Anyone ever experience a fragrance going bad?

[RPLens]

My 10ml decant of Montale Black Aoud, pretty old. It was almost empty. I always keep my fragrance in my closet. but somehow this decant sits somewhere the small ray of sunlight could reach it, like, through that small gap of closet door. When I pick it up again it just smells rot, acidic, vomit and rose, not the oud goodness I always smell.

I fixed it with a full bottle.

These stark aoud fragrances from Montale often give me a rotten and acidic vibe.

It might be a matter of perception.

It's also not clear to me if you're smelling the sprayer or you're actually doing a skin test.

 

[Bigsly]

There really isn't anything odd about ultraviolet radiation from direct sunlight causing the release of free radicals that increase the rate of oxidation.

Who is arguing against this? The question is how much does it usually degrade scents over the course of say 30 to 40 years? Did you read the Old Spice study that first appeared, TMK, on the Badger and Blade site? Don't you find that to be compelling?

 

[pluran]

Bought a few bottles from a hot climate and the juice from all of them smelled like a lab experiment gone wrong. Made me consider never wearing fragrance ever again. Figure the bottles must have been stored in a 100F+ degree warehouse. Forget lost top notes, smelling flat, etc, fragrances that have gone really bad smell really bad, and you sure as hell wouldn't want to wear them

 

[Bigsly]

Bought a few bottles from a hot climate and the juice from all of them smelled like a lab experiment gone wrong. Made me consider never wearing fragrance ever again. Figure the bottles must have been stored in a 100F+ degree warehouse. Forget lost top notes, smelling flat, etc, fragrances that have gone really bad smell really bad, and you sure as hell wouldn't want to wear them

It would help us if you provides details, such as:

about how many?
do you remember any of the names?
sealed spray or splash bottles?
size of the bottles?
were they boxed, and if so, would light be able to get in, such as with Carven Homme?
if not boxed, was the glass dark?
how old do you think the bottles were at the time you purchased them?
how long did you wait after application before you decided they were horrible smelling?
did you wash the scent off and if so, how long after application?
do you think you could describe the terrible smell better - was it "chemical nightmare," nail polish, rotten fruit, rotten eggs, etc.?

For those who don't know, in the Joint Pour Homme post at the FromPyrgos blog, the claim is that the opening is fine but the drydown is spoiled, which is a claim I have never heard from anyone before, so if anyone would like to speak to that (other than HankHarvey, since this is likely the same person) please share your thoughts.

 

[Pollux]

It depends: some loose their top notes but mid and base notes are the same they used to be (Macassar). Others turn really bad to the point they become unwereable (Youth Dew, it was overrun by a strong fecal smell).

Others evaporate, the result is that top notes become really harsh (YSL pour Homme), others evaporate and are not affected at all (Shalimar belonging to my Grandmother, Royal Copenhagen after shave, it became and EdT). In one case it evaporated completely (Tabac Eau de Toilette)..

We have horribly hot weather during the Summer time, I can whiffs of some scents around during days with temperatures above 30° C.

If I had the place and money I'd store the ones I prefer in a cooler, the kind wines are stored in.

So far, storing bottles in the shade preserved them,

 

[Lomaniac]

Who is arguing against this?

umm, you did. You argued that the sample was adulterated. You;ve also argued people are stupid, or that they can't smell correctly, or that they're lying. I stated that the physical laws of chemistry and thermodynamics aren't that weird, and basically, Occam's razor would suggest that people aren't all idiots or charlatans.

The question is how much does it usually degrade scents over the course of say 30 to 40 years?

No, that isn't the question, most of the things discussed in this thread aren't 30 or 40 years old.

Did you read the Old Spice study that first appeared, TMK, on the Badger and Blade site?

Maybe. I read one a few years back, but it has nothing to do with this discussion. IIRC, it was comparing an old bottle to a current P&G bottle and a current Shulton India bottle. They did GC or MS, don't remember which, but it had nothing, nothing, nothing at all to do with going bad. IT was trying to compare the three to see if the Shulton India bottles were truly the same as the vintage, and how different the P&G bottle was. That has nothing to do with the fragrance being good. You can't determine if an old bottle is good by comparing it to a new bottle from a different point of manufacture and from a different owner.

Don't you find that to be compelling?

Of course not, and I just said why.

