Sandalwood

Sandalwood from Sanskrit चन्दनं Chandanam is one of the most important sources of incense, but it is also one of the most expensive and over-harvested woods in the world. Authentic white sandalwood from Mysore, India is no longer available and likely will not be until at least 2035. Good quality replacements are more than $30 an ounce (28 grams). This is definitely one of those cases where the price of the incense reflects the quality of the source.

We usually recommend using raw incense, but with Sandalwood it is far too expensive to do so. Instead, we have selected a range of good quality but affordable incense and essential oils that bring us the wonderful scent of Sandalwood. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

You might notice that even though the best Sandalwood is from India, we do not offer any Indian Sandalwood incense. There are two reasons for this: one is over-harvesting and the illegal trade in India, and the other is a lack of good quality incense from India. Unfortunately, most Indian incense is made with impurities and toxic chemicals, and relies on substances we prefer not to breathe. If we find a good, clean, healthy incense from India, we will be certain to get it for all of us to enjoy.