Sandalwood Can Heal Your Skin & Diminish Acne, Aging. Learn More

Sheetal Rawal, Founder, Apsara Skin Care

A miraculous and divine ingredient: this is an apt way to describe sandalwood. Ayurvedic skin care is incomplete without sandalwood. The aroma of sandalwood is alluring and simply magical. It evokes nostalgic visions of a time & place soaked in tradition, divinity, and romance. There is an earthy sweetness in the aroma of sandalwood; this quality can induce a deep sense of calm and wellbeing. Psychological healing is a property of many natural ingredients and aromatherapy is built around this principle. Sandalwood is cultivated in Australia and Hawaii too, but Indian sandalwood wins hands down.

Sandalwood has far too many benefits for your skin to even seem believable at first. But the more you learn about this ingredient, the more you know that its versatility and myriad usage is no exaggeration.

A scientific study conducted showed that lab-made synthetic sandalwood had amazing wound healing properties. Your skin is able to smell it and go through a healing process.

So why is sandalwood so beneficial to your skin’s appearance and health? Is it true that sandalwood could be that famed elixir of youth? Can it keep your skin young and glowing for the

Sandalwood for skin
longest time possible? These questions are best answered by Ayurveda and by the phenomenal empirical evidence over a period of thousands of years. People have used sandalwood in skin care for centuries and the ingredient continues to be sought after. Nobody has tired of it yet and that goes to show that sandalwood is the queen of natural ingredients indeed.

So let’s go over the top skin care benefits of sandalwood.

Anti-Aging

Sandalwood is known for its astringent properties. That means it can tighten the skin and significantly reduce the appearance of open pores. Lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin arise as your skin loses its tightness. So using sandalwood on your skin in form of a high-quality product can be expected to work as a natural facelift. No knives needed thank you!

Home Remedy

Mix some sandalwood powder and almond milk to form a thick paste. Apply on your skin and wash in 15 minutes. Follow with serum and lotion for your skin type. Find out your skin type on this page.

"I first started using the Sandalwood Facial Serum and the Neem Facial Cleanser for about four months...Ever since I started using these products, I started to see a vast improvement [in] my skin. It looked…healthier, more vibrant, more color[ful]."

Heals Acne

This is linked to sandalwood’s possible ability to speed up wound healing. Synthetic sandalwood (sandalore) was shown to bind to skin’s olfactory (smell) receptors. This causes skin cells to divide rapidly and results in quick wound healing. As skin cells divide quickly, pores do not have a chance to remain clogged. This results in diminished blackheads, whiteheads, and eventual acne. Amazing!

Home Remedy

Mix 1 tsp. of sandalwood powder and 1 tsp. of fuller’s earth. Add 1/4th tsp. of nutmeg powder and enough rosewater to make a paste. Apply on your skin 1-2 times a week. Wash when dry and follow with your serum and lotion.

Fades Hyperpigmentation and Dark Spots

Sandalwood’s property to induce quick cell turnover and exfoliation might be the secret behind its

Sandalwood for skin issues
ability to diminish pigmentation, unevenness and dark spots of skin. In traditional Indian households, sandalwood has a long history of being used to heal sun damage on the skin. Excess tan and patchy skin is a form of hyperpigmentation and sandalwood is a star that comes to the rescue and delivers serious results.

 

Home Remedy

To 1 tsp. of sandalwood powder, add 10 drops of fresh lemon juice, 10 drops of fresh potato juice and enough cool green tea to make a thick paste. Use as a face mask 1-2 times a week and after washing apply your serum and lotion for pigmented skin renewal.

If you would like another remedy to fade the appearance of dark spots, watch this video to learn a potato juice remedy. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Balances Skin’s Oil Production

Sandalwood is believed to work on skin’s oil-producing glands and in effect teach them balance. In

Sandalwood for clear skin
other words, if your skin under-produces sebum you can end up with dry skin and if it over-produces it your skin can be oily. Many individuals have combination skin: some parts (like the t-zone) that are oily and others that are dry or normal. In comes sandalwood oil or powder and in short time of regular usage your pores begin to balance out their oil production to a happy middle. Result? Calm and balanced skin that looks like a million bucks!

 

Home Remedy

Mix 1 tsp. of sandalwood powder and enough aloe vera juice to make a thick paste. Apply on your skin and allow to dry. Wash with lukewarm water and follow with serum and lotion.

Calms Down Rosacea and Sensitive Skin

This could be due to the significant cooling properties associated with sandalwood. In the Ayurvedic system, every ingredient has an inherent cooling or heating property. Rosacea, sensitivity, dermatitis, eczema etc are all thought to arise due to an increase in the heat (pitta) element in the body. With sandalwood’s cooling properties pitta is counterbalanced. As skin cools off, it looks calm and flare-ups of issues like rosacea could well be on the mend.

Home Remedy

To 1 tsp. of sandalwood powder add 1 tsp. of oatmeal flour. Add enough fresh cucumber juice to make a paste. Apply on areas prone to redness 1-2 times a week. Wash when dry and then follow with your serum and lotion right after.

Calms Your Mind and Reduces Stress

When one talks about flawless skin and gorgeous hair, it cannot be achieved to its highest potential if stress is an everyday battle. Some amount of stress is normal and even essential for peak

Sandalwood for calm skin
performance, but too much stress takes a toll on your body and most definitely your skin’s appearance. Unevenness, dullness, dark under eye circles, and acne. These are a few examples of what chronic stress can cause.

 

Unhealthy stress is a condition where your mind is racing and often the thoughts are those of worry, fear, anxiety, resentment, anger etc. Pretty much when negative thoughts take over you can be sure that something needs to be done.

So how does sandalwood figure in this discussion? Its woody aroma is very grounding in nature. Grounding aromas are able to take the awareness from your head (where thoughts appear to arise) and focus it elsewhere. Therefore sandalwood is well known to be an aid in meditation practice. When your mind is calm and your stress levels low you can expect your skin to radiate with health and glow.

When you use sandalwood as part of your daily skin care routine, not only does it benefit at the physiological level but also at a mental level. For those of us who like to hug trees and see energy everywhere, sandalwood (and all natural ingredients in general) is recognized for its positive energy field. Meaning? Simply that it is a gift of nature that heals mind, body, and spirit. Oh yes, and did I say that it is without a shadow of a doubt the one ingredient your skin care routine is incomplete without. Sandalwood must play a serious role while you turn your dream of flawless and glowing skin into a reality.

Home Remedy

As a way to calm down and de-stress, you can simply smell a stick of sandalwood or apply a face mask made of sandalwood. Paired with other de-stressing strategies, this can be an excellent tool to regain tranquility.

Ready to go natural with your skin and hair care? Got questions? Need an expert to guide you? Fill out this form with your questions and you will get personalized skin and hair care advice shortly.

Read reviews from users of Apsara products on this page.

Go natural. It is good karma!

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