Perfume doesn't expire in the same sense that food does, but applying expired perfume may result in an unpleasant aroma, skin irritation, or, in extreme cases, an allergic reaction. From the time it's produced, a typical bottle of perfume has an average shelf life of three to five years.
Shelf life also depends on how you store the fragrances. Perfumes that are stored correctly will last much longer than those that are not (more on that later). If your perfume does expire, applying it could result in an unpleasant smell, skin irritations or - in extreme cases - an allergic reaction.
Some will begin to expire in less than a year and others will last upwards of 10 years. However, three to five years is the average shelf life of a fragrance. According to experts, perfumes with heavier base notes will last the longest. Some people compare these perfumes to a fine wine—they get better with age.
Look for the expiry date on the body of the packaging or below the packaging. The best way to find the expiry date is by checking for the Batch Number or Period After Opening (aka PAO). Batch Number: this comes as a number count within the 3 to 12 number count range; letters of the alphabet are often inclusive.
Most fragrance manufacturers recommend throwing away your bottle after anywhere from one to three years, but fragrance doesn't behave in the same way as food, so it can be okay to keep it for longer, most fragrance experts recommend around three to five years.
Perfume can go out of date if unopened. The average shelf life of perfume if unopened is around 3 to 5 years from the time it was manufactured. This time can be longer depending on the quality and concentration of the perfume oil.
Perfume can last four to six hours (or even longer), depending on the strength of the juice you're spritzing, how dry your skin is or even what the weather's like – perfumes dissipate much faster on dry skins, or when the air is particularly dry.
Coco Mademoiselle is marketed to women in their 20s and 30s, leaving Chance to the younger crowd, and Coco and No. 5 to the more mature, I guess.
Oakmoss and Vetiver are one of the most long-lasting base notes. These fragrances slowly evaporate in comparison to others. So you will smell them even many hours after the fading of heart and top notes. They also keep the blend of the whole perfume.
Eau de Toilette (or Toilet Water) derives its name from the French word “Toilette” which means “a small piece of cloth” but has a specific reference to shaving and grooming. Thus, the aromatic water used after shaving or grooming became commonly called Eau de Toilette.
Prep with a little Vaseline on your skin.
Apply a little Vaseline on your pulse point before you spritz your perfume. The ointment in petroleum jelly helps hold the fragrance for longer. You can also use an unscented moisturizer to lock the scent in and keep it lingering around longer.
Perfume lasts longer on your clothes, because alcohol doesn't evaporate from fabrics as fast as it does from your skin.
The hard-and-fast answer: Yes, perfumes do expire. It all depends on the scent's chemical composition, but they do tend to break down and oxidize over time. The scent changes, the perfume may darken in color and eventually it could become obvious that the perfume has spoiled.
The bottom line
Spraying your favorite perfume on your hair might help short term, but it can damage hair in the long term by drying it out. For a quick fix, try a formula made for hair, such as a hair mist, dry shampoo, or hair serum. In the end, how you treat your hair is up to you.
Spraying perfume onto your armpits poses another potential cause of irritation. The interaction between your perfume and your armpits' sweat glands could result in itching and burning.
Why Can't You Smell Perfume On Your Body When Everyone Else Can? When we are exposed to a smell constantly, like that of the perfume we are wearing, our nose gets used to the smell and stops noticing the smell. This is called nose blindness. Smelling something else might help you resmell your perfume.
Olfactory adaptation
When we wear a fragrance regularly, the brain associates it with our own body odor. The fact that we no longer smell our perfume is part of a physiological process of olfaction. With our own scent, the stimulation of our olfactory sensors is permanent.
Parfum. Parfum, also known as extrait de parfum or pure perfume, has the highest fragrance concentration. Parfum will contain anywhere from 15% to 40% fragrance however concentration is generally between 20% to 30% for most parfums. Of all scents, parfums last the longest; usually six to eight hours.
Alcohol-based perfumes employ ethanol. High-proof, food-grade ethanol is the easiest alcohol to obtain. Vodka or Everclear (a pure 190-proof alcoholic beverage) are often used in perfume making because they're clear and don't have a particularly "boozy" odor.
Eau de parfum actually lasts longer than eau de toilette. Toilette can last about three to five hours while parfum lingers for more like five to eight. In terms of shelf life, EDP can last up to five years longer than EDT.