You have no evidence, only bias. You have no faith in others, only pedagogic correction and lecturing, again based on nothing. You are obstinate to anything and view all claims through a tainted lens of perceived obfuscation. No one who contradicts you can be honest, no proof that does not support your views can be verified.

While another person has already stated that they would not buy vintage from you based on your posts, I must now say that I would not buy from you, nor would I care to continue to read your bluster. Apparently no one but you, the true genius, seems to be able to piece together this conspiracy by a confederacy of dunces who claim their very own property, the fragrances they have smelled and you have not, was never anything less than perfect. The only way to prove it is through the granting of your approval after you have smelled it yourself.

In other words, I won't have to read you hawk your blog again or beg for "spoiled" niche at supreme discounts, as you can join hankharvey on my ignore list. Bye.

 

[Buysblind]

No, but lately I've become more and more concerned about this. My oldest bottle goes back maybe only 4 years, but I'm worried that everything will slowly start to break down around the 5 year mark and that around year 10 only about 25% of my frags will still be good.

 

[Lomaniac]

I've got some Jovan Musk and Aspen by Quintessence, which was a brand that only lasted until 1993. It still smells fine to me. Chemical compositions can and will change over time, natural law dictates, but the incidence for fragrance appears pretty low if you do your part. The chance of a fragrance turning bad is just definitely a number higher than zero.

 

[Bigsly]

No, but lately I've become more and more concerned about this. My oldest bottle goes back maybe only 4 years, but I'm worried that everything will slowly start to break down around the 5 year mark and that around year 10 only about 25% of my frags will still be good.

Well you've got me to sell them to, so don't be a stranger! LOL.

 

[samsmells]

I have a bottle of YSL Baby Doll which smells a lot more sour than i remember. It could be just me learning to detect certain notes though, when i first got the bottle i was 18 years old and perfume all smelt the same ("sweet and perfumey"), so i guess my nose is more developed in distinguishing different scents now and hence smells different because it is picking up more notes? lol I dunno aye.

 

[Bigsly]

I have a bottle of YSL Baby Doll which smells a lot more sour than i remember. It could be just me learning to detect certain notes though, when i first got the bottle i was 18 years old and perfume all smelt the same ("sweet and perfumey"), so i guess my nose is more developed in distinguishing different scents now and hence smells different because it is picking up more notes? lol I dunno aye.

Something very similar happened to me the other day when I wore Joint Pour Homme. I hadn't worn it in months, and this time it was so camphorous (with just one and a half sprays to chest) that I had to really scrub the area sprayed, and even then it was still too strong. However, an hour or so later that quality was light enough so that I could finally enjoy the scent.

 

[gtsb]

No, but lately I've become more and more concerned about this. My oldest bottle goes back maybe only 4 years, but I'm worried that everything will slowly start to break down around the 5 year mark and that around year 10 only about 25% of my frags will still be good.

I would not worry about this. If you keep your stash with the lights on and in rapidly fluctuating temperatures, OK, then I would be worried, but I have kept everything I own in the dark (usually in the original boxes) and at room temperature (not even in a wine cooler) and I have vintage scents that have not altered one bit since I kept them in this way.

Over time, yes, everything will change and decay--but probably most of your fragrances will not do so in your lifetime, even if you just keep them in the dark and at a reasonably cool but constant room temperature.

As has been reiterated in this thread, citruses go bad more quickly, so I tend to use those up more liberally!

 

[Buysblind]

I would not worry about this. If you keep your stash with the lights on and in rapidly fluctuating temperatures, OK, then I would be worried, but I have kept everything I own in the dark (usually in the original boxes) and at room temperature (not even in a wine cooler) and I have vintage scents that have not altered one bit since I kept them in this way.

Over time, yes, everything will change and decay--but probably most of your fragrances will not do so in your lifetime, even if you just keep them in the dark and at a reasonably cool but constant room temperature.



As has been reiterated in this thread, citruses go bad more quickly, so I tend to use those up more liberally!

Okay, thanks.

I've always kept everything in the dark with more or less stable temperatures all year round. I'm still fairly new to this so I appreciate hearing from someone who's had bottles hanging around for more than a few years!

 

[SpentaZ]

Now this is odd because it was released not that long ago and this is a scent with a whole lot of reviews, and I don't remember anyone mentioning this kind of quality. My guess is you were sold a diluted/adulterated decant. I've gotten a couple of "home made" samples that seemed way off, not "spoiled," but just not right. As to what Derbyman said, vintage scents going bad to the point of what I'll call "skunky" must be incredibly rare, or else we'd see quite a few comments/reviews/posts that disclose this kind of perception. It's certainly not something a person who takes the time to write about a scent online (not being paid to do it either) would fail to mention.

