THE EXPIRY OF YOUR FAVOURITE PERFUME - A SAD DAY

 

The milk packet that you purchase every morning, the cough syrup that you were prescribed when you had that cold, the frozen peas, the semi-cooked chicken nuggets, the bottled drinking water all have an expiry date printed on them, and you usually respect that date and promptly discard them once they are past that date. But you tend to hold on to your perfumes for eternity, and save them for special occasions. Please do not do so, perfumes too expire and sadly you have to part with them one day.So, make every day special and wear them!

Perfume can go bad in a process called oxidation. While some perfumes will expire in just a year, others can last for up to a decade. But if you keep a bottle unopened, still with the manufacturer's seal, in a dark place, it may well last an eternity. Factors that may affect the longevity of perfume are light exposure, temperature, ingredient quality, and bottle and pump quality.

 

Why do perfumes expire?

There are three main reasons why perfume goes bad: light, heat, and air. A recently opened century-old perfume bottle by Guerlain, which was sealed airtight with a glass stopper will still be good, but once the manufacturer’s seal is broken the process of oxidation will set in. The more you use your perfume, the more air is in the bottle, and that’s why you shouldn’t save perfume for special occasions that never come. Just use it up because a half-filled bottle will deteriorate quicker than a brand new one. The average shelf life of perfume is 2-3 years.

Another tip – where do you keep your perfume bottles? Always keep it in your wardrobe. It may be tempting to present your perfume on a shelf or in your bathroom, as mini perfume bottles are considered a thing of beauty, but exposure to humidity and light on a daily basis will eventually cause the perfume to expire quicker than it would stored in a cool, dry, dark place. Perfumes in aluminum bottles will keep longer than perfumes and glass bottles. Dark bottles and dark packaging keep them safe so don't discard the outer casing.

 

What happens to perfume when it expires?

An expired perfume may lose the potency and strength of its scent, the depth of the different layers of fragrance notes, and some of its complexity. It can also smell like vinegar or metal. Fragrances with synthetic ingredients will have a longer shelf life than fragrances that are formulated with more natural ingredients. Today, most fragrances are synthetic, meaning the ingredients are either man-made or synthesized in a lab from chemicals that duplicate natural ingredients. Natural fragrances (or a hybrid of natural and synthetic) last about two and a half to five years from the time of purchase, whereas synthetic fragrances can actually last up to 10 years due to the stability of the man-made ingredients, but this doesn’t take into account heat, light, formula or packaging, which can really change the longevity of the fragrance. In one of my previous blog, about our perfume industry in the city of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, I have described in details about the history of perfumes all over the world and manufacturing and marketing of perfumes. You can read it by clicking 

http://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2017/10/you-smell-great.html

 

What to do with expired perfume?

There is no health hazard in wearing a perfume that has gone bad. It may smell unappealing, and it may even stain your clothes, but that’s where the negative impact ends. In fact, some perfumers say that, in most cases, the odd smell will disappear a few minutes after you sprayed the perfume on, leaving you with what’s called the base or middle tones of the fragrance. If you’re concerned about possible skin irritation, you can spray the perfume on your clothes rather than your bare skin.

As an eternal optimist I always spray a few times because it may be just the fragrance in the pump tube that has gone bad. Finally, the trusted it can mean your fragrance is oxidizing. It’s also important to check the translucency and colonose of a friend can also help you determine if it's time to throw the perfume out. Ask for someone's opinion.

 

How to tell if a perfume has gone bad?

Some scents, like citrus and floral ones, will go bad quicker than others, like musk, vanilla, and other spicy or woody tones. Pay attention to discoloration. Expired perfume will likely darken in color - colourless perfumes turn yellow.  The best way to determine if a fragrance is expiring is by paying close attention to the smell, texture, tone and coloring of the perfume. If you detect an astringent note that wasn’t there before, it’s definitely starting to turn bad.  It will soon become vinegar-smelling and that’s when you know you have to toss it. Then again if you notice crystallization on the outer edge of the dispenser it can mean your fragrance is oxidizing. It’s also important to check the translucency and coloring of the perfume. 

Another sign that your perfume might be expiring is if your skin is starting to become irritated when you apply it, even if you’ve used it a hundred times before. From tiny red spots, bumps or allergic reactions on the skin, anything unusual must prompt you to check the label to see if there are any ingredients you might be allergic to, or ask the brand about what botanicals might be on in the bottle. You must also look at the batch code on the underside of the fragrance bottle and inquire about the product’s expiration date online.

 

What to do with an expired perfume bottle?

Here are some ways in which you can use the expired perfume till the last drop.

• Often a bad smell starts coming from the books. If you spray old perfume on the books, the books will smell like the fragrance that you love.
• Sometimes the bathroom or kitchen sink smells bad.  You can end this bad odour coming from the sink by spraying the expired perfume.
• You can also spray this perfume in your wardrobe. This will keep the clothes full of fragrance and there will be no bad odor in our wardrobe.
• You can use expired perfume as a room freshener on the arrival of your guests. Besides, the option of spraying on the bed can also be good.
• It can also be used as a car spray.
• You can also make a fragrant candle by adding a few drops of this perfume while making the candle. You can use this fragrant candle on your special days.
• In the rainy season, you can spray old perfume in the corners of the house to avoid the smell of dampness.
• If you are giving a gift to someone special, then you can use perfume on that too. In this way, when your loved one opens the gift he/she will experience a nice fragrance.
• If your shoes smell bad, then you can also keep the smell away by spraying old perfume in them.
• While cooking Bombay-duck or eating Durian in the kitchen, you can also use perfume to avoid the smell coming in the lounge room.

 

To extend the life of a perfume, it's best to store it in a cool dark place, away from heat and daylight, as UV light can harm the fragrance and breakdown its formula. And once you have decided to dispose off the expired perfumes there’s no excuse not to recycle, resell or re-purpose fragrance bottles.