Basing your assessment of an aromatic strictly by how it smells out of the bottle can be problematic. When you inhale the aromatic oil or extract directly from the bottle, the thin bottle neck can prevent the aroma from fully divulging its complexity and its full palette of aromatic notes.
Fragrance Testing Strips are strips of thick, odorless paper that are ideally suited for evaluating the aroma of essential oils, CO2 extracts, absolutes, fragrance oils and other aromatics. They're also wonderful for evaluating blends and fragrances that you create for personal care or aromatherapy formulations.
Using a test strip allows you to assess the aroma immediately after the aromatic is applied to the strip. It also allows you to assess the aroma periodically during the evaporation process so that you can evaluate how it changes over time.
As an aromatic dries out, the top notes fade, then the middle notes, and then the base notes. By using fragrance test strips, you can study the aroma immediately after application and then see how the aroma changes after 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes and even after several hours or a day have passed.
For more information about the benefits of Fragrance Test Strips and how to use them, please read our library article entitled How to Best Assess the Aroma of a Liquid Aromatic.