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When a cologne goes rancid...

post #1 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:11pm
Thread Starter 
Folks,


In your opinion, is it worth owning so many colognes at one time? If one of your fav colognes goes rancid, do you immediately go out and buy one?
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post #2 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:22pm
I've never had a frag go bad. Ever. As in since 1970 or so.
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post #3 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:24pm
Well, first of all if you store your cologne properly, it shouldn't go rancid. So that saves you from buying a new one. On that note, storing it properly, avoiding going rancid, yes it is worth owning many colognes. Why not?!?
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post #4 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by checker View Post

Folks,


In your opinion, is it worth owning so many colognes at one time? If one of your fav colognes goes rancid, do you immediately go out and buy one?

IMO 10 to 15 is the most you should have, unless you are a very heavy user. I still am hoping that I can use up what I have before it goes stale. That being said...

This topic has been discussed many times before and many respond that they have fragrances over several years or decades old that are still good. Many have dozens of fragrances in their collection or even more than a hundred. Since it's a hobby for many, that's fine for them. It just seems highly improbable that fragrance can stand the test of time for so long (over 5 years I would think). Since I've never done that myself, I'll have to take their word for it.
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post #5 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:40pm
As long as you keep your cologne out of humidity and the sunlight and keep the caps on the sprayers you should be good to go. I typically buy 1.7 oz but I have a couple 3.4 oz in colognes that I use regularly.
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post #6 of 12
9/20/10 at 9:44pm
Fragrances do tend to go off or wear a little after a couple of years. They don't smell as fresh as when you first bought them. I tend not to keep a fragrance for more than 5 years.
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post #7 of 12
9/20/10 at 10:59pm
I think if properly stored and kept from light and intense heat, a scent can last indefinitely. I think there are exceptions to that though. Certain scents seem to go bad after so many years. Two in particular that I can think of are Chanel for Men and YSL pour homme (the originals of both). Every vintage bottle I've acquired has been vinegar. Especially the Chanel. These are two fine French scents which I'm guessing have some delicate oils in them that don't last very long, no matter what you do.
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post #8 of 12
9/21/10 at 4:00am
The Osmothèque in France serves as a fragrance museum/repository for perfumes, many of which are many decades old-- these are kept from going stale by refrigeration. My perfumes used to go bad after about 3 years; none has done so since I began refrigerating them 6 years ago.

Light is supposedly more damaging to perfumes than heat, but a few years ago I bought a pricey bottle of a discontinued fragrance and was dismayed to find that it had become stale despite being sealed in its box away from light. This is why I refrigerate-- it's both dark and cool in the fridge.
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post #9 of 12
9/21/10 at 5:03am
I've only had one or two bottles ever go bad. When this happens I replace it if it was one that I enjoyed.
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post #10 of 12
9/21/10 at 5:26am
I'm not sure ir I ever tossed a bottle due to spoilage. I have had problems with sample sprays going bad though.
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post #11 of 12
10/6/10 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by colormechris View Post

I think if properly stored and kept from light and intense heat, a scent can last indefinitely. I think there are exceptions to that though. Certain scents seem to go bad after so many years. Two in particular that I can think of are Chanel for Men and YSL pour homme (the originals of both). Every vintage bottle I've acquired has been vinegar. Especially the Chanel. These are two fine French scents which I'm guessing have some delicate oils in them that don't last very long, no matter what you do.

How long? You mean I paid 70-80 dollars for Fragrances that may only last a couple of years?(ie. Chanel and YSL)
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post #12 of 12
10/7/10 at 12:24am
I own bottles of fragrances that are 40-50 years old and smell just fine. So do many others here. I also own comparatively new bottles (10 years, maybe?) where the top notes are slightly off, but the rest of the fragrance is good. I happily wear them anyway - top notes burn off fast and the rest of the structure is intact.

Sometimes I toy with the idea that fragrance may be like wine - some (citrus-heavy fragrances, for instance) go off in a matter of ten, perhaps twenty years or so, others mature with age. How sure are we that vintage fragrances did have that depth and roundness when they were new? How sure are we that the current formulations will not have attained some of that after, say, 20 years in proper storage?
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