Does Perfume Expire?

My mom didn't dress up very often, but when she did, she would spritz herself from a bottle of Valentino eau de toilette. As a little kid, it was the height of sophistication: the glass bottle, the gold-colored liquid, the intoxicatingly sweet scent. Rummaging through her drawers on a trip home, I found the perfume and tried it on. To my horror, it smelled sour, and the gold color had faded to a putrid brown. According to perfume experts, that's because most perfumes have a maximum shelf-life of three years, far fewer than the 30 my mother's eau de toilette had endured. 

A few ounces of perfume often come with a hefty price tag, so you’ll want to store your bottles properly to ensure they last. Depending on the ingredients used in the perfume and the environmental conditions the bottles are stored in, you can preserve your fragrances or hasten their deterioration. Here’s what you should know. 

Will My Perfume Expire?

Unfortunately, perfumes do expire. But luckily, most perfumes have a pretty long shelf life, and you can get quite a bit of wear out of them. There are no hard and fast rules since a lot depends on the ingredients used in the perfume.

Consider the ingredients: Perfumes with citrus essential oils, like lemon and grapefruit, or natural florals, like bergamot or rose, deteriorate faster than synthetic ingredients like musk. Serrano-McClain shared, “Perfumers keep these raw materials [citrus and floral oil] refrigerated until we are ready to use them. Aldehydes, a synthetic ingredient used as a top note in some perfumes (famous for its use in Chanel No. 5), is also stored in a temperature-controlled environment for longevity. Including any of these ingredients in a perfume will lead to a shorter shelf life for the final product.”

Signs Of Perfume Expiration

Most perfumes can be used for three years, a significant amount of time, even for the occasional spritzer. But if you find yourself with a colossal collection of fragrances, your nose should know when a perfume has expired. Serrano-McClain explained, “Does the perfume smell different than when you first got it? Does it smell slightly off? Is it not as diffusive? I like to think of it as the perfume losing a bit of its sparkle.” 

Another indicator could be a change of color. Most fragrances are either colorless or have a pale-yellow tint. Once they degrade, they take on an orangey hue. 

Can Expired Perfume Cause A Rash?

According to Serrano-McClain, it’s unlikely that expired perfume will give you a rash. She said, “There is a natural process of oxidation that happens over the life cycle of a perfume, but in rare cases, there could be some slight skin irritation, so it's always best to do a patch test if you're unsure.”

How To Extend The Shelf-Life Of Perfumes

• Best place to store perfume: Store your perfume in a cool, dark place to prevent the volatiles from oxidizing more quickly. Stash your bottles in a closet, a drawer, or even in the fridge! The perfume won’t freeze, thanks to the alcohol. 
• Worst place to store perfume: Your bathroom, where steam and heat from the shower can affect the ingredients and lead to degradation. Serrano-McClain said, “This is why, say, a bathroom is a terrible place to store a perfume - the warm air from the shower or bath can age a perfume quicker.” Another no-no is storing your perfume bottles on the window sill. Similarly to the bathroom, the light and heat can degrade the fragrance molecules, speeding up the expiration process.