Fragrance Shelf Life

I'm curious too. Logic would have told me the alcohol would preserve the scent. If anything I'd assume further that a minute amount of the solvent would flash off making the scent slightly more pure. Sales Girls tell me one year. A nice bottle of Cologne is not worth 200 to me if it has a shelf life as it takes several years for me to deplete half of the bottle. I buy more than I wear too. My old colognes still smell great, but I don't know for certain that they don't smell different either.

My little brother swears that several of his bottles did go bad. They have no smell to them other than alcohol, but he would wear stuff from Hollister or other teenager smelling fragrances.

The biggest thing is keeping the fragrances in a dark place; keeping them cool is also important, but light causes the greatest damage.

Most folks here don't keep their fragrances in a fridge-- I do, but I am in the minority. One member had his fragrances become ruined when his power went out and the fragrances went from being very cool to very warm over a relatively short time.

I think how long a particular fragrance will last with all its top notes intact will vary from fragrance to fragrance; some notes may be more fragile. But I'd be surprised if a fragrance stored in a cool dark place went "off" within less than 5 years. Some here say they have had perfumes for much longer and they are still good.

None of my fragrances have deteriorated since I began storing them in the cool and dark, and that had to be a good 4 years ago.

Could there be a variation in the formula over 5 years? Could the fresh stuff smell stronger because fragrances move toward synthetics? Wine doesn't like rapid variations in temperature, especially extremes. I wouldn't be able to taste the difference in spoiled wine vs good wine unless I could taste them side by side.

I had a mainstream fragrance go bad on me after about two years ("Pure" by Jil Sander). I have heard the theory that well made scents "ripen" over the years. But what would qualify as a well made scent then? More natural ingredients? (By logic they would have to go bad quicker)

My 2 year old bottle of GIT is still smelling great, as is my 14 year old bottle of Gucci Nobile. However I just revisited my 5-8 year old bottle of Lanvin Pour homme and it lost all the notes lol. It now smells of alcohol and hint of something to faint to resemble the old fragrance. I sprayed 10 sprays to see if it was just bad cologne in the plastic pick up tube which didn't help.

I have tons of vintage formulas of fragrances, most of them older than five years, that still smell great. I have yet to smell a fragrance that has gone bad, although I admit I do not wear Creeds. You would think fragrances as delicate as that might be cheaper.

In my experience, fragrances CAN last a long time, but not if you don't take good care of them. The fragrance killers are:

(1) Oxygen. Splash bottles tend to be less well-sealed, and tend to go bad easier. Spray bottles and a stable environment seem to keep the oxygen levels low.
(2) Contaminants. Again, a splash bottle phenomenon, when people rub, not splash. Dead skin cells and bacteria (enzymes), dirt (metal catalysts), soaps (surfactants, phase catalysts), and other things that, over time, will change the odor.
(3) Light. This is the biggest problem for spray bottles, since O2 and dirt are less problematic. 90% according to Luca Turin.
(4) Heat. Only a problem if your frag goes over 30-35 C. repeatedly or for a long time, and does not affect all frags equally.

I have a bottle of Polo green from the late 80's, and Givenchy Gentleman from the early 90's. They are amazingly rich. If they have deteriorated, then it must be at a lower rate than perfumery in general, because they blow away what is in the stores. I always kept them in the dark at room temperature. Only recently have I refrigerated them, in hopes of keeping them for a LONG time.

Keep your frags in spray bottles, in the dark at room temperature, and they will last for quite a while. Refrigerate carefully if you do. Verify that your fridge is stable with a digital thermometer. If it is cycling up and down, it could aereate your frag by pressure differences if the bottle's seal is loose. That's my guess as to why some folks have had bad fridge experiences. Most don't.

Hi jcastano,

I am wondering whether aldehydes are a good perserver as well as alcohol ...
I have a bottle of No. 22 parfum that is 40+ years old and it's fine. I have about 20mls of a 100ml bottle of L'Interdit that's over 10 years old - that's aldehydic too and fantastic still - kept it's colour and all it's notes. *sighs* *already mourns the day when it is gone*

I also have a mini of Givenchy III which is perfectly good and it's about 20 years old. My mini of Cabochard is around the same age and in great shape. Mini of Beautiful = ditto.
BUT! I did recently buy a bottle of Lolita Lempicka that had gone bad. It was strange. All the notes had warped, with some coming forward, others disappearing and the overall scent was extremely weak.

I have this incredibly abused bottle of Spellbound that someone had bought me when it was released ... that's 18/19 years ago. I left it out of it's box, left it in indirect light and basically cared not at all for it (I don't mind the scent - I just didn't like the person who gave it to me LOL).
That bottle is missing it's top notes, has gone a deep brown the colour of Youth Dew but is otherwise good. Perfectly wearable.

Testing old bottles next to brand new ones is not an accurate measure of whether your old perfume is bad or not as the reformulations can often destroy a perfume completely (EG. Current formulation of Opium and the 2002 reformulation of L'Interdit). The best indicator is you. If you like it and can wear it, all is awesome. I have personally bought some back up bottles of a few perfumes because I am either dreading a change in formulation or it already has a reformulation that I don't approve of. I have made sure that they are dated over 2 years ago and they are all fine.

Many people bid like crazy on Ebay on old, old bottles - I just missed out on another 30ml bottle of No. 22 parfum that went for $180 US (I only bid 150, hoping to get a bargain - yes that's a bargain. T_T).

Also note that The Perfumed Court sell very old formulations and long time discontinued fragrances which are all perfectly fine (in my experience).

My input is that while it's impossible to tell which perfumes will age badly and which wont, the best we can do is take good care of them. Leave them in their boxes (or put them in a dark cupboard) and don't let them be exposed to extreme temperatures. I think I can safely say that most perfumes will last for as long as you would like to keep them ... but not all. xD

Cheers!

Do perfume companies bottle their fragrances under a nitrogen gas blanket? If oxygen really was a big killer, packaging it under nitrogen gas would eliminate oxygen in the bottle, at least until it was sprayed and then oxygen would then enter. It would at least help to preserve the fragrance before the first spray was made.

i think the shelf life is as long as the preservatives. most rubbing alcohol lasts 3-4 years before it "expires", although it still works i think

I suggest contacting the manufacturer. I got a few different answers about Chanel, so I emailed them direct and found out that their stuff has a shelf life of 3 years. They also will tell you the age of your bottle if you email them the four digit number on the back of the bottle.

Here's the link to their email - http://www.chanel.com/nav/html/direc...one_lang=USAEN

I think that most manufacturers will tell you 36 months to cover themselves but as we all know , keep your pongs in a cool and dark place they will last for many years to come

Do you keep them in the fridge?