So, it’s October now, and Sandalwood September (v2) is in the books (v1 can be found here). Sandalwood is the “classic oriental woody note, milky, soft, sturdy, rich, with a green top note and a satisfying lingering scent,” according to Fragrantica. Now, I’m not an expert, but I sure don’t get a lot of that from any soap that I have used. I get the woody note that is either sweet, with the soft/creamy note, or dry, with or without a resinous note. And yes, a lot of soaps fall in between those extremes, and some of the soaps didn’t smell like sandalwood or I couldn’t identify it. Over the course of the past month, I used 29 different soaps/creams from 29 different makers. I had fun trying out all of the different sandalwood soaps that I could get my hands on, and I tried to use only soaps that were in current production. However, I know that a few soaps are permanently out of production, but may be available in the secondary market.

Once again, I will be grouping these soaps into one of four categories: Sweet, Semi-sweet/dry, Dry, and None of the Above.

Sweet Sandalwoods:

• Cyril R. Salter - Indian Sandalwood - Cream
• Declaration Grooming - Persephone - Soap
• Klar Seifen - Sandalwood - Soap
• Lodrino - Sandalwood - Soap
• Noble Otter - Monoi de Tahiti - Soap
• Proraso - Sandalwood - Soap
• Talbot Shaving - Iliahi Ridge - Soap

My favorite from this group is probably Monoi de Tahiti, with Persephone a very close second. Of course, you can never go wrong with Proraso Red( ).

Semi-sweet/dry Sandalwoods:

• Antica Barbieria Colla - Sandalo Rosso - Soap
  
• Barrister and Mann - Sandalwood - Soap
• Barrister and Mann - Soft Heart: Sandalwood - Soap
• Catie's Bubbles - Retreat - Soap
• Chatillon Lux/Declaration Grooming - Santal Auster - Soap
• Nordic Shaving Company - Sandalwood - Soap
• Spearhead Shaving Company - Oakmoss & Sandalwood - Soap
• Stirling Soap Co. - Intrepid Man - Soap
• Truefitt & Hill - Sandalwood - Cream
• Zingari -The Traditionalist - Soap

My “Goldilocks” Zone features a number of soaps I really enjoy. Chatillon Lux's Santal Auster and Barrister and Mann's Sandalwoods are probably my favorites, but they are pretty hard to find. Because of that, I would probably lean towards Retreat or Intrepid Man as my picks for soap you can find easily.

Dry Sandalwoods:

• Chicago Grooming Co. - Sandalwood - Soap
• House of Mammoth/Declaration Grooming - Cerberus - Soap
• Oaken Lab - Sanctum - Soap
• Scheermonnik - Smoor - Soap
• Whispers From The Woods - Santalum - Soap

My favorite from this group is Cerberus, and Sanctum is a close second.

None of the Above:

• Captain Nemo's - Santalam - Soap
• Cremo - Sandalwood - Cream
• Eufros - Santal Yuzu - Soap
• Grooming Dept. - Sandalwood Nobile - Soap
• LEA - Classic - Cream
• Razor MD - Sandalwood - Cream
• Simpson - Sandalwood - Cream

I couldn't find any Sandalwood in these soaps. With most of these soaps, the other scents that make up the total profile or accord seem to drown out the sandalwood. The Cremo and Razor MD scents were very synthetic, harsh chemical scents, and the menthol in the LEA just overpowers everything.

Let's talk some Sandalwood.