Santalum album. that is the
scientific name of sandalwood, an evergreen and hemiparasitic tree
that, originally from India and other parts of Asia.
It is considered sacred in the Hindu culture and listed as "national property" by the Indian administration, which has intended in this way to stop the deforestation to which it has been exposed for many decades.
The
sandalwood can reach ten meters high; it has a brown trunk and thin branches
with thick and smooth leaves of intense green color. Sandalwood flowers,
meanwhile, are small and purple. Its wood has historically been used to make
furniture and build houses and also to make sandalwood essential oil.
The wood of sandalwood, prized and sought after, it becomes a yellowish wood that is sold in thin shavings. This wood reaches its
maximum aromatic power when the sandalwood tree has reached thirty years of
age. Among all the existing sandalwood species, the most valued is the one
that grows and is grown in the Mysore region, near Bangalore.
To obtain sandalwood essential oil, the
core of the tree trunk is used, as well as its roots. Distilling these
parts with steam gives an essential oil of intense and sweet aroma, which
makes sandalwood an aromatic note highly valued in the world
of cosmetics and perfumery. Its fragrance is so pleasant that most of the world's best cosmetics and perfumery industry make their perfume, some of the brands are such as Christian Dior, Loewe, Paloma Picasso or Calvin Klein have used it to
make some of their most famous fragrances.
Since time immemorial, sandalwood and sandalwood essential
oil has been used in all kinds of spiritual ceremonies (the embalming
of corpses would be one of them) and, above all, it has been used to perform
massages, although if we refer to it in Our page is mainly because sandalwood has
been used in Ayurvedic medicine to, for example, eliminate mucus or treat abscesses.
Uses of Sandalwood
The main function of sandalwood in Ayurvedic
medicine is to act as a sedative of the nervous system. Acting
neutrally on the Kapha dosha, the sandalwood reduces Pitta and
Vata. Thus, sandalwood has been used and is used in
Ayurvedic medicine to calm anxiety, relieve panic states and treat
depression.
Bringing
a sense of well-being and acting, although slightly, as a euphoric, sandalwood
calms the mind and brings peace, so it improves the quality of sleep, reduces
insomnia and acts as a good complement to help study and concentration.
Among the most important properties and benefits of
sandalwood we can find the following:
- It
is disinfectant, diuretic, and expectorant, so it acts in a very positive way
to balance the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems.
- Sandalwood vapors are
very useful for treating different respiratory problems such as sore
throats, irritation or excessive mucus.
- Used
in the form of creams or prepared lotions, sandalwood is used to treat sores, acne, pimples, infections and all types of skin rashes. If we want to treat an irritated or infected skin, we can
apply a compress with a cloth dampened with warm water in which,
previously, we will have added a few drops of sandalwood essential
oil. If the skin is very dry, we can add a few drops of essential
oil to our body cream or dilute the drops of sandalwood essential
oil in olive or almond base oil.
- Ten
drops of sandalwood oil, mixed with ten of olive oil and ten
of sesame oil, serve to improve the split ends of the hair and to
eliminate dandruff.
- A
drop of sandalwood oil, placed on the forehead, between the
eyebrows, in that space known as the "third eye", helps to
harmonize body and mind.
The sandalwood is also used in ayurvedic to
treat infections of the lower urinary tract (cystitis) medicine, nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, frigidity, impotence, gonorrhea or decreased
libido.
Not surprisingly, there are chemists who have pointed out that the
aroma of sandalwood is very similar to that of a male hormone,
which would explain, in a scientific way, the fact that sandalwood has
traditionally been attributed aphrodisiac and erotizing effects.
Precautions
As with most essential oils, it is not advisable to use
the essence of sandalwood with children or pregnant women, and
there are experts who do not recommend using sandalwood in
people suffering from any type of kidney problem.
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