For the perfume to smell good, you must keep it away from heat and sunlight. So how long do unopened perfumes last? They can last for decades if kept away. All perfumes have an expiration date. The shelf life of a perfume depends on the type of ingredients and the packaging.
The expiration date of luxurious and expensive perfumes tends to be longer than that of common and mass-market brands. But the good news is that, on average, an open fragrance can last about two years. It's safe to assume that any quality brand perfume will last for at least three years. Unless otherwise stated, most companies place an average lifespan of five years on their products.
According to Givaudan perfumer Jacques Huclier, who has created fragrances for brands such as Gucci, Thierry Mugler and Hugo Boss, an unopened perfume bottle can last several years depending on how it is stored. Perfumes start to deteriorate quickly, but if you want to know how long unopened perfumes last, you might be surprised to learn that they can last for decades. In this blog post, we'll talk about what causes perfumes to expire and how to know if your perfumes are out of date. The key to extending the lifespan of a perfume is to store it in a cool, dark place, away from direct sunlight or heat, as they can cause the perfume to break down and lose its scent.
Perfumes must be able to breathe, so an airtight container will cause the perfume to deteriorate faster. While it's true that some perfume ingredients can degrade over time, this doesn't mean that the perfume itself is spoiled. Below, three of the country's top perfumers share everything they know about the shelf life of perfume and how to tell if your favorite scent has expired.