I bought my husband a sandalwood beard comb years ago and hated the smell not realizing it was the fake leather case it came in, so he doesn't keep it in that anymore and now I like the smell of it. all that to say, this smells exactly like real sandalwood, so I believe it is. it foams nice but not excessively, cleans well. he's used it once so far, along with a beard oil. besides smelling great it came with two brand stickers. he needs beard wash and oil or else he gets this raw, red, flaky rash, so as long that doesn't come back, my review will stay at 5 stars. I tested a small bit on my hands as well to get pictures and it smells so nice, and my hand feels moisturized, like it definitely isn't dried out like hand soap would be. if you were just using this in the summer you'd probably be fine, in the winter I imagine you'd need the oil.