For those who want even more on this subject, there is my recent blog post, which is a response to a recent FromPyrgos post, which I believe was written by BN member "HankHarvey."

These stark aoud fragrances from Montale often give me a rotten and acidic vibe.

It might be a matter of perception.

It's also not clear to me if you're smelling the sprayer or you're actually doing a skin test.

Skin test, I actually wear it to see if it just go bad on the top notes or the whole time, it's just the top notes. When it dries down it becomes the same fragrance I always enjoy.

The full bottle is a little bit more aoud-heavy with the same rose, but no rotten/acidic smell to my nose.

The decant was a clear glass bottle while full bottle was Montale's. I have experience on this subject just this one time. And I learned I should be more careful about storing fragrances.

Strange thing indeed.

 

[Bigsly]

umm, you did. You argued that the sample was adulterated. You;ve also argued people are stupid, or that they can't smell correctly, or that they're lying. I stated that the physical laws of chemistry and thermodynamics aren't that weird, and basically, Occam's razor would suggest that people aren't all idiots or charlatans.


No, that isn't the question, most of the things discussed in this thread aren't 30 or 40 years old.


Maybe. I read one a few years back, but it has nothing to do with this discussion. IIRC, it was comparing an old bottle to a current P&G bottle and a current Shulton India bottle. They did GC or MS, don't remember which, but it had nothing, nothing, nothing at all to do with going bad. IT was trying to compare the three to see if the Shulton India bottles were truly the same as the vintage, and how different the P&G bottle was. That has nothing to do with the fragrance being good. You can't determine if an old bottle is good by comparing it to a new bottle from a different point of manufacture and from a different owner.


Of course not, and I just said why.

You have no evidence, only bias. You have no faith in others, only pedagogic correction and lecturing, again based on nothing. You are obstinate to anything and view all claims through a tainted lens of perceived obfuscation. No one who contradicts you can be honest, no proof that does not support your views can be verified.

While another person has already stated that they would not buy vintage from you based on your posts, I must now say that I would not buy from you, nor would I care to continue to read your bluster. Apparently no one but you, the true genius, seems to be able to piece together this conspiracy by a confederacy of dunces who claim their very own property, the fragrances they have smelled and you have not, was never anything less than perfect. The only way to prove it is through the granting of your approval after you have smelled it yourself.

In other words, I won't have to read you hawk your blog again or beg for "spoiled" niche at supreme discounts, as you can join hankharvey on my ignore list. Bye.

Your distortions are so gross that I welcome being placed on your ignore list. Have a nice life !

 

[Ruffienne]

I have smelled many a 'bad' and 'off' perfume because of collecting vintage scents.

It depends on the perfume structure in the first place as to how it will 'turn' in the end. It is fairly comparable to any normal human aging. On some the top will just sag gently down to a floppy midriff and a big old bottom. Others will be rather sadly thin and smell pissy but their heart is still intact and once you ignore the piss the old soul is still in there and just as much fun. Others are just sour old dry crabs not worthy of any attention at all.

Being serious though, the notes that are going to mature, will. Such as sandalwoods, vetivers, patchoulis and suchlike. Others might fade and pale like delicate flowers but other flowers get deeper and flee into the mellowing woods for safety up to a point. Citrus's rarely last in any good form and the best you can hope for is that they just fade. That is why when added to the natural state, after loading on the treatment and temperature factors, there can be little prediction or constancy in the matter.

As when making a new perfume, some notes meld together well and others don't. When going in reverse, some unmeld badly and some don't. As each layer gets stripped, it depends what balance you have with what's left.

This.

This absolutely the best description I have seen describing how fragrances go bad.
Each fragrance is individual, and so the way in which they age/decay is equally individual.
I have experienced a number of 'turned' perfumes and they do vary with respect to how much survives.

The oldest would be a Magie Noire from the early '80's. This is a scent I wore daily the first time around, and so the over-loud bitter notes and lack of freshness has struck me immediately in the couple of bottles I have encountered in my efforts to re-buy my youthful favourites. Even turned, it's still tolerably well balanced, but no longer very similar to it's original, hugely charismatic, self.

