Sex, Spirituality & Smuggling

Sex, spirituality & smuggling...

THE SENSATIONAL HISTORY OF SANDALWOOD FROM FOREST TO FLACON

THERE IS SURELY no other ingredient SUZY NIGHTINGALE goes on the in the perfumer’s palette which has the duality of sandalwood. On the woody trail of one of the most precious one hand, it is prized for its cooling, and intriguing ingredients, prized medicinal purposes (in Ayurvedic medicine) – and conversely, for equally by perfumers and sculptors its aphrodisiac, erotic nature. In fragrance, it can be soothing – or sexy. And it’s probably that fascinating perfumed paradox which has led to an overwhelming need LEFT: sandalwood forest. (and indeed greed) for this precious TOP: sandalwood drying. wood. Today, sandalwood can be the ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: product of illegal trade by smugglers, sandalwood incense, wooden blocks and or the product of laudably sustainable

So what I set out to do over the next followers to ‘Be like sandalwood, few pages is to find a way through which perfumes the axe that cuts it.’ the smoke that shrouds sandalwood Although as far back as 500BC, the in mystery, exploring: how can an great Chinese philosopher already aroma be both spiritual and sinful? warned of the dangers of over- What are the differences between the exploitation. ‘Sandalwood was so various types of sandalwood oils? And lavishly used,’ Celia Lyttelton notes ultimately, how can environmentally in The Scent Trail (Bantam Press), conscious consumers establish whether her wonderfully evocative book on the sandalwood in our perfumes has ingredients, ‘that Confucius recorded been sustainably sourced? that the great sandalwood forests of Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised the East were in danger of depletion.’ that sandalwood stems from the same It was equally in demand in botanical family as European mistletoe, religious temples and in houses of ill for its milky, skin-like, transcendental repute. Courtesans, Lyttleton reports, scent has spawned many centuries ‘rubbed their breasts with sandalwood of myths and kisses along the way. Dominique Ropion paste, which contains a steroid similar Though several trees of the Santalum to testosterone.’ Demonstrating its family produce fragrant sandalwood, versatility, ‘sandalwood paste was two are most lauded for the quality of also used for fumigation, religious their distilled oil. Santalum album is Sandalwood purification and for embalming the Indian species which for centuries royal corpses.’ According to James has been highly revered, but is now immediately McHugh, ‘sandalwood seems endangered (and highly protected in “ originally to have been ground to a India, as a result). Santalum spicatum makes me think paste or powder, used in medicine is the other, flourishing in the semi-arid to cool and heal the body or applied plains of Southwest Australia. of the epidermis. to the skin as a beautiful, cool and Wherever it grows, the wood is fragrant adornment.’ dense, yellowish, ultra fine-grained It whispers of For many of today’s leading and unique for retaining its aroma for perfumers, sandalwood becomes decades. That’s why traditional Indian sensual skin a go-to ingredient from day one of chests were carved from sandalwood their training. As Givaudan’s Yann to perfume the clothes or precious games. Its woody, Vasnier explains, ‘When I started at objects kept within, and why statues ISIPCA perfumery school in 1996, – particularly of Buddha – are often milky scent perfumers would round up their sculpted from sandalwood, the better formulas with 5-10% – or even more to manifest the scared nature of the presides over an – of Indian sandalwood (Santalum figures they depict. album), sourced from Mysore in In his scholarly exploration, East India. That quality has been the Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in erotic force, benchmark for adding roundness, Indian Religion and Culture (Oxford richness, creaminess, warmth and University Press), James McHugh an intimate long-lastingness to a fragrance. It also explains the wood was used for this has woody, cedar-y, coniferous and purpose, because ‘…certain qualities discovery animalic facets.’ A wonderful fixative, of sandalwood – its colour, fragrance, it not only smells sublime but works to and coolness – made it an ideal tether other ingredients to the skin. precious material to associate with the Unfortunately, this multi-use oil bodies of enlightened persons.’ ” is neither quickly or easily obtained So no wonder that when the – which explains its huge value. Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, In India, Pakistan and Nepal, the she presented him with scented gifts trees are government-owned and carved from sandalwood. Or that their harvest is controlled. The most he was so awed by the aroma, he fragrant sandalwood is sourced from immediately commissioned musical the heartwood and roots. That core instruments – and huge, elaborately takes a minimum of 15-20 years to wrought pillars for his temples – to be fully mature, which rises to 30-50 years carved from this perfumed material. for the very best quality. When ready Confucius also waxed lyrical about for harvesting, the felled trunk and its the virtues of the tree, urging his dried roots are pulverised into dust,

