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Fifty Three Degrees and Fragrance Time Travel.

post #1 of 9
8/16/10 at 8:07pm
Thread Starter 
Like those who collect and enjoy fine wines there are those who similarly collect and enjoy vintages of fragrance. The fact that you are reading this thread is a good indicator that you are as hooked as I am on fragrance. One soon learns that the archival of fine perfumes is much the same as wine. Temperature, a lack of light and the prevention of oxidation are key. This is fine, of course, for those who pay premium prices for now vintage perfumes and wish to maximize their safe storage, but what of collecting current fragrances that will become classic vintage items in the future. The best advise I ever heard from art collectors is to buy what you like because you have to live with it. Increased value, both monetary and otherwise depend on how in touch you are with what constitutes a future classic fragrance. It is at this point that I have to admit that I have been collecting current or recently discontinued fragrances that I find most appealing personally in order to posses them when all sources are no longer available. Not for monetary gain, mind you, but like collectors of objects extraordinaire, to appreciate them in their beauty and rarity. To that end I catalog acquisitions and refrigerate them at 53 degrees F. Perhaps this is a peculiar idiosyncrasy, but I find doing so very rewarding. There you have it, my confession is complete. I wonder if there are others of you so compelled by fragrance? Are you poised on the event horizon of fifty three degree time travel?
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post #2 of 9
8/17/10 at 12:48am
I never think about whether the fragrances I buy will have "classic" status in the future, and I never think about whether they will be discontinued. I store them in a cool, dark closet but I don't refrigerate them.
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post #3 of 9
8/17/10 at 1:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulSC View Post

I store them in a cool, dark closet but I don't refrigerate them.

Ditto. Space is a premium in a condo. I do own a wine refrigerator, but surprisingly it is filled with wine.
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post #4 of 9
8/17/10 at 2:26am
Jean Kerleo was the in-house perfumer at Patou from 1967 until 1998. He's also the founder of Osmotheque, the "living perfume museum" in Versailles.

I contacted Osmotheque a few years ago to see what they had to say about fragrance storage, temperature, etc. I told them I kept my some of my fragrances in a wine refrigerator. Their reply was as follows:

"Exactly. This can appear strange, but you must store your perfume in the rerigerator, safe from light, and in the cold." They recommend a temperature of 10 degrees celsius for most fragrances, and 4 degrees celsius for citrus fragrances.

10° Celsius = 50° Fahrenheit
4° Celsius = 39° Fahrenheit

Osmotheque goes further, in using argon gas to remove oxygen and seal the bottles/cannisters they use, but for me the info above is pretty much the last word on the subject.

Where I live on the coast it's very cool (average summer hi temp of 71F and mid-50's at night), so a wine refrigerator isn't critical, but I still use one for most fragrances.

I guess it depends on how much you value them. I want mine to smell as good and last as long as possible. Many of them are already old, many are impossible to replace, extremely expensive, reformulated, etc............I like to put 'em in the cold.
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post #5 of 9
8/17/10 at 5:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pluran View Post

"Exactly. This can appear strange, but you must store your perfume in the rerigerator, safe from light, and in the cold." They recommend a temperature of 10 degrees celsius for most fragrances, and 4 degrees celsius for citrus fragrances.[/COLOR][/FONT]

10° Celsius = 50° Fahrenheit
4° Celsius = 39° Fahrenheit

This is fascinating pluran, and very valuable info. Thanks for sharing.
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post #6 of 9
8/17/10 at 5:49am
  • kbe
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I have a temperature controlled, humidity controled 8' X 10' heavily insulated walk-in wine cellar that I personally built into my south Florida house when I had it constructed in 1985. With the door closed it is 100% light free and maintains an even 55-57 degrees F (14 degrees C) and around 60% humidity. I also keep all but the 'working' segment of my fragrance wardrobe including decants, samples and backup bottles in there, in tightly lidded containers. I normally try to keep my house air conditioned/ceiling fanned at around 78 degrees F in warm weather but when the few cooler weeks arrive in the winter months I allow the inside temperature to reach into the mid 60s naturally and use heat only to keep it in that range until outside temps rise again.

The bottles/decants/samples of frags I am currently using are kept in a small refrigerated countertop unit set at 58 degrees F. I wouldn't keep any fragrance in long term storage at close to 80 degrees F. It might not affect its quality during its lifetime with me but since I have other options I chose to use them.
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post #7 of 9
8/17/10 at 6:01am
I don't do any of this, except keeping them in a dark closet. My house has AC in the summer, and it's not overheated in winter. If I had a wine fridge, I'd probably use that though. And it looks like a good idea to keep citrus fragrances in the food fridge, but around here they'll get lost at the back with the unidentifiable stuff, and I'll have to go digging for them. Aesthetically, that is not pleasing. My attitude toward fragrance is pretty much the same as it is toward wine - enjoy it now, for tomorrow may not be ours.
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post #8 of 9
8/17/10 at 11:02am
We also have a small walk in wine cellar (kept at about 58 degrees.) Sadly, when we built this house several years ago, I was not into fragrance, so all the shelving is diagonal or slots, so, not much use for perfume storage -- though I am allotted a small area, :-) where I keep two smallish boxes of back-up bottles.
A good part of the pleasure of my collection, for me, is its appearance, so it would be sad for me to keep everything in a fridge... I hope our approx. 74 degree AC home will keep it well enough (and I do keep it in a dark area).
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post #9 of 9
8/20/10 at 10:35pm
I, too, am sending some modern discontinueds into their vintage future. Not many, but a few. Some will be classics. Others merely obscurities. My time machine is kept at 39 degrees F. However, space is at a premium in my fragrance laboratory, so I am also sending batteries and adhesives, like Ripley and the Colonial Marines, into the near-term future, using the same apparatus. Epoxy glue and coppertops never smelled so grand.
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