A large splash bottle of Chloe from the late 80's also is on the point of turning. The top notes are nauseous, obnoxious, obtrusive, but once they burn off the perfume is wearable if not exactly desirable. This is another scent I was extremely familiar with right from the start, and the changes just leap out at me each time I smell it.

One (relatively) modern scent that turned was a Baiser du Dragon from around 2002. That had similar off notes, and the bottle/cap had clear signs of sun damage on one side, so I assume that poor (very, very, very poor) storage had hastened it's end. I had bought the bottle off FleaBay, so I returned it promptly.

Some of these off-notes are consistent across many different turned or turning vintages, so I assume it's the result of specific ingredients changing their smell in a fairly consistent way. Exposure to this 'vintage' smell is sensitising me to it, to the point that I may have to give up hunting vintages as many that other people say are 'fine' have that distinctive 'turned' edge to them.

I can appreciate that there is still good structure surviving there, but I can't get past the turned notes. And no, they don't always burn off.

 

[Paul H]

If you don't have a wine cellar in your house(who does nowadays?), then a wine cooler would be a good investment. Happy sniffing and sorry to hear of the super expensive ones going bad. I felt the same way back in college when someone crashed into my convertible .Ouch! Also, my lack of knowledge had me leave my frags in a bathroom so my friends could openly use them but this thread confirmed a lot for me. Good lookin' out and a godsend of a thread.

 

[Paul H]

PS:I gotta get me a wine cooler asap. Good lookin' out.

 

[cytherian]

I have experienced some fragrances having turned. Either notes are gone, or they've "soured". Sometimes the change is interesting, and still good, but other times the fragrance is just left smelling "old" and not in a good way.

 

[Pjd1234]

the only one I encountered is my 2002 bottle of issey miyake although it does not smell bad for some reason the longevity was somewhat gone feels like it was watered down or something. It stored in my shower cabinet maybe the moisture got in or something. Those were my days as a newbie to frags after that I know where to store them now.

 

[ILikePeeps]

Bump. Anyone else? How many, if applicable, of you have frags/a frag that's at least 20 years old and seems fine to you?

 

[TLS]

Let's not drive each other crazy, shall we?

I've certainly never read articles about longtime perfume collectors owning hundreds of bottles which all turned to dreck.

This!

 

[Rbae3928]

I think this is the most wonderful post for many fragheads. Thank's Mumsy!

How do you store yours?

 

[TLS]

How do you store yours?

Cool and dark of course.

 

[Bigsly]

Bump. Anyone else? How many, if applicable, of you have frags/a frag that's at least 20 years old and seems fine to you?

I'd guess I have at least 100, some in splash bottles. Some were my grandmother's, which she bought in the 50s and 60s. I recently bought Matchabelli for Men in a splash bottle and it was just right, AFAICT. And yet all the naysayers have yet to offer me a bottle of a "spoiled" scent, despite saying I'd pay, and not just for shipping costs. I did do a swap for vintage Vermeil a few months back, because the BN member thought it was "bad" or whatever. That seller sold a bunch to BNers, but I don't remember any other member complaining about "spoilage." It seemed like the bottle I bought in 2008. In any case I'd be happy to send a sample to the author of the Raiders of the Lost Scent blog, if he could do a MS/GC study of it to determine if the graph was what is to be expected, or if it shows some sort of spoilage indicators. With the price of vintage going higher and higher, I don't even want to sell at this point, because I think it's just the beginning, as I've seen with other collectibles markets. I find it hilarious that some people say spoilage and usage are issues, when in fact this can only make these items more rare and sought after - and that drives collectibles' markets. Some people don't seem to understand how these markets work, and become irritated watching prices rise, or claim that because someone got a good deal on ebay the market is not "real" (as if any market was "perfect" LOL).

 

[Kotori]

I have had a lot of them go off over the years, mainly because through college and my 1st two apartments, I had no air conditioning. But I have had some exceptional cases of things going off quickly. One was GFF, and another was Mandarine Tout Simplement. Both were gone in about two years.


Going off is different than going bad, I guess. I have experienced the loss of top notes, or a reduction to a more linear quality, I have experienced vanilla based ones starting to smell more like Vanilla Extract over time. I have also experienced florals starting to smell sour,

Today I bought a bad one which I have to return: A bottle of Chocolat; Mat that has gone over the rainbow & smells like cat pee. No joke. That isn't the way it's supposed to smell. I smelled a fresh one in 2005.