34 THE scented LETTER distilled by steam, then ultimately Thierry Wasser boiled in copper cauldrons, with the Sandalwood precious red-gold oil separated from the water and poured into flasks. bears witness Over 1,000 kilos of sandalwood dust “ produces just 55 litres of oil. The to the history process takes four days (and the smell produced by the steaming is said to of Eastern be exquisitely soothing). But to wait 50 years for such a civilisations. Its tree to mature has proved too much for some. As a result, in India many wreaths of smoke sandalwood trees have been illegally felled much sooner by ruthless fill temples and smugglers who have in some cases been prepared to kill to get their houses with the hands on this bounty. In 2002, The Times of India fragrance of reported the official figure of India’s TOP: Thierry Wasser sandalwood export at around 400 visits the sustainable woody, creamy, tons. Unofficially, however, when sandalwood smuggling is taken into account, they plantations which estimated it to be more like 2,000 supply Guerlain each warm, mild and year, to meet with tons, with supplies ever-dwindling. growers and inspect spicy notes And it is this illegal trade that has that progress on the project led to an environmental crisis. So to better understand the rising crisis sandalwood faced, Lush’s Simon Constantine (son of founder Mark) ”

THE scented LETTER 35 FROM FOREST TO FLACON

TOP: sandalwood logs drying out before being processed. FAR LEFT: botanical illlustration of sandalwood. LEFT: carved into an Indian religious adornment

24 THE scented LETTER Vanuatu and Australia with buyer successful, to oversee and ensure Agnès Gendry. the highest quality.’ But for Guerlain, As the Lush blog recounts, ‘Their to find an alternative to Indian journey unearthed the shocking story sandalwood was a matter of survival. of Veerappan, a sandalwood smuggler Because as Thierry observes: ‘If you and elephant poacher notorious for don’t have sandalwood, you don’t violence, kidnapping, and murder.’ have Samsara. It’s as simple as that.’ Constantine explains that while they Guerlain is one of many fragrance did discover sources of sandalwood companies making ethical sourcing that were sustainable and ethical, they of sandalwood a priority. Fragrance felt that ‘…we needed to find a way to house Givaudan also has a Santalum pique people’s interest in the source of album project in Australia. ‘We’re lucky raw materials.’ So to draw attention to enough to have ethical and sustainable the problem in an easy-to-understand sources for this ingredient, working and engaging way, Constantine and closely with indigenous Australian Gendry wrote a graphic novel, On communities,’ explains Givaudan’s the Trail of Sandalwood Smugglers Yann Vasnier. Indeed, their exclusive Yann Vasnier (Lush Handwritten), to highlight supplier, Dutiahn, was presented the complexity and importance of with an award for sustainability at ingredient supply chains. the General Assembly of the United Indian As of last year, Indian Santalum Nations, in September this year. album was still on the International For Francis Pickthall, director of sandalwood Union for the Conservation of Nature’s fragrance supplier CPL Aromas, the (IUCN) ‘Red List’ of species at risk of quest for sandalwood also meant “ complete extinction. But perfume looking further afield. ‘Until now, was always the houses realised quite some time ago no sustainability programme for that new sources had to be found. Santalum album has existed in India. benchmark for Guerlain’s in-house perfumer, Thierry So to meet demand, the Sandaforest Wasser, was among those determined Sustainable Plantation was founded in adding roundness, to protect this ‘secret, sacred tree,’ neighbouring Sri Lanka by BioPower which, he reflects, ‘bears witness to in 2007, allowing fragrance houses – richness, the history of Eastern civilisations. including CPL Aromas – to continue Its wreaths of smoke fill temples and to use the best quality sandalwood, creaminess, houses with the fragrance of woody, sourced by sustainably-managed creamy, warm, mild and spicy notes.’ practices, far into the future.’ Over warmth and long- To that end, Guerlain have been 30,000 trees have been planted, with working for some time with an a healthy survival rate of over 85% lastingness to a Australian partner to develop a thanks to the favourable growing Santalum album project that could conditions there. fragrance produce essential oil of the highest So if you know there’s a sandalwood quality. ‘We were the first to believe in note in the fragrance you love, what this project… and together we set up action should you take? Writing to the a new ethical, sustainable, high-quality perfume brand who make it is one ” supply chain for this exceptional raw action, asking about the source for material,’ Wasser comments excitedly, this ingredient; today, all companies, delighting in the fact he can now travel across most industries, realise that they to the sandalwood forest every single are answerable to consumer concerns year to ‘…see these trees grow – from as never before. Chances are that your the nursery where we raise and cherish sandalwood does indeed come from them to the plantation where they a sustainably managed plantation (or come to take root and flourish, to the is a synthetic sandalwood smell-alike), day when they will beautifully enhance but it’s always worth making the point a few drops of Mon Guerlain.’ that as perfume-lovers, we care about Not least because of the slow pace these issues. And that we support the at which the trees mature, the project ethical sourcing of ingredients like the ABOVE: the graphic has required a great deal of patience. peerless sandalwood. At once spiritual book written by Simon Constantine to ‘We’ve worked with these people and sensual – and in a perfumer’s highlight the horrors for many years, from the early days, palette, perhaps the most ‘essential’ of illegal sandalwood

