Can perfume go stale?

[BooBooImpaledOnBrokenGlass]

I've been stealing little squirts of testers all week so I could decide on a new perfume, and in the end Givenchy's Le Secret came out the winner. I've tried it on for 4 days straight, and the tester was lovely. I splashed out on a bottle of it today and am so disappointed- it just smells stale on my skin :( I got in from Boots, is there anything I can actually do? I'd prefer not to have wasted 37 quid, but I don't know if I can take it back now it's been opened, or if they will even believe that it smells different. Any advice?

You could try taking it back to Boots and see what they say. Or maybe sell it on Ebay?

I might take it back tomorrow. I don't know what I want them to do though tbh. A replacement would be good but I don't know if they'll just accpet 'it smells different to the tester' as a reason. It doesn't just smell different though, it smells musty :(

What colour is it? Some perfumes go "stale" and turn a darker colour if they have been in direct sinlight.

It's a kind of pinky yellow, but I think it's supposed to be that colour

There's no harm in trying, Perhaps you did just get a bad lot. If I was you I'd just go in. You never know they may even have had other customers complaining

IME Boots are very good at taking things back. Buy another bottle from a different shop.

Did you try the testers o your skinor or on one of those tester strips? Only asking because when I was looking for a new perfume I found perfume on tester strips smelt completely different to the same perfume squirted on my skin.

"on your skin or on..."

Well I can't fault Boots on this one. I took it back and explained the problem. I had tried it on my skin, I know that perfume smells totally different on everyone which is why I have such trouble finding one I like. The girl compared their tester with my bottle (on strips) and even she could tell that there was something off with it. She had to speak to her manager who has given me an exchange, but she has written on my reciept that if there's a problem with this one that next time it must be a refund. They said they would need me to take an exchange as they could't resell the opened bottle iyswim, but that if I brought the other one back they'd know they have a faulty batch and can do a refund. Overall really pleased, I went in expecting a bit of a fight tbh but they were great about it. Haven't opened the new bottle yet, but will do it tonight so fingers crossed :)

Well bugger it, this one smells worse and is actually giving me a headache :( Hopefully they will honour the promise to give me a refund tomorrow. I don't know what to do now though. Do I go to Debenhams and buy it there? Or do I give it up as a bad job and get something else? Such a disappointment after the fab testers

It's fairly unlikely it will be "off", but sometimes the tester is a different strength to what you buy in the bottle and can small very different on the skin - for example Eau de Parfum vs Eau de Toilette (the first being stronger).

I had this problem with a Gucci perfume, loved the tester, DH bought me a bottle and I had to wash it off after 10 minutes!

no it does go off! Usually once it's been opened though. I distinctly remember reading this once. Perhaps it's a bad batch of them? That would make sense if you've tried two different bottles. I would write to Givenchy, or ask Boots to or something - see if they've had other complaints

I took it back this morning, to the same girl who had been lovely yesterday. She was quite short with me today, saying it definately wasn't the perfume (having agreed with me yesterday, and not even botherign to smell the new one) but she did give me a refund. I might write to Boots about it tbh, to me £37 is a lot to spend on a perfume I literally could not wear so there was no way I was going to just let it be, but others might not want to cause a fuss. For arguements sake, I did go to debenhams to spray the tester on one wrist, having sprayed my bottle on the other this morning. They are not even close to being the same.

everything, ooh the Great Fragrance Scam or Something Smells Fishy