 

[Tmoran]

I have not had a fragrance spoil on my watch. But I have had people sell me or try and trade me fragrances that have gone to hell. The latest was a travel bottle of Tea for two. The stuff was completely rancid and was developing solids in it. And I have smelled a lot of testers that were left in the sun too long and spoiled.

 

[dealt7faux]

At my old job our Clarins vendor would leave testers from the entire line in her trunk to bake. I can't tell you the number of times the Angel, Chrome, Azzaro and Mugler Cologne testers we would get that were off or altogether spoiled. They would suffer loss of color, notes and dried fragrance in the bottle. Some of which were downright gross.

 

[Bigsly]

Well there are a number of possible issues:

1. What's in the tube can indeed smell horrible so that needs to be cleared.
2. One can't speak to splash bottles, just sealed spray ones.
3. Discoloration does not mean spoilage, nor does flaking (I suspect many people see such things and spray what's in the tube, and say to themselves, "oh wow this is horrible" without testing the liquid that isn't in the tube).
4. Some people are more interested in top notes, which may indeed "go bad" in certain compositions (and when those ingredients are more natural).
5. Other people are seeking a certain kind of drydown, which they feel is superior to anything being released now, including niche, so they don't care whether there is a loss of some tops notes or some "shifting."

And my offer remains open: if you have a sealed spray bottle you consider spoiled and don't want, tell me what it is and I'll give you a price, which will be more than shipping costs for sure if I want it. And I'll mention that when I have swapped/sold decants of various vintage scents probably about half the time the buyers have said things like, "wow this is so rich and so much better than the stuff that's out there now." One person said the vintage Aramis bottle I sold smelled more like vintage Yatagan (which I've never tried so I can't say). Nobody has said that they thought there was anything wrong with what I sent them, other than the scent not smelling like what they had imagined (in "blind" situations, and that has only been the case a couple of times), but I haven't gotten any reports of spoilage..

 

[cytherian]

I've found that sometimes a fragrance can go off and still smell quite good.

Not all wine tastes better with age... just different. Some don't age well and become unpalatable. But just as some fragrances will turn and be unwearable, some may lose notes or experience a transformation that changes the character in an interesting way (highly subjective, of course).

 

[Glamis]

Yes. It happened with Blenheim Bouquet and Eau d'Hadrian. They just didn't smell good anymore. Eau d'Hadrian in particular started to develop a thick and sour smell. Not good at all.

 

[Tmoran]

Well there are a number of possible issues:

1. What's in the tube can indeed smell horrible so that needs to be cleared.
2. One can't speak to splash bottles, just sealed spray ones.
3. Discoloration does not mean spoilage, nor does flaking (I suspect many people see such things and spray what's in the tube, and say to themselves, "oh wow this is horrible" without testing the liquid that isn't in the tube).
4. Some people are more interested in top notes, which may indeed "go bad" in certain compositions (and when those ingredients are more natural).
5. Other people are seeking a certain kind of drydown, which they feel is superior to anything being released now, including niche, so they don't care whether there is a loss of some tops notes or some "shifting."

And my offer remains open: if you have a sealed spray bottle you consider spoiled and don't want, tell me what it is and I'll give you a price, which will be more than shipping costs for sure if I want it. And I'll mention that when I have swapped/sold decants of various vintage scents probably about half the time the buyers have said things like, "wow this is so rich and so much better than the stuff that's out there now." One person said the vintage Aramis bottle I sold smelled more like vintage Yatagan (which I've never tried so I can't say). Nobody has said that they thought there was anything wrong with what I sent them, other than the scent not smelling like what they had imagined (in "blind" situations, and that has only been the case a couple of times), but I haven't gotten any reports of spoilage..

In some cases the stuff is truly spoiled. Especially if you have a second bottle to compare it to. Flakes aren't a sure sign of something gone wrong but when you have multiple issues with the same bottle sometimes you just have to call it. If some guys just love rancid juice more power to them. I know some guys who like skunky beer and cheap whiskey. And there are some guys who just don't know the difference. I will say this. If someone here on basenotes sold me a fragrance that was for sure spoiled I probably wouldn't say anything either. I just make a list of people I wont do business with again. Ebay on the other hand I will fight it because I actually have a chance. But here if someone sells me something and its spoiled or they don't know how to pack things for shipping I just put them on a black list. So I wouldn't always equate not getting negative feeback from buyers as a sure sign of everything being a-ok. Some don't want to be insulting and wont become accusatory or argumentative.

