The best way to keep perfume fresh for as long as possible is to hide it away — seriously. Dark, dry places are the best go-to’s for fragrance storage. The catacombs of a closet or a dark box are ideal for storing a brand new bottle of perfume.
But how long will the new fragrance last? Perfumes not only dilute and lose their flavorful allure over time, but discoloration and degradation can lead to bad-smelling perfume. If stored incorrectly, perfume can start to go bad after a few months. To combat this, here are 13 tips on how to store perfume.
- Keep the Bottle Closed Until the First Spritz It’s important to note that perfume will stay pristine until it’s opened. Introducing a bottle of fragrance to oxygen causes the scent inside to dilute and become oxidized. With more oxygen and less scent in the bottle, it’s only natural the smell will diffuse. The clock starts ticking after the first use, so be mindful of when you debut the new fragrance.
- Store Your Perfume in a Dark Place Perfume bottles can be as extravagant as mini chandeliers — when the sun hits them, rainbows and crystalline visages spray across your bedroom. However, they shouldn’t be kept as a centerpiece on your dresser. Unfortunately, the introduction of light breaks down a scented liquid’s makeup and can melt its bottle too if it’s plastic. To avoid altering the sensitive DNA of a fragrance, store your bottle in a place free of both natural and man-made light.
- Store Your Fragrance in a Dry Place H2O is a force to reckon with. Similar to other substances, water damage will destroy a fragrance. Humidity affects a perfume’s make-up and can cause unwanted chemical reactions to occur. This can be tough to avoid if you’re in a humid environment so if this is the case be extra cognizant. Have a room with a dehumidifier? This is the ideal place to store your fragrances.
- Avoid Storing Your Perfume in the Bathroom Yes, it’s called eau de toilette. No, it shouldn’t be stored in the bathroom. The most common storage mistake of fragrance owners is keeping bottles in the bathroom. Reiterating the need to store your fragrances in a dry place, bathrooms have both extreme humidity and temperature fluctuations — the perfect blend for a perfume graveyard. Instead, look for a closet or cupboard outside of the bathroom to store your perfume.
- Keep Your Perfume in the Original Box When in doubt, look no further than the fragrance’s original box. While the cardboard may seem flimsy and irrelevant, these boxes were made to hold the aromatic elixir within. Storing a bottle within the original box can drastically increase the life of a scent. When paired with a closet or dark cupboard, you have a fail-safe method of essence endurance.
- Store on a Low-Level Shelf While this may seem obvious, it’s an important tip to keep top of mind. Keeping a top-tier fragrance on the top shelf is a recipe for downfall. Spilling a bottle of perfume is sad and unnecessary and can leave a room smelling strong for weeks. Even if the bottle doesn’t break, the turbulence upon landing can break chemical bonds and wreck a scent. Aim low when storing your perfume in a shelved area.
- Keep the Bottle Sealed When Not in Use Oxygen is perfume’s worst enemy. Hurrying to work or the club is a typical ritual we all go through. While you may leave behind your wallet or keys, don’t forget to cap that bottle of perfume. Leaving a bottle unhinged for even a couple hours can start to ruin the mixture’s balance and catalyze its evaporation.
- Avoid Excessive Shaking of the Perfume Bottle While it may seem like a little shake can help jolt a perfume’s scent, it does the exact opposite. Similar to our pesky friend oxygen, agitating a fragrance introduces unwanted oxidation via bubbles into our favorite scents. Not to mention, most perfumes are made with delicate chemical bonds and intricate mixtures that can be broken easily. The combination of shaking and easily compromised formulas can leave you with an unwanted science fair project rather an attractive accessory.
- Keep Your Perfume in Its Original Bottle Remember going to Grandma’s house and seeing extravagant bottles lined in front of the mirror? While they are beautiful ornaments, they are not the best for the perfume they contain. Decorative perfume bottles are stellar bathroom decorations but can be one of the fastest ways to sour a sent. The original bottles for all perfumes and colognes are made to be airtight and have a specific spray-head to disperse just the right amount of scent and prevent contamination with air.
- Use Smaller Vessels When Traveling Business trip? Destination wedding? You’re going to want to keep your fragrances as fresh as your look when traveling. To ensure the entire supply doesn’t go bad, purchase a smaller version of your fragrance — it will save money in the long run. As we mentioned before, taking the cap off of your perfume will ultimately start the decay process of the fragrance. By purchasing a travel-sized bottle, you won’t have to worry about air exposure.
- Maintain a Constant Temperature Keep your perfume in someplace cool and constant. Make sure your bottle is in a spot free of polar temperatures — whether hot or cold. 60 degrees is the sweet spot you should aim for.
- Check Your Fragrance for Discoloration Not so much a storage tip, but a good habit to keep. Discoloration in a fragrance can mean that any of the aforementioned precautions went a bit haywire. It all depends on the ingredients. A blend made with natural ingredients will darken over time, but its smell will remain unphased. Synthetic fragrances, on the other hand, are not meant to discolor or turn oily. If such a transformation occurs, it’s a signal that your fragrance could lose its pleasing scent and longevity.
- Store Your Perfume In an Air-Tight Container For those truly special bottles, you’ll want to go above and beyond when ensuring their longevity. The best way to do this is by double packing them. Keep them in their original box and then stuff the precious cargo into an air-tight bag — the more opaque the better. The mix of no air and zero light will guarantee minimum oxidation levels, protecting your go-to fragrance from harmful rays and leaving the scent smelling great for a good spell of time.
Can You Keep Perfume in the Fridge?
There is much debate around the topic, but you can in fact store fragrances in the fridge — depending on their type. The cold temperature of a fridge can soil a perfume’s delicate chemical balance. However, feel free to store your cologne and eau de toilette into the fridge because of their more robust chemical make-up.
It only makes sense that perfumes are delicate. The fragile chemical makeup and fragile bottles can mean a recipe for disaster if they aren’t carefully cared for.
But, not to worry. With proper precautions, even the most expensive of scents can be kept perfectly safe. Feel free to take a look at our newest perfume collections, knowing now that you can keep them new for longer than ever.
