The 2 Year Rule

[Blondie]

I picked up an unopened vintage bottle of Chanel No 5 for my wife. Probably from the 50's. Still smells great. This was a lucky find, it was still wrapped in cellophane, and the wax seal was intact. Waiting on the first smell though was anxious. Depending on storage, vintage juice can be hit or miss. So I am going to say two years is bunk. Of course, I'll bet six months on the dash board of your car in the texas heat would kill something.

 

[Renato1]

Your "Experts" do not know what they are talking about.

At Basenotes we had the case of one guy finding his father's scents which had been stored under a sink in a house in Arizona since the mid 1970s - all were in good condition.

You may wish to check Luca Turin's book "Perfume:The Guide" where he states unambiguously that unless you mistreat them, the life span of perfumes is indefinite.

Michael Edwards who writes the annual book "Fragrances of the World", stores all his thousands of scents upside down, claiming that if the spray mechanism isn't "lubricated" with scent, it can fail to function correctly, causing scents to go off.

I've had one scent go off on me, but that was after 20 years, and it was in a splash bottle rather than a sealed spray bottle.

The main thing which causes scents to "go off" is letting them sit in sunlight. Usually though, what goes off are the top notes - meaning that while the scent may not initially smell the way it used to, after half an hour or so, it should be back to normal.

What I do know can indeed go off, is designer Aftershave balms. I've seen a few with "Use By" dates on them, though most don't have them. And I've had a few go off on me - they do not smell nice at all, and the creamy balm becomes runny, often with a browny colour. I now store my more expensive ones in the vegetable tray at the bottom of my fridge.
Regards,
Renato

 

[GG1]

I keep mine in the box out of sunlight. It would be nice to look at the bottles but they do seem to last indefinitely

 

[The Knize]

Wow, so cool, I've never seen that bottle before! But it's in the zig-zag box, which means it's first production. This is the way Guerlain meant for it to smell. Glory!

I agree. Glory! Are all the vintage EDC versions at least that formulation if not that "production"?

 

[buffdaddy]

This question comes up all the time.

I keep my frags pretty much the same way Randy does and I have not had any real problems. I have some Gucci Rush that is at the bottom of a nearly empty bottle that I have had for probably a decade and 1/2 that seems weak, and I suspect some things I have that are really old have evolved a bit. But two years is not based upon any typical experience as far as I know.

It does cut against the search for vintage scents, which does not make sense. I am not saying that I have not had scents that had turned. I had some what must have been ancient Pen's BB in a one ounce glass stopper bottle no one I have ever talked to has ever seen before. The partial contents had turned a dark brown that seemed kind of thick. They were actually still quite wearable, although not much citrus to it.

In fact, I would be curious to see a reference to a two year shelf life. Sounds intentionally phony, frankly.

Yeah I have the same issue with Gucci Rush as well. Have almost a full bottle that's at least 9 years old, and I store all my old frags in the linen closet, in the dark, at room temp. Most of my old Frags seem fine but the Rush does smell a bit weak and have to use a bit more than usual compared to the other older frags I own. Don't wear it that often other than special occasions since it's rather expensive to buy now since they haven't made it for several years. Since it's a sealed bottle I can't remove the spray top. But interesting tip about storing older colognes upside down!

I guess in this case be a bit leery to those of you trying to hunt down a bottle of Gucci Rush.

 

[Renato1]

Yeah I have the same issue with Gucci Rush as well. Have almost a full bottle that's at least 9 years old, and I store all my old frags in the linen closet, in the dark, at room temp. Most of my old Frags seem fine but the Rush does smell a bit weak and have to use a bit more than usual compared to the other older frags I own. Don't wear it that often other than special occasions since it's rather expensive to buy now since they haven't made it for several years. Since it's a sealed bottle I can't remove the spray top. But interesting tip about storing older colognes upside down!

I guess in this case be a bit leery to those of you trying to hunt down a bottle of Gucci Rush.

Gucci Rush is an unusual scent. I criticised it time and again at Basenotes for despite smelling great, only being good for a few hours before disappearing. Then one day I posted an apology. What happened was that one day I wore it to the beach - I was there for five or six hours, went in and out of the water a lot of times, went home, mucked around, and when I was having a shower before going to bed was totally enveloped by the strong smell of Gucci Rush - 12 hours after I'd put it on. Gucci Rush seems to require some moist skin/perspiration to activate it. The other scent I found to also do this was Jill Sander Pure Man.

I suggest perhaps checking your Rush in warmer weather, or when you are going to be active (e.g dancing/night clubbing etc) and see what its strength is like then.
Regards,
Renato

 

[buffdaddy]

Nice tip. I'll have to check that out. Like I said since it's not made anymore and hard to find I use it sparingly. But I'll to try putting it on after a shower or on hot day and see if it changes the scent.

 

[Renato1]

Nice tip. I'll have to check that out. Like I said since it's not made anymore and hard to find I use it sparingly. But I'll to try putting it on after a shower or on hot day and see if it changes the scent.

I stocked up on it when it was discontinued. There is something intriguing about it to me, the incense note mainly. I'd often get annoyed with people at Basenotes who kept saying it smelled exactly like a hampster cage - especially as I have no idea what a hampster smells like, much less its cage.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[blantyre]

Cool, dark storage well sealed they will keep for years. Like wine, lots of temperature changes will reflux air into the container and might degrade it faster.

 

[Renato1]

Cool, dark storage well sealed they will keep for years. Like wine, lots of temperature changes will reflux air into the container and might degrade it faster.

I don't know that temperature changes are as detrimental to scents as light hitting clear bottles is. I always keep a few scents in my car, which during summer can easily reach inside temperatures of over 50ºC (since temperatures where I live have on occasion hit 46ºC in the shade). No such scents have ever gone off on me. Though I have read of others who have had scents go off from being kept in their cars' glove boxes.

That said, temperatures in my house reached over 40ºC on some days in our summers (when I was at the beach), and none of them have ever gone off.
Regards,
Renato

 

[nEver-Ready]

I agree. Glory! Are all the vintage EDC versions at least that formulation if not that "production"?

Not sure. I've only previously had a mini in the EdC formulation, and could not be certain of its vintage. The other EdCs I've seen have had the same wavy line graphics on the packaging, so perhaps are of the same original vintage. Perhaps some of our fragrance historians can add a more authoritative comment. . .