La Vie Est Belle - has it gone off?

[RogueV]

I think I’ve had this around a year, it’s been in its gift box, I’ve just taken it out to use and it looks quite orange? I thought it was meant to look pink. It’s been unopened. What do you think?

Bollocks I bought it in December 2018 so it’s been sat in a cupboard for 2 years 🙈

I think it's meant to be light pink so definitely has changed. How does it smell?

Smell it. If it smells good then just use it. Some perfumes change colour.

Did you get it from a proper company? I know amazon and eBay are rife for dupes.

I bought it from Boots - just checked my previous orders. It stinks. Have I got a leg to stand on though seeing as it was bought almost 2 years ago? (Christmas sales)

So google seems to think if unopened then it should last at least 3-5 years. 🤔

Change of colour is a natural process for perfumes containing vanilla - nothing to be worried about, it does not mean it has gone off.

I have got a 7 year old bottle of LVEB , which comes out of the box for winter only and while the colour of the perfume had now morphed into lovely dark cognac shade, the scent hasn't changed at all.

@MisiaMisia
Thank you for replying that’s really interesting, I’ve give the smaller bottle a whiff and it certainly doesn’t smell like it should. I will spray the larger bottle tomorrow and see what’s it’s like. It’s been in its gift box and unopened until today.

That’s annoying I wouldn’t have thought it would do that after only 2 years.
I’m not sure boots would refund though but it might be worth a very politely worded email to ask if they would consider it?

I'm surprised it's gone off in its box... I've known perfume to go off sitting in sunlight. Has it been in a warm room? If it smells (sorry to lower the tone) a bit like vomit, it's off IME.

I used to work in Boots as a student. If you go in and are nice about it, with the receipt, you may get an exchange. They used to give people exchanges and refunds with little argument compared to other places I worked. We did turn down someone trying to add points to their advantage card when they came in with a pile of receipts over a year old, as it just seemed really dodgy. There were about 100 receipts, none from the current year. That was the only time I saw them argue. Oh and when some kids clearly lifted a gift card and announced that they had £50 on it, but it hadn't been activated at all, so had just come off the shelf!

Funnily enough i decided to wear this perfume over the weekend and noticed mine was orange but i wore it anyway and it smells absolutely fine.

It is worth spraying into the sink a few times to clear any perfume from the nozzle and upper tube. Sometimes perfume in the nozzle will oxidise and go off. A few sprays will clear the oxidised portion out.

I have many, many VERY old perfumes. 100s of them. Some are from the 1940s. If they are kept in the dark (eg in box) most do not go off, although a very few do (Arpege is one that famously used to go off within a decade or so even when sealed and kept in the fridge!). The usual killer of a perfume is keeping it on a windowsill or dressing table where bright light will cause it to go rank.

An update if anyone is interested...sprayed it today and it smells absolutely fine! The smaller bottle still smells a bit odd but the large main bottle is good.