im having trouble finding a besomim that really has a pleasant scent or any scent at all.
after 2 weeks of a new besamim , there is no longer any smell
this atleast to me , (wife thinks I dont have a good sense of smell)
if you havent changed your besamim since your chasuna , then chances are u are in the same boat as me.
although besamim is not so much of a chiyuv , bu tit can be a brochoh lvatala.
Fresh or dried out Hadassim work well.
Go to Etz Bakbukim Kibbutz in Israel and buy a cured lemon in a bottle. The smell lasts for years.
Buy a container of Besomim from the supermarket – Ner Mitzvah and others sell cloves.
My favorite is to buy whole cinnamon sticks and crush them up.
I actually know a few people who have no sense of smell and cannot say the Brocha on Besomim so we should appreciate what we have and use it well.
Spices should be kept in airtight containers. Exposure to the air allows the aroma to dissipate. When using besamim by havdala, cap the bottle once it is no longer being used, and it will last much longer. Same goes for spices used in cooking. It is unwise to leave the bottles open to the air, as they lose their potency with exposure.