Perfumery Guide #2 - Storage

We are often asked a question, and rightly so: How long can I keep my perfume?

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on a lot of factors and how you store it.

Nevertheless, tests are carried out upstream to prematurely age the perfume in order to follow the olfactory modifications of this one. In general, your perfume is tested under different conditions over a period of 3 months, which can represent a real aging of 3 to 5 years. This obviously remains a very approximate range which varies a lot according to the following conditions:

• The raw materials used:

Indeed, there are raw materials that are more fragile and/or sensitive to weathering. One thinks in particular of citrus essential oils and aldehydes which can easily deteriorate on the olfactory level if they face poor storage conditions.

The use of a large quantity of natural raw material also increases the risk that the smell of the perfume will change over time, because these raw materials have a more complicated stability to control.

• Storage conditions:

To optimize the life of your perfume, we recommend keeping it in a cool place away from humidity. Then that it does not undergo temperature fluctuation. Forget your bathroom in the tropical climate after a shower. We also advise you to protect them from primary light sources, which can also degrade their composition by heating it and exposing it to UV. Once again the bathroom, rich in UV rays, humidity and heat, is not the ideal place to preserve a perfume.

• The materials used for the packaging

Some perfumes have tinted glasses or aluminum containers for packaging. These materials make it possible to stop UV rays which can degrade or catalyze a reaction between raw materials.

As you will have understood, many factors come into play when it comes to preserving a perfume. If we consider today that a perfume can only be kept for two or three years, it is because the tests carried out guarantee that it will not change during these few years, despite a non-optimal conservation of your go. But well preserved by respecting all the conditions, you will be able to keep your perfume much longer.
If you are interested in knowing the techniques used by brands to test a perfume over time, do not hesitate to let us know and we will gladly prepare an article for you.

If you follow this little guide, you will be able to keep your perfume for years. However, you should know that whatever happens, time will cause your fragrance to evolve slightly because there remains an evolution on which you cannot do anything, it is maturation. But as for a good wine, the latter allows the perfume to develop different facets.

At Violet, we've found fragrances dating back to the 1920s that are still very wearable! So don't panic, you have time before your perfume is denatured, as long as it remains well preserved.

*We are talking here from an olfactory point of view. Be careful if you decide to wear very old perfumes because the regulations of the time were different. The allergen level can potentially be high, well beyond current standards.*