Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Chandan
- Kannauj attars
- Bois des Îles
- Samsara
- Mysore crisis
- Tam Dao
- Santal 33
- Album controls
- Javanol years
- Plantation album
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
What is Sandalwood?
Creamy santal — milk and temple wood, now mostly farmed. Wild Mysore is a story, not a supply chain.
EDP vs EDT — what changes?
Concentration is oil in alcohol, not a quality score. EDT (about 5–15%) shows more top; EDP (about 15–20%) shows more heart and base. Houses vary; this is not a lab assay.
How should I wear Sandalwood?
One or two sprays on skin or cloth — sternum or hair, not a cloud in a lift. Let it turn an hour before you add more.
Which season fits?
Cool to cold, close to skin. Heat turns creamy wood into sun lotion.
Does skin chemistry change it?
Yes. Warm, moist skin amplifies sweet and spice; dry or cool skin can turn the same juice woody, soapy or short. Test on your skin, not only a blotter.
What about IFRA and oakmoss?
IFRA sets industry limits on some naturals and synthetics. A reformulation is usually a legal edit, not a betrayal. This atlas is not a safety sheet.
Sandalwood did not arrive as one bottle. The timeline below keeps Grasse, Guerlain, Chanel, Nahéma and IFRA as proper names, not metaphors.
Read the years as a map of trade and reformulation, not as a ranking of beauty.
Timeline
- Chandan
Indian sandal in sculpture, paste and medicine; the wood is the culture.
- Kannauj attars
Deg-bhapka into a sandal receiver — rose, kewra, jasmine ride the wood.
- Bois des Îles
Chanel puts sandal under aldehydes.
- Samsara
Jean-Paul Guerlain’s jasmine-sandal temple at late-extraît volume.
- Mysore crisis
Overharvest and regulation empty the classic album pipeline.
- Tam Dao
Diptyque’s temple woods as a European sandal memory.
- Santal 33
Le Labo’s pickle-cedar-sandal; a city uniform.
- Album controls
S. album trade controls push Aussie spicatum and synthetics.
- Javanol years
Givaudan’s molecule becomes the “sandal” in most briefs.
- Plantation album
Australian and Pacific S. album as a legal luxury story.
The eras
- Paste and attar — Sandal as religion, carving and still-bed.
- Couture milk — Chanel and extras use album as a luxury fat.
- Temple marketing — Samsara and niche temples; harvest already failing.
- Crisis and Santal 33 — Synths and a pickle-wood hit redefine the note.
- Plantation + Javanol — Legal woods and molecules as the real supply.
Milestones
- Kannauj sandal bed — A technology: the wood is the solvent.
- Samsara, 1989 — Mass-luxury sandal as spirituality and cream.
- CITES + Javanol — The note survived by becoming partly synthetic.
Sandalwood keeps moving; the other six chapters say what one date cannot.
Origins & milestonesNotes & accordsCraft & methodCulture & meaningIcons & legendsHow to wearMarket & bottles