How to Store Perfume, and How Long a Bottle Keeps
Light, heat and air are what change a perfume. This guide shows where to keep a bottle, which scents are the most sensitive and how to tell whether an older perfume is still good.
A perfume is finished when it leaves the house, but it does not stand still. Light, heat and air go on working on it, slowly, for as long as the bottle sits on your shelf. Store it well and it can stay itself for years. Store it badly and the top notes are the first to go.
This guide explains what changes a perfume, where to keep a bottle and how to tell whether an older one is still good. The examples are perfumes from our range whose houses say something about ageing, colour or formulation, together with three citrus-led scents. They illustrate the advice and are not a ranking.
What the houses do before you get the bottle
The makers themselves treat perfume as something that reacts to its surroundings. Les Eaux Primordiales lets its finished compositions mature in stainless-steel vats before bottling, in a darkened room with controlled temperature and humidity. Out of that room comes Ambre Supermassive, an extrait de parfum with peach, apple, cinnamon, pineapple and sesame on top, rose, heliotrope, honey, cardamom and rum in the heart, and black vanilla, amber, saffron, tobacco and musk in the base.
Other houses age on purpose. Amouage says its Essences are infused for six months with sandalwood chips and with bioethanol aged in oak barrels. Amouage Outlands is one of them, an essence de parfum with a long pyramid that runs from cardamom, bergamot and lemon through patchouli, rose and saffron to benzoin, labdanum, amber and oud.
BORNTOSTANDOUT ages its Extrait Extrême line for three months in Onggi, traditional Korean pottery. BORNTOSTANDOUT Black Crème belongs to that line: milk, candle, ambrette and iris on top, oud, leather, vanilla and myrrh in the heart, and caramel, sandalwood, Georgywood and amber in the base.
The lesson for the shelf at home is simple. Darkness, a steady temperature and time are what a perfume is given while it is made. Sunlight, heat and air are what undo it.
The three things that change a perfume
- Light. Sunlight, and strong artificial light over a long period, breaks down fragrance molecules and can alter the colour. Fascent states that it formulates without preservatives, dyes or UV filters, one more reason to keep such a bottle in the dark.
- Heat and swings in temperature. Warmth speeds up every reaction in the bottle. What you want is a steady, moderate room temperature. A windowsill, a shelf above a radiator and a car in summer are the usual mistakes.
- Air. Every spray lets a little air into the bottle, and oxygen slowly changes the liquid. A bottle that is nearly empty holds more air than perfume, so finish it before you open the next one.
The bathroom combines two of the three: it is warm, and temperature and humidity jump with every shower.
Which perfumes are the most sensitive
Top notes are the lightest molecules, and citrus is the most fragile among them. A perfume that lives on its opening shows its age sooner than one that rests on woods and resins. Three examples that deserve the darkest, coolest spot you have:
Le Labo Bergamote 22 is an eau de parfum of bergamot, petit grain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver, given as one list.
Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet is an eau de toilette with lemon on top, lavender in the heart and pine in the base.
Fascent L'Eau d'Or Dort is an eau de parfum that opens with bergamot, citron and lemon, moves to orange blossom, petit grain and a clean linen accord, and ends on aldehydes and white musk.
Colour is not a verdict
A perfume that has turned darker is not necessarily spoiled. Natural materials vary, and several houses say so. Argos notes that the colour of the liquid differs naturally from batch to batch. Argos Triumph of Bacchus is one of its perfumes, an eau de parfum with saffron, rum, white peach and green apple on top, patchouli, jasmine, tonka bean and vetiver in the heart, and tobacco, amber, Mysore sandalwood, musk and vanilla in the base.
Maison Crivelli makes its formulas without colourants and says the colour of natural materials may vary between batches. Maison Crivelli Hibiscus Mahajád is an extrait de parfum whose key raw materials include rose Damascena absolute, vanilla absolute, leather, spearmint essential oil, cassis, ambrette seeds absolute and cinnamon essential oil.
Trust your nose more than your eyes. A perfume that has turned smells sharp, sour or flat at the top, and the opening you remember is missing. If the scent is the one you know, a deeper colour is only a deeper colour.
Where to keep a bottle, step by step
- Keep the box. It is the simplest protection against light.
- Choose a cupboard or drawer in a room where the temperature stays even, such as a bedroom.
- Put the cap back on after every use and stand the bottle upright.
- Skip the refrigerator. A steady cupboard does the job, and carrying a bottle in and out of the cold creates exactly the swings you want to avoid.
- Use what you open. Rotate a small number of bottles and finish the ones that are nearly empty.
How long a bottle keeps
There is no single date. On many boxes you will find a small symbol of an open jar with a number and the letter M. It gives the period after opening, in months, that the maker indicates for a cosmetic product. Treat it as a cautious guide and not as the day on which a perfume stops being good. Kept dark, cool and closed, a perfume can stay true well beyond it. Kept on a sunny shelf, it may not get that far.
Concentration plays a part, but a smaller one than storage. Our guide to perfume concentrations explains what extrait, eau de parfum and eau de toilette mean, and the guide on how to apply perfume deals with daily use. To see what belongs on your own shelf next, browse all perfumes, the extraits de parfum or the houses on our brands page.
Frequently asked questions
Does perfume expire?
Not on a fixed day. Perfume changes gradually under light, heat and air. A bottle kept dark, cool and closed can stay good for years, while one left in the sun or in a bathroom changes much sooner. Your nose is the test.
Should I keep perfume in the fridge?
There is no need. A cupboard or drawer at a steady room temperature protects a perfume well, and moving a bottle in and out of the cold causes temperature swings and condensation.
How can I tell that a perfume has gone off?
The opening smells sharp, sour or flat and no longer matches what you remember. A darker colour alone proves little, because natural materials can deepen in colour and vary from batch to batch.
