Keep Perfume in the Dark

Ever wonder how to store your perfume properly? Well I have compiled a few vintage newspaper articles here to answer your questions. Enjoy!

A March 26, 1928 article in the Reading Eagle newspaper:

"KEEP PERFUME IN DARK, PARISIAN ADVISES. Air and sunlight may change finest odors , according to French expert. Have you ever wondered why the perfume on your dressing table seems to change odor week from week? Perhaps you have been puzzled by a fragrance which smelled agreeable at the time  you bought it, becomes commonplace or even unpleasant after you have used it a few weeks, writes a Paris correspondent of the Kansas City Star. 

Such thoughts may be considered a confession - an admission that you have not learned how to care for your perfume. These delicate scents for which fashion orders for modern  use particularly when they are of high quality, deteriorate and lose all traces of their original fragrance if they are handled remissly. 

"Always keep perfume in a dark place, advises Lucien Lelong, the Paris dressmaker whose study of perfume has resulted in valuable suggestions for its use. "Daylight will affect every odor differently according to its formula, and in extreme cases, the perfume turns bright red as soon as its exposed to the sun. 

Jasmine becomes black in the light, other flower extracts darken less noticeably, but as soon as they change color, even slightly, the perfume changes scent. According to Monsieur Lelong, certain chemicals suffer similarly as a result of exposure to light. If a product such as indol has been used in the perfume, it will form ether and emit a foul odor soon after it is allowed to stand in the sun. 

So carefully must the elements that compose a perfume be guarded that many of the more fragile extracts are bought in a discolored state by the perfumer to prevent darkening after they have been mixed. Discolored floral elements cost a great deal more than flowers in a natural state and they are reserved for expensive perfumes.  

The need is evident for keeping perfume flacons tightly stoppered. Air, sunlight will harm the scent and carelessness in keeping the odor airtight results in a noticeable loss strength and quality."

A Jan 14, 1945 article in the Milwaukee Journal newspaper reads:

"KEEP PRECIOUS NEW PERFUME IN COOL, DARK SPOT. That bottle of floating enchantment which won you perfume praise for Christmas will be filched from you by light and air if you don't watch out. 

Warning you to put yours back in the box and stow it in a closet after use, perfume wise model Pat Powers, insists this is the best way to outwit the ultraviolet thief and says, "Although my swanky black bottle bearing a question mark and an enigmatic label is a temptation to exhibit on my dressing table, I don't take chances." 

To lock a bottle against leakage and evaporation, Pat says twist the stopper tightly until you've lined up the "thread" with the ground surfaces of the bottle. To unlock, here's her trick to save a temper, tap the stopper lightly against another piece of glass, and she does mean l-i-g-h-t-l-y."