What Happened to the Sandalwood Soap?

Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood insitu, essential oils are also extracted from the woods for use. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, the slow-growing trees have been overharvested in many areas.

This overharvesting has led to shortages and increasing prices to levels that are, frankly we feel, to high for an economical production run. As an example the Australian Grown and produced Essential Oils are costing around $1,500 per litre wholesale whilst the Indian Oils are around $4,200 per litre. So to make a commercial batch using certified essential oils would cause our sandalwood bar to be retailed at around $9-$10 per bar, Too high a price we think!