Does perfume go off?

[Mollymollymandy123]

Hi,
I'm pondering buying a discontinued perfume from e bay, it's been a long time discontinued so I was wondering, after several years will it still smell as it should?
I had it previously & absolutely loved it & was disappointed when it was discontinued but don't want to spend a fair bit of money if it's off? Any advice? Thanks

Yes Ive had various perfumes go off. Annoyingly generally the very expensive ones. The cheap bottle of sunflowers that Ive had for 20+ years is still going strong though!

Yes,it absolutely can go off. Especially if it has been opened, perfume should ideally be kept out of the light.

My oldest perfume is from 1946 and is gorgeous. I have dozens from the 1960s.... If it has been kept out of the light, for example in it's box it should be fine. Light is the big enemy of perfume - I always cringe when I see perfumes kept on windowsills or window dressers or anywhere where sunlight will hit it.

I tend to keep my perfumes in the box they came in.

Will that in some way lessen the light exposure?

Possibly. My most expensive perfume was a present for a special birthday. It has been religiously kept in its box in a cupboard. It still went off before I could use it (and I was wearing it every day)

Yes, boxed is very good. It can also be in a drawer or even a dark shelf.

There are a few perfumes that go off no matter what - Arpege seems to only last for a few years for example. But they are very few and far between. The other thing to try if you have a perfume that suddenly starts smelling a bit rank is to spray it about 6-8 times into a sink or something - often it is just the bit of perfume in the spray tube that has oxidised and the rest is absolutely fine.

Newtssuitcase what was the perfume?

Ormonde woman. I was very sad because at £120ish a bottle its not something I would replace quickly.

Perfumes with a lot of citrus notes can go off quickly. I've had Clinique Happy go off twice on me, so I've given up on that one now.

Ive had the same with Happy

Ah yes, I have 3 Ormonde Jaynes and none have lasted well at all, although one, Tolu has actually improved with age IMO. It may be worth contacting Linda Pilkington and telling her? If it went off whilst you were using it daily then that is very, very quickly indeed.

All perfume goes off, but some do age better than others.

If it's been stored properly, still in original packaging it should be OK.
The top notes go first, so citrus and green perfumes will go off faster, dry down can stay unaffected.

You want know until you smell it though.

Sorry, won't know until you smell it.

can you tell what it is OP?

Yes it's Gloria, not Vanderbilt.
I loved it. Like music, I think a smell can transport you to a time when something significant was going on, maybe that sounds silly.😊

I don't know it but agree perfume really brings you back to different time and place.

Look up the feedback the seller has, that should give you an idea.

Thanks very much for all the replies, if I do buy it, I'll be sure to make it a boxed one!

Even if perfumes "go off" and as others have said, many will, unless they have turned into brown syrupy mush in the bottle, then it will probably only be the top notes that have gone- obviously with something like a citrus/Clinique Happy style perfume- which are mainly top notes, that will be more noticeable.

I have a lot of old perfume and can only think of about 2 which have "gone" (a Dior Dior and a Diorella) and even then, once the acridity of the "burned" top notes have faded, they are fine.

Don't ever buy into what shop assistants tell you though- a few weeks ago I was in a niche perfume store and the assistant was horrified I had a collection of vintage. She said even new stuff needs to be chucked after 6 mths. Not that she was an aggressive seller or anything

Perfume Parlour do a dupe of Gloria (called Gloriass or something) which gets very good reviews.

There are a couple of bottles on ebay which to me look OK. One in Italy where it looks as if the box was still sealed and in cellophane but the seller has opened it just for the photo for the insertion. That would be the one I'd take a punt on. Looks genuine and well stored to me.

I was wondering if there was something similar, so thanks for that info.

I have a half bottle of Gloria in my bedside drawer, I use it a couple of times a year. I love it and am so sad iy was discontinued. Mines still absolutely fine and is many years old

I've got some Coco which I've had for nearly 30 years

It's not as overpowering as it used to be but smells lovely still. It also seems to be everlasting as I wear a little spritz every day as I'm too skint to buy other perfumes!

I'm V jealous ff!
I decided to go with the gloriass instead, I hope it's just as nice.🤞🏻

Gloriass arrived today, I'm pleasantly surprised & impressed so thanks for that tip!