I'm very curious to see how many people out there are using synthetics nowadays.  I know there are people who advocate only PURE essential oils, but they are rather costly, and many oils (like sandalwood) are not helping the plants they are destroying in order to make them.  I'm a huge fan of Scott Cunningham, and he had originally mentioned that using synthetics was alright for magick, but then recanted and said that only pure, unadulterated oils should be used.  Today's economy is wreaking havoc on the modern witch, and while I love working with the pure oils, I can't afford them, so I use a lot of synthetics and "cut" oils without shame.  For me, its all in the empowerment and the visualization anyway.  The scent is only for sympathetic purposes.  

Any thoughts?

I feel the same way you do.  I do use only the pure oils, but I looked into making my own oils.  I got the impression it was a very slow, and expensive process.  You could probably get some sandlewood seeds but growing this tree yourself may be difficult, especially being as far north as me.