This Is How You Should Be Storing Your Perfume

From sunlit bathroom counters to shaking the bottle, here’s what to avoid to keep your perfume from going bad.

Scents owe much of their subtlety to a delicate assemblage of ingredients—ingredients that, stored or handled improperly, can break down and degrade the quality of your perfume. Here at Lancôme, each bottle of fragrance - from iconic Trésor to Idôle - is the result of decades of expertise. Today, we’re sharing some of that hard-earned knowledge with you. Presenting Lancome’s essential guide to storing and preserving your favorite perfume so they stay good to the very last drop.

1 - Favor shade to keep your fragrance.

Perfume bottles glinting in the afternoon sun are a pleasing sight—but bright light, and sunlight in particular, are bad for fragrances. Even in their bottles, exposing your perfumes to strong light, heat, and humidity (say, in a bathroom) can break down their essential oils, weakening your fragrance. Instead, store your perfume somewhere dark, cool, and dry, or keep them in their original boxes. Idôle can even be fitted with a custom opaque case that helps protect it from light exposure. Choose from three designs: nude, holographic, and We Are The Future.

2 - Keep your fragrance out of the cold

Despite what some may claim, storing perfume in the fridge won’t help preserve it for longer. In fact, chilling your fragrances may have the opposite effect, breaking down scent molecules and causing your perfume to lose its overall depth. Bottom line: unless you live in an extremely hot climate, there’s no reason to store your perfume bottles in the fridge. Somewhere dark and cool with an even temperature (think dresser drawers and closets) should do.

3 - Handle your perfume bottle carefully

Save the swishing for glasses of wine. Shaking or excessive movement can increase your scent’s exposure to air, which can impact your fragrance quality. This is also why it’s best to avoid opening the perfume bottle unless absolutely necessary.

Looking for your next signature scent? Shop Lancôme fragrances, including bestsellers La Vie Est Belle, Trésor, and Ô de Lancôme here.