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.
Bottom line: An unopened bottle of fragrance is good for 12 to 18 months, though a light scent—such as a citrus, one with fresh green notes, or a delicate floral—will most likely begin to turn sooner.
Perfume does not get better with age! With time, the original scent fades as the concentration changes due to oxidation. The top and middle notes evaporate first, leaving behind the heavier base notes. The fragrance, therefore, might feel stronger as base notes are more intense.
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.
Some perfumes might last a decade, while others can last less than a year. The average perfume will last three to five years. Generally, perfumes with heavier base notes will last longer than those with lighter, more delicate fruity or citrus notes.
You can tell if a perfume has expired when the smell is slightly sour, especially as the top notes oxidize. This can have a slight metallic scent. "Oxygen within the air can alter some of the molecules present in a fragrance over time," says Huclier.
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.
The most common way to utilize your old perfume is by using it as a room freshener. You can either spray it all over the room, or add a few drops of perfume in boiling water over the stove. The steam of the perfumed water will infiltrate all over, thus spreading the fragrance all over the house.
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 perfume changes in the bottle, indeed. People who go at a leisurely pace with their fragrances often come up with a subtle change. By the time you're through half of your bottle, this might already be happening. This is maturing.
The most common color-change that signifies a perfume has gone bad is if it becomes darker. If your translucent, golden liquid takes on a more opaque, amber hue, that could be a sign to test its expiration.
Cheap perfume tends to smell sweeter than average. This isn't because sweet-smelling ingredients are just cheaper than others (although they can be), but because cheap perfume is usually marketed for younger people, who generally have less money.
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.
If you haven't used it in a while, clean the top with alcohol (making sure you don't spill alcohol inside the bottle). Let the top air dry, then try and smell the fragrance again.
Eau de toilette (EDT) has a fragrance concentration of between 5% to 15%. It is cheaper than the EDP and is one of the most popular types of fragrance available. It will normally last two to three hours and is considered by some as daywear (while EDP is considered nightwear).
Place your bottles in the trash if your town recommends it.
Place these bottles in a garbage bin or cart so they can be collected later on. Make sure that all lids, nozzles, and caps are secure so the perfume doesn't spill. Only toss out your perfume if your city or county specifically recommends it.
Above all, you should never pour out perfume down the drain as this risks contaminating the waterways; instead, contact your local household hazardous waste facility for proper disposal.
An opened bottle of perfume can last anywhere between three months to three years, depending on the scent's construction and what the packaging is like, and, of course, how it's stored when in use.
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.
Keep Your Perfume in the Original Box
When in doubt, look no further than the fragrance's original box. While the cardboard may seem flimsy and irrelevant, these boxes were made to hold the aromatic elixir within. Storing a bottle within the original box can drastically increase the life of a scent.
Your body or the environment you are in has changed
Changes in pressure/elevation, temperature, humidity (due to travel or change of seasons), diet, sleep habits/location or work location, age, the body's pH level can all change how you perceive perfumes. Even fatigue and mood can affect how a perfume smells to you!