Sandal Wood
Sandalwood is a wood that gives amazing fragrance. It is the wood of trees and mostly found in Sri Lanka, Southern Indian and Hawaii. Sandalwood is mostly used for aromatherapy, incense and perfume. It is a valuable in skin care. This wood is very beneficial for all types of skin.
Sandalwood has the following advantages on surface of the skin:
- Relaxing and comforting
- Softening and soothing properties
- Calming and balancing effect with moisturizer
- Relieves from irritation and itching of the skin
Sandalwood is very beneficial for the skin conditions such as dry cracked feet,
itchy skin, razor bumps, skin rashes, stretch marks, torn cuticles, wrinkles,
rosacea, nails problems and dry skin. The scent of Sandal incorporates in
our daily life in many ways. Joss sticks, paste, scent, soap, essential oil, and
statues or carvings are some examples. Therefore it is difficult for any Indian to
believe that Sandalwood tree could be endangered. It is becoming increasingly
rare to find a mature tree in the forests where they were once abundant.
For nearly 5,000 years, Sandalwood has been mentioned in ancient Indian, Chinese and Egyptian manuscripts. Sandalwood, called Santalum album in Latin is a native tree in southern parts of India. It belongs to the family Santalaceae. It can grow up to 15 meters tall in dry deciduous forests. It is a root parasite in the early stages of it's life.
The heartwood of a mature tree is fragrant and used for carving, extraction of oil and used in folk medicine. A tree has to grow up to 60 years before it can produce good quality heartwood from which oil can be extracted. In recent decades, trees are rarely allowed to grow for such a long period.
Another species of Sandalwood that occur in Australia, Indonesian archipelago, Paupa New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sandwich Islands and other islands in the Pacific are different from the Indian Sandalwood. The Indian Sandalwood is unique and is in great demand the world over. The demand for sandal drives people to substitute Erythroxylum, Pterocarpus, Amyris balsamifera (West Indian Sandalwood) and Santalum rubrum (Red Sandalwood, which does not have fragrant heartwood).
From 1792, when the Sultan of Mysore declared it a royal tree, the Indian Sandalwood is a Government monopoly. Mysore is called as 'Sandalwood city'. Even if the tree grows on private land the Government owns it, although no direct laws exist to protect the species. Use of Sandalwood is approved by ancient Islamic, Parsi, Jewish, Christian and other traditions around the world. Thus Sandalwood has a universal appeal.
Systematic exploitation, poaching, infestation due to disease, and indiscriminate felling of forest trees have all contributed to the decline of sandal in the wild today. By education, careful use of resources, we can perhaps revive the sandal by the turn of next century.
