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Sandalwood: The most meaningless word in wetshaving?

Ok, Mysore Sandal Factory, export quality, sandal(wood) soap arrives!

Beautiful box, package: bar is sealed in a bag inside.

🤔 The scent is familiar, but not what I expected. It's in the vicinity of my $$$ AoS sandalwood oil, but.

Cut grass, needed a shower. This soap is wonderful!

Why am I surprised. India's Godrej shave rounds (soap) is another great product (clean industrial bathroom smell, not sandalwood) . There are probably a zillion great products from there we don't have easy access to.

🤔 The Mysore soap performs differently than other bar soaps. Hard to describe. Rinses easily? 🧐Something made a good impression. Wife even liked it, and I was expecting a negative comment.

Anyways. Another great tip from the forumites! 👍


AA

You've convinced me to place an order for more. I ordered many bars several years ago and definitely enjoyed them. Not hard on the wallet, either
 

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The Instigator
You've convinced me to place an order for more. I ordered many bars several years ago and definitely enjoyed them. Not hard on the wallet, either

Yeah, it was $8 for four. These were the "better" "export quality," which their website doesn't seem to have. Seems odd.

When I was in Spain one time, I complimented this family on some red wine. "Yes, we don't export the good stuff," was what they told us.

It contains the state-controlled natural sandalwood oil, so the soap seems a very good benchmark for the scent. (My AoS sandalwood oil EdT is now $125!)

Those under 40 shy away from the soap, I also read. :eek2:


AA
 
So, I have now ordered the 4 pack of both the Mysore AND the Rani, because a side by side comparison seemed a good idea. Plus, it's not like bar soap can go bad while it waits to be used up.
 

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For those interested, this is a cool video showing the process of making Mysore Sandal Soap.

Ok, that was cool- thanks! :a14: I like the grin on the woman's face when they got to the talc factory- sure she was going to get dusted!

Hm: wonder if this soap could be shaved with. Shampoo lather bars can be shave soap.

I have the AoS sandalwood soap and don't love it: Made by Valobra, it smells like Valobra - what I call tallow funk. Others call it a "dirty shirt vibe" and I agree. No argument that it works very well, it does. I just don't like detecting tallow, and have gravitated to some vegan shave soaps.


AA
 
Ok, that was cool- thanks! :a14: I like the grin on the woman's face when they got to the talc factory- sure she was going to get dusted!

Hm: wonder if this soap could be shaved with. Shampoo lather bars can be shave soap.

I have the AoS sandalwood soap and don't love it: Made by Valobra, it smells like Valobra - what I call tallow funk. Others call it a "dirty shirt vibe" and I agree. No argument that it works very well, it does. I just don't like detecting tallow, and have gravitated to some vegan shave soaps.
I have mixed some shredded Mysore Sandal Soap with an unscented shave soap and that worked all right. It does not take much of it to add a scent. Mysore Sandal Soap is all vegetable origin ingredients.
 

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I have mixed some shredded Mysore Sandal Soap with an unscented shave soap and that worked all right. It does not take much of it to add a scent. Mysore Sandal Soap is all vegetable origin ingredients.

I may try that, thanks - perhaps with a chunk of Haslingers.

I just feel good knowing this soap is "real." So many synthetics in the fragrance world.


AA
 
Most sandalwood soaps give you an "impression" of sandalwood using synthetic fragrance ingredients, or other types of wood.

If you can shop at an Indian market, you can find this soap:
View attachment 1226624
This scent is very familiar to most Indian people. But, I think the soap is mainly used by the older generations.
Like several others in this thread, I ordered this soap, mainly because I wanted to know what the genuine sandalwood scent is like, as I've now learned that most "sandalwood" soaps, indeed apparently nearly all of them other than this one, use a cheaper substitute.

Well, it came today, and the smell was instantly recognizable as one that often greets you when you enter an Indian gift, variety or grocery store. I've not been to India itself but there are many such stores in parts of the US, Canada, UK, and no doubt other countries, that have significant ethnic Indian populations. For all I know, I may be smelling this very brand of soap as stocked by these stores, but I suspect other products have it too. Anyway, mystery solved. It's nice enough that I'll use the soap, but not so nice as to merit harvesting sandalwood to near extinction. That mystery remains.
 
Mysore Sandal Export Quality soap is scented with "Sandalwood Oil Based Fragrance";
looks like it isn't scented purely with SW EO.

Tallow TAOS SW was much closer to SW EO, to my nose.
 
Most sandalwood soaps give you an "impression" of sandalwood using synthetic fragrance ingredients, or other types of wood.

If you can shop at an Indian market, you can find this soap:
View attachment 1226624
This scent is very familiar to most Indian people. But, I think the soap is mainly used by the older generations.

This my good man will be my daily go to soap as the "Indian Summer" warms up the subcontinent!
 
Mysore Sandal Export Quality soap is scented with "Sandalwood Oil Based Fragrance";
looks like it isn't scented purely with SW EO.

Tallow TAOS SW was much closer to SW EO, to my nose.
This Mysore soap, which is not shaving soap and is very, very cheap, lists both "Sandalwood Oil", and, then, "Fragrance" in its ingredients. TAOS, which is shaving soap, comes in a classy wood bowl and is very expensive, seems to just list "Fragrance" on the box, and other information seems to indicate it does contain both sandalwood oil and other fragrance. Superior though TAOS may be, this Mysore soap has exactly the smell one gets in those small Indian shops, as well as a soap and candle shop where sandalwood incense is burning. Anyone who doesn't have such shops nearby can tell whether they like true sandalwood by trying the Mysore soap, and if they like it, they can spring for TAOS.
 
In terms of scent, current TAOS SW soap is quite different though, vs vintage/tallow TAOS SW (which I suspect was scented solely with SW EO), ime.
 
In terms of scent, current TAOS SW soap is quite different though, vs vintage/tallow TAOS SW (which I suspect was scented solely with SW EO), ime.
Even when real sandalwood EO is used, it is usually mixed with other fragrance notes (herbal and floral type notes). The fragrance may be called sandalwood, but that does not mean it contains only sandalwood oil. Sandalwood EO is a base note and fixative in a mixture, even with the more expensive stuff.
 
In general, yes.
However, the exceptional (circa 2000 version of) tallow TAOS SW soap had no top notes, nor mids;
only the scent (to my SWEO-trained nose) of SW EO, and the Valobra soap base clay-like undertone.
And no mention of "parfum" or "fragrance" in the listed ingredients.

(Similarly, TAOS "Lavender Essential Oil" and "Lemon Essential Oil" soaps from that era were very much linear, with no "parfum" or "fragrance" in the listed ingredients.)
 
Even when real sandalwood EO is used, it is usually mixed with other fragrance notes (herbal and floral type notes). The fragrance may be called sandalwood, but that does not mean it contains only sandalwood oil. Sandalwood EO is a base note and fixative in a mixture, even with the more expensive stuff.
Yes, I see your point. This has been a very informative thread for me, since like the OP I was confused with exactly what "sandalwood" fragrance meant on all these soaps and creams. No doubt ask4Edge is right that even the true, traditional sandalwood fragrance can vary slightly from one product to another, but Atlantic59 is right on the money that Mysore soap, a basic, inexpensive, non-shaving soap, gives you the true, traditional sandalwood scent that will be familiar to anyone who has been in Indian gift or sundry shops or grocery stores. Some so-called "sandalwood" shaving soaps and creams come nowhere near it, no doubt at least in part because they lack genuine sandalwood oil.
 
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