How Long Does Perfume Last? Can it go Bad?

Several years back, the use of perfume was viewed as a luxury. Today, almost every household houses at least a container of nature’s fragrance in the form of perfumes. Wearing perfume has become the norm such that grooming is incomplete without it.

The primary sources of perfume are natural spices, herbs, and some tree barks. Typically, these extracts from these materials are made up of compounds with a very high concentration of perfume oils, naturally purposed to be pollination agents.

These extracts compacted with other commercial ingredients such as alcohol turn out to have an extremely strong scent. This should mean that the ideal amount of application should be as minimal as possible, lest the user chokes at it.

In fact, most containers are usually fitted with a spray nasal to ensure even spread of the applied perfume and easier regulation of the amount that comes from the bottle. The fact that perfume is used in small bits would mean the likelihood of having your bottle sitting at your dresser way past its expiry date.

Perfume lovers would be concerned at the validity of their scent delight after it outlives its suggested shelf life. Gladly, most perfumes manufacturers usually have estimated the length of time their customer is likely to use their perfume against its shelf life.

Most will retain their freshness for 3 to 4 years, depending on their brand type, and for those with strong oil-components, they can serve you for up to a clean ten years. That takes us to our next question.

Does Perfume Go Bad?

Perfumes going bad means going stale. Before we address the likelihood of the perfume going bad, it is important to have an idea of the chemical network that goes on in your pleasant piece of treasure.

Firstly, and as mentioned here above, the basic components that make up most perfumes are extracts from natural spices and herbs. The use of organic compounds makes the perfume prone to spoilage depending on the perishability of the individual spice of herb used.

Based on the nature of these ingredients, the shelf life of particular perfumes may either be longer or just enough to serve the estimated length of use per bottle.

Most perfumes will keep well up to the time you wear the last drop, but this rings true only if you use it consistently.

What Are The Best Ways To Preserve Perfume?

Preventing perfume from going stale is as easy as identifying a safe hideout for it and how to handle it. The ideal storage condition for all perfumes is an area that is cool and dry at room temperature.

Most users can observe this because most will keep their perfumes around their dressing area by default. Most dressing areas are well protected from heat and are moisture free, as dressing is a private affair, plus no one wants to keep anything that could cause dampness in their clothes, for obvious reasons.

Almost all perfume bottles are transparent glass for a seamless classic sparkle often associated with the product. However, the design comes with its odds. The glass container’s transparency makes it easy for sun rays to penetrate through, leading to the disintegration of the chemical compounds of the perfume that leads to spoilage.

As much as you can, avoid placing your perfume near your glass window panes or any other part of your room that is exposed to sun rays.

Lastly, avoid opening the entire nasal. Exposing the content in your perfume bottle to air will not only have you lose your perfume through evaporation but also it will cause contamination, risking quality degradation.

Is It Advisable To Use An Expired Perfume?

For most people, perfume is quite an investment, and the thought of it going to waste can be really disappointing. If you are using a certain perfume brand for the first time, you are likely not aware of what amount can last for what time.

If your new pick is of exceptionally high quality, a little of it will linger for a whole day, which means that a small pack can last for several months before it gets finished. You can only imagine how much longer a big pack that you excitedly picked will last. Sadly, having large amounts of long-lasting perfume, you risk expiry and consequently suffering its side effects.

Whether expired perfume is a hazard is determined by how you handle it. I would be misleading you if I endorsed the idea of using it on your body. Having contact with expired perfume poses certain dangers to your health. The most common effects are skin irritation and respiratory inflammation.

If your skin is highly sensitive, you might experience a severe break out of irritatingly itchy rashes and other skin issues such as eczema. The stale smell can also be quite unfriendly to your respiratory system, putting people with chronic allergies such as asthma and bronchitis at risk of fatal attacks and nose and throat clogging.

The common culprit ingredient responsible for such kinds of reactions is petroleum.

Generally, regular perfumes will stay good between 3 and 5 years. As for oil-based fragrances, their average shelf-life is ten years. It is crucial when trying a new brand of perfume to do a product survey for accurate judgment on the ideal amount to shop against its expiry date.

Another exciting hack you should consider before you discard your expired perfume is to use it for room freshening. Add the leftover drops into boiling water. The evaporating steam will fill your space with a pleasant scent, just like the typical commercial air fresheners do. Isn’t that such a relief?

When Is The Best Time to Wear Perfume?

Your perfume is a silent statement or signal. It represents your taste, desires, class, mood, and for keen perfume enthusiasts, they can tell your gender even when you are miles away from their sight.

And since we now both agree that your perfume is your silent spokesperson, it is not necessary to wear it when you are indoors, well, unless your perfume’s scent serves as your therapy dose.

Ordinarily, most perfume users will wear it right after they dress up. Citing the heavy chemical content in your perfume, the ideal moment to spray up is the last second before you hit the frame of your house.

When wearing it, your perfume’s molecules’ concentration is higher in an enclosed area, which may irritate your respiratory system upon inhalation. The case is the opposite while in a well-aired environment.

If you have to wear your perfume hours before you leave your house, then, by all means, make sure that your bed/dressing room windows are wide open.

If you are obsessed with your pack of fragrance, you probably like to carry it around in your handbags/briefcase. From the look of things, most perfume manufacturers seem to understand this need quite well.

The availability of tiny easy-to-carry versions of most perfume brands in the market is an acknowledgment signal from your manufacturer to you.

If you have to redeem your scent every one hour, make sure you step out, away from the crowds, and allow for the molecules to spread out as they settle. This is not only safe for you but also for the people around you.

Related Question

How Can I Use My Empty Perfume Bottle?

If you are perfume enthusiasts, you have probably identified your identity brand, and I bet you are not just in love with the bottle’s content, but the design of its packaging.

Understandably, this level of obsession eventually leads to a sense of attachment to your ‘drug,’ so much that you find it hard to let go of your piece of the idol.

Luckily, we are living in times where the creative energy has found its place. Recycling your empty perfume bottle is no longer seen as a sign of bankruptcy but as a beautiful way of aesthetic expression.

That piece of treasure that factored in the price tag can finally find a place in your home as a decorative display. Placed proportionally, your perfume’s empty bottles can substitute your old fashioned vases.

You can also emphasize a theme design, either in your living or your working space. This can be achieved by incorporating the color or textural theme of your space on your empty bottle by painting it or adding other crafty glam in that line.

If you are not very crafty, you can ask for assistance from a designer.

Secondly, you can use it as a beautifully scented jewelry container. Now that the fragrance fluid is finished, you no longer need the spray nasal. Remove it to create space through which you drop body accessories that can fit. They will look pretty in it.

You can also make a beautiful collection of the empty bottle and find an archive glass cabinet to display them. And just like that, you gain a new hobby!

Everyone deserves to feel pleasant about themselves and around the crowds. What’s a better way to achieve that than a nice choice of fragrance radiating from your body? Just a little product survey and you are out there, turning heads as you enjoy your signature smell!