that Wendy with SCS has a source for sandalwood, and she distills it herself to extract the oils. (whether she still does or not I dont know) I did buy some of her sandalwood soap and matching ASL. They were a good match, the soap was good, but the ASL was a bit tacky on dry down. I finished the soap, but traded off the ASL. As a side note, I am enjoying her Smoke and Beads Patchouli based ASL. It has a nice fat Patchouli hit with a lemony non-tacky dry down. ---Cuz I like that hippy dippy head shop scent

PS
SCS=Saint Charles Shave

There are two main commercial forms of sandalwood: the most famous, Indian (sometimes "Mysore") sandalwood, which many of us think of as the canonical sandalwood smell; and Australian sandalwood, which is from a different species of tree and smells notably different than Indian.

Indian sandalwood (santalum album)...Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum)...

Indeed, the species of sandalwood, native to Mysore, is Santalum Album; there are many species of sandalwood native to Australia, but only a few of which, are considered commercially imortant (e.g.: Santalum Austrocaledonium and S. Spicatum).
However, root-stock S. album was planted in Australia in ~1998, and, today, is harvested - and is commercially available.

Oh, and I can confirm that Proraso red definitely has some real santalum album (Indian) oil in it (it's right there in the ingredient list, in fact!). If you want that classic sandalwood scent, that's an inexpensive way to get it.

I could be wrong, but I suspect, it's Australian S. album, or a lesser grade Mysore-terroir.
(Btw, as you might already know, companies are under no legal obligation to specify to the consumer the origin of EO; legally, Sandalwood planted, grown and processed in Australia, may be presented/misrepresented as, for example, "Indian Oil".)

Me, I don't care much for Indian sandalwood at all. Sadly I associate it strongly with hippy-dippy head-shops and haven't lost that connection.

My first experience with sandalwood was a Mysore wood carving, about 15 years ago, and I've loved the scent ever since, but I kinda see what you mean. (I sorta get that vibe from Patchouli Oil, myself.) :-)