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What do you do with spoiled fragrances?

post #1 of 21
7/10/10 at 9:23am
Thread Starter 
Some of my oldest fragrances went bad. I am not a firm believer that fragrances die in one year, but some of my 10 year old bottles of EDT lost a lot of it's smell. Alcohol overpowers the fragrance, and spraying a concentrated area of tissue isn't that potent either.

What do you do with your old bottles? Throw them out? Give them to a less fortunate friend?

And what is the point of buying a big bottle of EDT if it is only going to last a year, I have a small habit of buying more than I wear. Most of my fragrances smell great several years later, a few do not.

Specifically my Lanvin Poure Homme and Ralph Lauren Romance went bad. My 10 year old bottle of Hermes eau de orange verte still smells pretty good.
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post #2 of 21
7/10/10 at 10:09am
Thankfully, I've only had a couple of bottles that went bad. I ended up just tossing them. I typically by smaller bottles (100 ml or less) to guard against this.
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post #3 of 21
7/10/10 at 10:21am
Toss them or recycle glass bottles.
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post #4 of 21
7/10/10 at 10:30am
Ive never had anything " go off " but fragrance I no longer like or tire of end up going to my brother and he is usually quite happy about that
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post #5 of 21
7/10/10 at 4:48pm
I would say to save the caps, at least. That way, if you buy a tester, you can use the cap from the previous bottle. Or, perhaps you could swap caps with another Basenoter. You never know. Maybe we could start a cap-swapping thread around here somewhere.
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post #6 of 21
7/11/10 at 9:23pm
it depends on whether your a serious collector or just someone who buys specific colognes that you like. if your a true collector you keep the bottle just for collection sake.
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post #7 of 21
7/12/10 at 2:32pm
You could also sell an old bottle on Ebay (if you don't keep bottles as a collectible )probably under vanity ,perfume and shaving in the collectibles catagory and it would be kind to mention the scent damage
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post #8 of 21
7/12/10 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bookwyrmsmith View Post

You could also sell an old bottle on Ebay (if you don't keep bottles as a collectible )probably under vanity ,perfume and shaving in the collectibles catagory and it would be kind to mention the scent damage

I'd go so far as to say, it would be fraudulent not to mention the scent damage if there is any.
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post #9 of 21
7/12/10 at 10:44pm
personally id keep em, i keep empty bottles and have a "collection graveyard" (atleast thats my plan, ive yet to finish any bottles as im still new to the game)
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post #10 of 21
7/13/10 at 3:12am
Hmmm..i'm ALARMED to know that d frags go bad..wont believe this!
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post #11 of 21
7/13/10 at 3:54am
I've never had a fragrance that went bad, and I have 20 year old bottles.

I would just empty out and recycle the bottle, unless it happened to be a collectible. I agree that it's at the very least misleading to sell it without stating that the content has turned.
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post #12 of 21
7/13/10 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tott View Post

I've never had a fragrance that went bad, and I have 20 year old bottles.

I would just empty out and recycle the bottle

+1 on both counts.
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post #13 of 21
7/13/10 at 12:40pm
I agree with keeping the caps if the perfume is from a house that you may buy from again-- occasionally one can buy new tester bottles at reduced prices, and they often don't come with caps.
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post #14 of 21
7/13/10 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
The few have no collectibility. They don't smell bad like rotten, they just don't smell much and are overpowered by alcohol. When I spray it still smells quit nice, but very muted. I'd be comfortable wearing them, but if I had them this long without using them up, it will be another decade or two. I'll never toss my Gucci Nobile, 10-15 years old and I still love the smell.

I recently got into colognes again, and I find it difficult to wear mass market stuff when I just got into niche fragrances.
I am also the collector type, I keep stuff forever lol.
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post #15 of 21
7/14/10 at 12:25am
If it's your taste that has developed and therefore you don't like the frag any more - then you can give it to a friend or to charity. Perhaps someone else like it.

If it has turned just throw i away (or keep the bottels for memory of the start of your fragrance hobby).

A parfumista gave me the advice not to spritz the rest of the fragrance out and recycle the bottle. She had done this with a fragrance that had turned and her kitchen smelled of this fragrance for a long time.
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post #16 of 21
7/15/10 at 10:29am
I've never had a bottle go bad either. I had bottles of Paco Rabanne and Azzaro for twenty years.
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post #17 of 21
7/16/10 at 5:05am
dump some nice inexpensive essential oils in there and see what you get.
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post #18 of 21
7/17/10 at 12:50am
Some just get spoiled. It's infrequent and not being a chemist I've no idea why but it seems to occur when there's just a little bit left in the bottle. I don't think age has much to do with it? Perhaps temperature? Who knows.

I throw them out, period.
But I do like to take a sniff of a fresh bottle or decant to make sure I wasn't absolutely deranged when i bought it in the first place and thought it was great.
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post #19 of 21
7/17/10 at 8:29am
Thurnau,
I like it when you say you have a "small habit" of buying more than you could wear. Yes, a small community here shares that small habit with you... : )

Some members are shocked that fragrances go bad. But remember this may have to do with improper storage. In any event, I agree that it's irresponsible to sell them. At least give them to a charity.

I also think it's irresponsible to dump them in the sink or trash. I think the most responsible way of dumping them would be to ask if the HazMat program of your city might be able to take them from you (Household Hazardous Materials collection). This is where you would take paint, batteries and such. Just my opinion.
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post #20 of 21
7/17/10 at 9:30am
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I've not personally had any fragrances go entirely bad. I've only experienced some that lose a little bit (sometimes a little more) of their brightness over time. The only time I tossed one into the bin was when I saw what looked like a kind of mite (or some other insect) in my bottle of Paco Rabanne Eau de Metal. It still smelled gorgeous, though.
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post #21 of 21
7/17/10 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 
They all still smell good, they just smell weak. The the alcohol note overpowers the fragrance. I think my tastes have changed too.
I ended up giving a few bottles away to an old friend who likes colognes, but will never splurge.
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Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › What do you do with spoiled fragrances?