Our ingredients
Each and every one of the ingredients in our products contributes to their overall effect. Careful thought goes into the selection and sourcing of the raw materials as well as the way in which the individual ingredients are combined to form complete Dr. Hauschka products. We also adhere to the highest quality standards.
This page tells you more about Sandalwood, where it comes from, why we use it and what functions it performs in our products.
Why is sandalwood used as an ingredient in Dr. Hauschka products?
A tree’s fragrance normally comes from its blossom. The fact that the sandalwood tree concentrates its essential oil in its wood impacts on its effectiveness. Unlike airy floral fragrances, the fragrance of sandalwood conveys a sense of stability. The floral quality concentrated in the solid wood demands durability. Instead of a strongly emanating scent, sandalwood emits a subtle fragrance that warms the soul, touches the heart and leaves you feeling grounded. Only once applied to the skin does it develop into a delicately effective force, which gently envelops and offers a sense of calmness. Sandalwood water from the distillation process helps tone the skin and give it vitality.
Ingredients in Lavender Sandalwood Calming Body Cream
Sandalwood oil offers a sense of calmness and supports the soothing effect of the lavender. Balancing wood sorrel extract has a harmonising effect, while premium olive, macadamia nut, apricot kernel and avocado oils strengthen the skin’s barrier function. The skin feels silky-soft and smooth following application and has its natural balance restored thanks to the Body Cream’s soothing effect.
Raw material profile
Most people know sandalwood from India. Anyone who has travelled to this colourful country will ever forget its characteristic scent. It permeates rooms and lingers on clothing. The fragrance comes from certain sandal trees, of which there are about 25 species worldwide. These are natively found in the Indian subcontinent, Australia, from Hawaii to New Guinea and in the Philippines, and have certain things in common: their wood contains essential oil and they’re classed as semi-parasitic. The trees obtain some of their nourishment from the root systems of neighbouring plants, but can also survive alone, without a host plant.
Sandalwood essential oil is obtained from sandal trees from India and Australia. These grow to heights of between one and ten metres, are evergreen, flower throughout the year and are not fussy about where they grow – whether in fertile valleys or on dry mountainsides, the sandal tree thrives anywhere. Indeed, the scent of its wood seems to be more intense the dryer and poorer the soil it grows in. Its leaves are large and leathery, somewhat like laurel leaves. Its unscented flowers usually have four petals, which look yellow on opening but gradually take on a deep red colour. They grow in clusters at the tips of the branches.
The essential sandalwood oil obtained from the reddish heartwood contains a number of substances including the sesquiterpene alcohol santalol and santalen, which is classed as a sesquiterpene. It is antiseptic, toning and stimulates the lymph flow. The essential oil plays an important role in the perfume industry.
In aromatherapy, the fragrance of sandalwood is used to help combat excessive mental strain. The harmonising fragrance is soothing, relieves tension and helps people find their inner peace.
To harvest the heartwood for steam distillation, the felled tree trunks used be left lying on the ground for nature to take its course. White termites would attack the bark and the soft sapwood, until a few months later only the almost cleanly stripped hard heartwood remained.
Essential sandalwood oil is antispasmodic and antibacterial. It can be used to help treat minor urinary tract infections. Inhalations are said to help combat persistent coughs.
As sandalwood is so popular that natural stocks have been strongly decimated, especially in India, each year the Indian government issues felling licences that are subject to strict conditions.
Origin, cultivation and processing
The essential sandalwood oil used in Dr. Hauschka Skin Care products is obtained from sustainable, certified organic forestry in Australia. Tree nurseries in the tropical regions in the north of the country propagate the Australian sandalwood trees (Santalum spicatum) and their host plants, both of which are cultivated together. The trees are therefore given the necessary conditions for optimal growth. Every year, new, species-rich plantations are created so that sandal trees of different ages are simultaneously available. The sought-after essential oil is obtained by felling trees with an age of 15 to 17 years. Machines strip the trees to leave only the hard heartwood. After this is chipped and ground, the essential oil is obtained from it using steam distillation. It takes about 20 kilograms of sandalwood to produce one kilogram of essential oil. The distillation process is exceptionally lengthy: the sandalwood is distilled at just over 100°C for up to 100 hours.
Lavender Sandalwood Calming Body Wash with the gentle aroma of lavender, discreetly accompanied by the warm fragrance of Australian sandalwood. Quince seed extract helps your skin to retain moisture, plant surfactants respect skin’s pH and effectively cleanse and plant oils leave your skin feeling smooth.
Lavender Sandalwood Calming Body Cream for soft, nourished and protected skin. The comforting aroma of lavender is complemented by warm notes of Australian sandalwood. Extracts of lemon balm (melissa) and wood sorrel balance and renew, while macadamia nut, apricot kernel and avocado oils nourish and fortify the skin’s protective barrier.
Regenerating Intensive Treatment has a base of sandalwood water from the steam distillation process, which helps to give the skin tone and vitality. Rhythmitised dilutions of madonna lily, gingko and hawthorn work with gemstones blue tourmaline, amber and gold to support a maturing skin’s natural processes of renewal.
Dr. Hauschka Quality
- Authentic natural and organic skin care and make-up, certified to NATRUE standards
- Free from chemical/synthetic fragrances, dyes and preservatives
- Free from mineral oils, parabens, silicone and PEGs
- Dermatologically tested for sensitive skin
- Wherever possible, all raw materials come from controlled organic or biodynamic (Demeter certified) cultivation and are recovered under fair conditions
- We don’t test on animals, we test on happy to help out human volunteers
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