A good bottle of perfume can last for years. Kept in the wrong place it can go sour in a few months. The difference is almost entirely where you put it.
What actually ruins perfume
Three things: light, heat and air. All three break down the oils in the bottle, and the top notes — the bright, fresh part you smell first — go first.
That's why a ruined perfume usually smells flat or sharp at the start, then fine an hour later. The base notes are tougher and last longer.
Where to keep it
In a drawer or a cupboard. Dark, cool, steady temperature. That's all a perfume needs.
In its box, if you kept it. The box blocks light and makes a drawer even better.
In a bedroom, not a bathroom. This is the big one. Bathrooms get hot and steamy every time someone showers, and the temperature swings up and down all day. It's the worst room in the house for perfume, and it's where most people keep it.
Where not to keep it
On a windowsill or a sunny dresser. Sunlight is the fastest way to ruin a scent. Clear bottles look beautiful in the light and suffer the most for it.
In the car. In a New Jersey summer a parked car gets hot enough to cook a bottle in an afternoon. A small travel bottle in a bag is fine; a full bottle left in the glove box is not.
In the fridge. It sounds smart and isn't. Taking the bottle in and out of the cold causes condensation, and the swings do more harm than a steady room temperature would.
Keep the cap on
Air is the slow enemy. Every time the bottle sits open, a little of the scent escapes and a little air gets in. Cap it after every use, and don't decant into a bottle with lots of empty space if you can avoid it.
How long a bottle lasts
Kept well, most perfumes last three to five years after opening, and often longer. Warm, heavy scents with lots of vanilla, amber and woods usually outlast light citrus ones.
How to tell it's gone off
The opening smells sour, sharp or like nail polish.
The colour has darkened a lot. Some darkening is normal, especially with vanilla, so smell before you judge.
The fresh part is missing and the scent jumps straight to the base.
If it's only a little changed, it's still fine to wear on skin and it will usually settle after a few minutes.
The short version
Drawer, not bathroom. Cap on. Out of the sun. That's it.
Every D&P perfume is an eau de parfum, with more perfume oil in the bottle than most scents at its price — and kept this way, the last spray smells like the first.
We're D&P Fragrances — our own scents, our own New Jersey stores, and bottles made to last as long as you keep wearing them.
