By purchasing products or cosmetics, the modern buyer is already accustomed to paying attention to the suitability of the product for use or consumption. But for some reason many people still buy perfumed products, completely not thinking about whether they have any restrictions on their use or storage, and in general, what is the shelf life of perfumes.
What is the “life span” of perfumes?
On many boxes you can see that the indicated shelf life of the fragrance is three years. Some manufacturers can count this period from the date of release of perfumes, and others - from the moment they begin to be used. On many packages of foreign companies this period is not even indicated, but simply the batch number and the production date are registered. But this is also useful information.
With a careful examination of the box, you can see the glued label of the Russian quality standard, where the expiration date of the perfume will be indicated. But this is if perfumes were imported into the country through official means. According to the decree, they can be considered expired after thirty-six months from the day the bottle was opened. Thus, we can make the following conclusion that before using perfumes, they are considered sealed and cannot deteriorate.
Suitability of other types of perfumes
But besides high-quality and expensive aromas, there are still some varieties of this fragrant product, in which the storage period may vary slightly.
The shelf life of oil-based perfumes is the same as for alcoholic ones. Eau de toilette is not as stable as previous perfumes, since the proportion of the concentration of aromatic components in it is slightly less. But you can store it for longer: in sealed form for up to five years, and in the open - up to four.
Cologne is suitable for use for an even longer period of time. He can lie, without spoiling, up to six years. Solid perfumes are generally eternal, as their shelf life is unlimited, so their fragrance can be stored for years.
Hatching on the packaging
But how can one correctly determine the period of use of aromatic products? All perfumes always have encoded information written in the form of small stripes and numbers. It is practically impossible for an ordinary consumer to decrypt it, since the year, month, and release date can be at the beginning, at the end, or in the middle of the digital series.
Today there is a cosmetics calculator that can be located for general access on certain resources. With it, you can determine the expiration date of spirits. To do this, you only need to enter the brand name and code from the box, since each cosmetic company has its own encoding of the period of use.
For example, acquiring expensive perfumes of some well-known manufacturer, you can calculate the expiration date of spirits by the code yourself, since their encryption is already known to many:
- Christian Dior : the first digit is the year of manufacture, the second letter is the month: a - March, b - April, etc.
- Armani: 2nd character - production period: F-2010, G - 2011, etc., 3 next digits - day;
- La Prairie: The 1st numeric character is the year of manufacture, the 2nd and 3rd are the week, and 4th is the day.
Is it possible to extend the use of perfumes?
That's all for official perfume suitability information. But, as it turns out, some manufacturing companies may argue that their fragrant products can be used much longer if stored properly.
After all, the composition of perfumes to a greater extent consists of alcohol, which is considered an excellent preservative. Therefore, when buying perfumes, you need to know not only the period of their suitability. It is very important to understand how to store perfumes correctly so that they last longer for their owners.
Basic Rules
There are several points to consider in order to extend the life of the fragrance:
- Do not put the perfume bottle near any heating devices, since in these places the air is too warm and dry, which can be harmful to perfumes. We must try to find the coolest room in the apartment for them and organize a shelf for them there. The closet is also ideal.
- It is necessary to completely exclude the penetration into the vial of various microorganisms and all kinds of particles. In this case, perfumes with a nebulizer have an advantage, since the probability of the epidermis or other substances getting into them is reduced to zero.
- It is always necessary to close the bottle as tightly as possible, as perfumes can evaporate quickly enough.
- When purchasing another fragrant product, it is recommended to immediately test it in the store. To do this, apply a little perfume on your wrist and hold it a little on the skin. If you liked the smell, then you need to take it, because in this case the perfume will not stand for a long time on the shelf and will not be able to lose its qualities.
- You should never store perfumes in the bathroom, as it is quite humid there, which will cause the shelf life of perfumes to rapidly decrease.
- Also, fragrant products should not be in various drawers and bags, as the movement for it is the same enemy as high humidity.
- Hard perfumes are best stored in an aluminum jar or cardboard box.
- In no case should you put perfumes in the refrigerator, although you can often find such advice. She does not like cold as much as heat and in general any temperature changes.
If you follow all these precautions, you can significantly extend the period of use of aromatic products.
How to understand that perfume is spoiled?
But if this still happened and your favorite perfumes are expired, how can this be detected? It’s actually quite easy to do. In this case, a precipitate should appear at the bottom of the bottle with a brown or yellow color. But such a sign may also not always be a manifestation of the corruption of perfumes, but evidence that perfumes include unnatural oils. Therefore, if there is confidence that the fragrant products are fresh, but still there is a certain precipitate - this is not a reason for its elimination, naturally, if there are no other signs.
For example, perfumes, losing their suitability, can still change the shade. Perfumes that have changed color, definitely spoiled. The flavor may also change.
What is the risk when using a delay?
Many may not pay attention to all of the above symptoms, then why is it dangerous for them to use perfume at the end of its useful life? Spoiled perfumes can cause all kinds of allergic manifestations in the form of a rash and redness, and not only in the one who uses them, but also in people around them.
In some cases, the use of such aromatic products can end very poorly, for example, lead to bronchial asthma. In addition, headaches, dizziness, and even migraines can occur.
Vintage Perfumes
But all the generally accepted norms and concepts about the shelf life of fragrant products nullify those expensive perfumes, whose age is more than thirty years. Such rare goods are mainly sold at various auction auctions and in boutiques specializing in these products.
But such expensive perfumes are no longer produced in our time, therefore, in many vintage perfumes, their fans highly appreciate not only their aroma, but also the bottle. Among them there are those that appeared on sale more than a century ago, but at the same time they completely retained their original smell. But because of their high cost, they can be afford only to wealthy collectors. The average price of such perfumes is about 1000 dollars.
From this we can conclude that the shelf life of fragrant products is a rather ambiguous concept. But beloved perfumes still do not stand still for a long time, since they are not just a fashionable trend of our modernity, but also a real complement to the personality.