With Halloween just behind us, it feels fitting to bring up something genuinely scary for any perfume lover: discovering that a bottle of a favorite perfume has gone off. It doesn’t happen often with bottles, and mostly we deal with evaporating decants and spoiled samples, but when it does, we’re left deciding what to do with it.
Saturday Question #282:
What Do You Do with a Perfume Bottle That’s Gone Off?
Do you throw it away? Save somewhere? Keep on your shelf?
A bonus question: what was the last perfume that you discovered spoiled in your collection?
My Answer
After our discussion about Italian perfumes in our collections two weeks ago, I felt an urge to wear Prada‘s Infusion d’Iris (EdP), which I hadn’t reached for yet this year. I took the bottle out of its box, did a “control spray” into the sink (sometimes it helps to “clean out” some aged juice from the spraying mechanism), and then carelessly aimed the next portion at my wrist… Luckily for me, it hadn’t become rancid or really unpleasant. But it completely lost the opening citrus, I’m not sure I smell any iris, and even galbanum seems quite muted. My sink was treated to a couple more sprays, after which I applied more perfume to different parts of my body. With the same result. It gets more recognizable two hours into development, but overall, it is not the perfume I fell in love with many years ago.
The bottle still has about 20% of its volume. I do not think I will ever want to wear it in its current state again (as I said, it’s not unpleasant, but it’s not pleasant enough for me to want to put it on my skin). As I calculated from my 2012 post (Alien wears Prada Infusion d’Iris), I bought it the same year it was released – 2007. So, it was a good run. And I cannot make myself throw it away. So most likely it’ll go into my “retirement” box, where I store perfumes that I stopped wearing either because they spoiled or I had a change of heart and didn’t want to finish the remaining perfume, but couldn’t bring myself to part with them. And since that box contains some bottles I got 25 years ago (or even earlier), my old favorite Infusion d’Iris doesn’t have to worry about its fate. Well, at least until the rest of my collection decides to follow suit – and this is a horrifying thought.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Unless it’s something super sentimental or in a really fantastically pretty bottle, I throw it away. If I can’t wear it, it’s not worth saving.
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I’m afraid that most of my bottles would end up being of a sentimental value :)
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Same thing I do with some old nail polished, and lipsticks-keep it in a safe place so I don’t accidentally use it on a dark morning as I get ready for work lol. Sometimes I want the tangible object, even though it’s no longer useable. I have a Dior lipstick from 1995 cause it reminds me of my life at that time. I have another Dior lipstick cause it’s in that funny gorgeous barbell sort of holder-reminds me of 2012.
As for perfumes-I haven’t had too many turn. I have one bottle of eau d’hadrian that’s not perfect. Sorry the Infusion d’Iris turned, Undina. it’s a beautiful scent.
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Interesting! I have absolutely no attachment to nail polish or lipsticks. They stay in my collection for a while, even after they become unusable. But mostly it’s because I don’t use nail polish regularly and have too many lip products to quickly notice the issue. But once identified, I part with the remains relatively easily.
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I definitely toss decants, but I have a hard time tossing a bottle. I just sprayed my Goutal Vanille Exquise this week and it seemed a little off – I will try it again. It’s probably still at least 40% but one of the first bottles I purchased of a niche, so it’s been around. This is why I mostly stopped buying; I just can’t use things up fast enough!
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As soon as a decant goes bad, I have no sentimental attachment to it. But bottles…
Have you tried spraying your Goutal just out – in case spoiled perfume was localized to the spraying mechanism?
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Hey Undina,
Diorissimo is a horror when it goes off. Like a chemical plant disaster.
I’ve got a little bit turned Madame Rochas and Femme too. Not nearly;y so awful but the aldehydes have gone a bit shrill and oily.
Portia xx
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Thank you for the warning! I haven’t touched my Diorissimo in more than a year, I think. I will be careful when I decide to wear it next time.
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Fingers crossed it stays good Undina.
Mine were vintage buys
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I suppose, in some ways, I’m fortunate enough not to have a single bottle of perfume go bad. I maintain an optimal and consistent temperature for storing them, which does help preserve the life of perfumes. However, it’s true that some older or vintage perfumes may lose some of their brightness, particularly in the top notes, as they age. I’ve only had minimal experience with this in a some of the vintage perfumes I own.
I don’t own a single decant. If I have a 5ml or 10ml sample, I usually purchase it directly from the brand. These are the bottles I use most frequently, especially for travel. I also have a collection of samples that I cherish. This collection allows me to revisit perfumes that come up in conversations, even if I don’t own a bottle of them.
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Over several decades, I had just a handful of perfumes that went off. Most were victims of temperature, I think. But in the last 16 years, I try to maintain cooler temperatures where my perfumes are stored (sometimes in summer, I run the A/C specifically to keep the temperature down because of perfumes. So, I really hope they won’t all decide to turn.
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I’ve discovered that my basement is the ideal temperature for storing many of my flacons. These flacons tend to be used up much more slowly. If it were practical, I would store the entire collection down there, but unfortunately, that’s not feasible.
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If a perfume goes off, it gets tossed. It happened with a Chanel once. That was the worst. But no need to keep something that no longer smells good.
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I get too attached to my perfumes. But I admire your discipline :)
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Well, the top notes of my vintage Emporio Armani White for Her are slightly off, but I’ll still wear it from time to time because the top notes don’t last and the other notes seem fine. I suspect my refillable and cap-less (by design) bottle of Nomenclature holy_wood has gone off too, so it just sits on the shelf, as I like the bottle that looks like an Erlenmeyer flask… if it were a sample or decant that had gone off, I’d probably discard it.
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I kept a couple of bottles specifically to use them for displaying on my dresser (where I would have never put real perfumes – not to expose them to light).
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That’s a great idea!
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Samples & decants that have evaporated to oily residue get a final wearing. There have been many times this last smear gives a superb wearing.
Some of my vintage citrus heavy bottles have lost their tartness, they become muted rather than rancid. The mid & base sections are still in good order so they get worn.
None of my older aldehydic scent have turned, but they are the ones I make sure are kept boxed, dark & in an unheated room against an outer wall
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I also use decants until the last drop (unless they turn, of course).
All my perfumes that came in a box are stored in their boxes. Those that I got without, are hidden in a drawer. Many of my perfumes have never seen a daylight.
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All my perfumes live in an enclosed cabinet where they are protected from any light, also. The cabinet is next to an A/C vent to make sure they always stay very cool!
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