This Is How You Can Tell If Your Perfume Has Gone Off…

If you’ve spent a small fortune on your favourite perfume, it makes sense to treat that bottle with some TLC. While most people argue that your perfume can last three to five years, experts are now warning it all depends on where you store your fragrance. It’s not all bad news though, as Jan Ahlgren, founder of niche fragrance house Vilhelm Parfumerie, believes a good quality scent can age like fine wine. The top tips? It’s all down to storage… "If you store it correctly and avoid direct sunlight, fragrance can be like wine…it improves over time. "I would suggest keeping it in a closet so that it's protected from sun, heat and radiators. Another great place to store it is your bedroom drawer!​" Travelling on holidays? Pop your perfume into the fridge, as light and heat can distort the properties of the bottle. Ahlgren suggests looking out for three tips:

• The smell – if your fragrance smell has changed since you first bought it, it’s time to dump the bottle.
• The colour – has your fragrance changed in colour? If it’s suddenly becme darkers, that’s a sign of changing chemicals and again the bottle should be dumped.
• The label – be careful for use-by dates on bottles. For certain notes, the use-by date will be a lot shorter shelf-life than others.

Shorter shelf-life scents include any citrus tones, while musky, oriental and woody smells last longer. ​​