 

[Paul H]

We went shopping today as I got a text that Creed was having specials; I dropped by the Creed Boutique and there was a bottle of Aventus which was colored slightly green. I think it's safe to say it has begun the process of going bad(we have very humid summers and the high-end dept stores don't turn on the A/C during closed hours). I was so thankful to a fellow Basenoter who'd given a heads up and written a thread about niche colognes going bad if improperly stored.

 

[Tmoran]

We went shopping today as I got a text that Creed was having specials; I dropped by the Creed Boutique and there was a bottle of Aventus which was colored slightly green. I think it's safe to say it has begun the process of going bad(we have very humid summers and the high-end dept stores don't turn on the A/C during closed hours). I was so thankful to a fellow Basenoter who'd given a heads up and written a thread about niche colognes going bad if improperly stored.

Besides the green color what was wrong with it? Older varieties of aventus actually had a greenish tint to the juice. It wasn't always transparent. Its entirely possible with the boutique though. I was always surprised at how many bottles they kept in the windows in direct light. Cant be good for the stuff even if they have UV protectant film on the windows.

 

[SexySmells]

Around 2008 or so, I picked up a bottle of Hascish Homme by Veejaga that had turned. Truly awful and of course, I put the fragrance on BLAST because I hadn't realized it was no longer g2g until I mustered the courage years later to try another bottle of it.

Luckily, we don't run into this problem often. If it's your first sampling of a particular scent and the juice is bad......it's highly doubtful you'll be willing to give it another go anytime soon.

 

[Paul H]

Besides the green color what was wrong with it? Older varieties of aventus actually had a greenish tint to the juice. It wasn't always transparent. Its entirely possible with the boutique though. I was always surprised at how many bottles they kept in the windows in direct light. Cant be good for the stuff even if they have UV protectant film on the windows.

Timoran, it just didn't smell right..It was somewhat muted at the top. Like, I just knew and it smelled flat kinda'. Even the sales associate said that the stuff they got in earlier seemed better. However, we have really humid summers so I can see why it turned slightly green. That same batch(not going to go into that here) was transparent as a diamond in the summer so I know. Bottom Line: Just avoid scorching heat/humidity and it's all good. Godspeed.

 

[ILikePeeps]

We went shopping today as I got a text that Creed was having specials; I dropped by the Creed Boutique and there was a bottle of Aventus which was colored slightly green. I think it's safe to say it has begun the process of going bad(we have very humid summers and the high-end dept stores don't turn on the A/C during closed hours). I was so thankful to a fellow Basenoter who'd given a heads up and written a thread about niche colognes going bad if improperly stored.

You aren't with any Facebook fragrance groups, are you? Stuff about 'green tint' Aventus recently.

Maybe the NEWER Aventus (don't know when it may have started, and don't know if it's stopped) have started having a green tint to them.

The green tint might be a sign that it's a newer Aventus, and is probably completely normal, rather than a sign of degradation.

Edit: Unless all of the pics with green tinted Aventus or w/e are degraded? Haha. Not sure how likely or not that is.

 

[NickZee]

I wonder if bottles degrade quicker after they are less than half full.

I had a bottle of DKNY for about 5 years out on a bedroom shelf that went stale rapidly after about 3/4 had been emptied.

 

[Roby]

I think if you buy used vintage bottles from eBay you need to use them pretty quickly afterwards as some do tend to "turn" pretty quickly.

I bought a vintage Azarro PH a few years ago which was perfectly fine, wore it perhaps 20 or so times and then put it away with my others in the back of a wardrobe. Sprayed it on the way to watch a football match a couple of years later one winter and it had gone rancid. I can now wear 20 or 30 sprays and after an hour or weak, gone bad smell goes away and you can detect a little bit of the original fragrance. This was a 2/3 used vintage bottle without a box.

I also bought a used Escada PH 100ml with no box or lid that was unwearable so got a refund straight away. Same happened with an old Givenchy Gentleman although that did have the lid. I suppose you just can't tell how how people treat or store stuff before they sell it.

Most weird was an almost full bottle of the Versace Jeans Couture in the green Rhine-stone bottle. It came in a box and isn't really that old anyway but smelled funky as hell when a I first sprayed it? Maybe that was down to the fact it's a plastic bottle instead of glass. Strange.

 

[hednic]

I suppose you just can't tell how how people treat or store stuff before they sell it.

Very true.