THE scented LETTER 37 FROM FOREST TO FLACON The ‘Holy Grail’ for perfumers WHAT IS IT ABOUT sandalwood that favouring different sandalwoods from 1 D.S & DURGA RADIO BOMBAY sends perfumers into such raptures? related species: an Australian double The dusty thrum of an old radio Ask a ‘nose’ to explain and they distilled bio-certified sandalwood, danced to in a busy workshop, may come over all starry-eyed and and New Caledonian sandalwood, sung along with at full-volume, a tribute to bedroom rock stars slightly breathless. Certainly Master from an archipelago in the Pacific. everywhere Perfumer Dominique Ropion gets ‘Both offer elements of sandalwood’s £220 for 100ml eau de parfum very excited over the material when characteristic aroma – woody, spicy, libertylondon.com describing it in his book Aphorisms fatty. However, the Australian oil has a of a Perfumer (NEZ Littérature). greener top note and a more angular 2 GUERLAIN SAMSARA EXTRACT ‘Sandalwood immediately makes me feel than the New Caledonian, which The delightful shiver of anticipation, a rhythmic seduction think of the epidermis. It whispers is milkier and softer,’ she says. that’s all smooth lines and silky of sensual skin games. Its woody, 4160 Tuesdays’ Sarah McCartney smiles; a hymn to the gods of milky scent presides over an erotic agrees that, ‘These sandalwoods are gorgeousness force, an intimate discovery,’ he a little more herbal in aroma than £230 for 30ml extrait continues, even comparing it to the the traditional Mysore sandalwood, guerlain.com scent of female flesh. Indeed, Ropion somewhere along the woody scale 3 MAP OF THE HEART professes that for a perfumer, these towards Virginian cedarwood to CLEAR HEART V.1 ‘fleshy notes are the Holy Grail. The my nose. And to get the smoother Salt and sunshine fused in an mysticism of the mechanics of desire.’ creamier scent they may be blended endless summer, a memory of Perfumers concur that sandalwood with modern materials, like Sanjinol, laughter and sea-licked skin, the has a kind of ‘strokeability’. Pia Long, Sandalore, or Santaliff.’ slow sunset dreams are made of £150 for 90ml eau de parfum perfumer and co-founder of fragrance Givaudan’s Yann Vasnier tells harrods.com supplier and consultancy Olfiction, us that he turns to several other explains: ‘To me, a good sandalwood trademarked synthetic substitutes 4 PARLE MOI DE PARFUM note is reminiscent of sun-warmed, in his work: Sandela, Bangalol, MILKY MUSK / 39 salty skin and sometimes the smell of Polysantol and Osyrol, along The supple skin of a lover, a kitten’s head. Natural sandalwood with naturals that can deliver a tenderly stroked, a snuggle of musk to cosy up with on colder oil has an unparalleled ability to add sandalwoody effect. ‘Other woods days and harken to in those warmth and glow to the base note of and balsams can be used to replace moments of tremulous doubt a perfume, and it really comes to life sandalwood, with great results: £158 for 100ml eau de parfum on skin.’ amyris, guaiacwood, copaiba, lessenteurs.com Famed perfumer Michel Almairac gurjum,’ he explains. selfridges.com favours Santalum album, now grown And before you clutch your pearls 5 4160 TUESDAYS MIDNIGHT on the South Pacific island of New at the mention of synthetics, here’s IN THE PALACE Caledonia, which features in several an interesting observation from Sarah Originally created for a sheikh, of the creations for his own perfume McCartney. Very often, she explains, picture the palace bathed in house, Parle Moi de Parfum. ‘It adds a students at her very popular West moonlight, a midnight tryst in the unique feeling that’s simultaneously London perfume-making classes fail fragrant gardens, sighs of delight in the shadows soft and dry,’ he relays, loving the to recognise real sandalwood when £95 for 30ml eau de parfum milky aspect because it feels they blind-smell it. 4160tuesdays.com ‘…cocooning, like a duvet or a big ‘The replacements are so sweater you can wear during winter.’ beautiful and widely used that when 6 ABEL ODOR RED SANTAL Sandalwood is also the perfumed my workshop students smell the Shimmering glances full of meaning, an awakening amidst pulse of Australian niche house Map real thing they often say, “That’s the morning mist, hot kisses to of the Heart’s scents, who prefer to not sandalwood!” But when they tingle the senses, soulfully use indigenous and sustainably- smell one of the modern woodsy £98 for 50ml eau de parfum sourced Santalum spicatum variety substitutes, there’s a smile at the roullierwhite.com in their creations. Their perfumer more familiar aroma and they happily 7 EDITIONS DE FRÉDÉRIC MALLE Jacques Huclier says that for him, say, “Yes, that’s sandalwood.” The SUPERSTITIOUS the smell is ‘woody and explosive,’ uninitiated expect “chemicals” to Described by Persolaise as providing ‘a unique signature of smell like cleaning fluid, and are ‘…roughly-hewn, super-woody sensuality, texture and deepness to astonished when they are smoother and more than a little filthy,’ think the range. It’s the heart of the Hearts, and gentler than the naturals.’ twisted sheets, swollen lips and a beat within the fragrances.’ With not a tree felled, in the trickles of perspiration £240 for 200ml eau de parfum Olfiction’s Pia Long is also sourcing of any of them. fredericmalle.co.uk

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