Is sunlight really the enemy of cologne?

95% · Post by **95%** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:01 am

I enjoy seeing those pretty designer bottles as they sit on the dresser in my sunny bedroom. But I've read they should be stored away from sunlight, which is said to cause their contents to deteriorate over time. Is this an old wive's tale, or is it substantiated by experience? It seems to me that if cologne were so sensitive to light, the perfumers would put it in opaque bottles like the Eucris bottle. Most, I think, are transparent.

Where do you gents keep your bottles - in a drawer or a closet, or like me do you have them in plain view, exposed to the light? If the latter, have you ever noticed a cologne to degrade over a period of two or three years?

fisherc · Post by **fisherc** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:33 pm

Sunlight and more importantly temperature (extreme hot in particular) are the nemesis of fragrance. I keep mine in a room temperature environment (about 68-72 deg F) way from UV/sunlight (my dressing closet). I have had fragrances that were exposed to extreme sunlight as well as temp and over time they do degrade/change in their olfactive characteristics.

Chris

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:10 pm

I have been told that fragrances start to deteriorate when you open the bottle for the first time.

Is that true?

tonyespo · Post by **tonyespo** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:58 pm

I asked this question a few years ago and I got YES from someone who's name I won't mention that sunlight did deteriorate a colognes fragrance.

Do you agree GORDON?

tonyespo · Post by **tonyespo** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:05 pm

GA Russell wrote:I have been told that fragrances start to deteriorate when you open the bottle for the first time.

Is that true?

Sure, the fragrance of wine does, The fragrance of Jack Daniels does, I guess it would hold true for cologne. My colognes last a lot longer then my wine and Jack so I can't really be sure.

cjc15153 · Post by **cjc15153** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:38 pm

During my brief fascination with colognes I listened to an interview with Luca Turin wherein he stated that sunlight broke down the molecules of many scents and that he kept his colognes on top of his dresser anyway.

95% · Post by **95%** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:09 pm

I suspect there won't be much harm done by keeping the bottle on top of the dresser for a couple of years. It's not, after all, being exposed to the blazing sunlight and 120-degree Fahrenheit temperatures during that period.

That said, it makes sense to be prudent. A rule of thumb for me is to buy no more than I can expect to use up in two years or so. If I were a collector, I'd keep them away in a closet as Chris does.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:41 pm

Porter, I have no reason to doubt Chris, or Mr. Turin, in this matter although I've not had it happen to me personally. Then again, I've never really tested it ( chuckle ). My colognes, the ones I use frequently anyway, are left in the open in the bathroom. However, no direct sunlight ever makes it in there. Especially here in Florida, no, I don't believe I'd keep them on the window sill.
Regards,
Gordon

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 4:36 am

Michael (Bargepole) indicated that colognes prefer cool dark places to last a long time. My huge bottle of Creed Vetiver (1948) is in my fridge because it will probably take me 20+ years to use it up. My other colognes are stored at room temp and out of sunlight.

Aztecface · Post by **Aztecface** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:14 am

The colognes I frequently use are in the bathroom or in a cabinett. The ones I do not frequent are stored in a fridge. Yes, I have a separate fridge for my colognes. So what.

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:12 am

My father used Old Spice. My brothers use Old Spice ( and can't tell the difference between old and new.)
My nephew came to live with me for a year. He brought Old Spice.
I woke up one morning and found my Royall Bay Rum almost empty.
Nephew came home from a job interview all smiles. The interview went well. His new boss wears bay rum. Nephew moves out and 'borrows' my almost empty bottle and the replacement.
I now keep my bottles secreted with my alcohol in a dark, cool hideaway.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:28 am

Jani, Oh....nothing.....you're just as decadent as Bargepole, that's all...( chuckle ).
Regards,
Gordon

Aztecface · Post by **Aztecface** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:19 pm

Gordon, I've heard that decadence suits me so...

95% · Post by **95%** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:21 pm

Haven't heard yet from Squire on this. I'm guessing he takes a common-sense approach, without a dedicated refrigerator or a crypt for his colognes.

Gone Troppo · Post by **Gone Troppo** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 12:55 pm

I've have a couple of bottles of edc on my dresser >20 years old that haven't lost any strength (or may be I can't tell the difference). Anyway, many years ago a friend who worked for a perfume house told me to always use an atomizer, not a stopper bottle.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:52 pm

Well, I've got a conventional splash bottle that's about 40 years old and is still fine....never been refrigerated either ( chuckle ). I think that those who make or sell scent would rather that you use a spray bottle as you tend to use it up faster that way....and have to buy more. I know that's the case for me, anyway, because I've done a comparison and the spray did not last as long.
Regards,
Gordon

95% · Post by **95%** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:56 pm

Gordon, out of curiosity, what is that 40-year-old cologne?

I much prefer splash bottles, because they give so much more control over the amount and placement of the liquid.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:03 pm

Porter, Yes, I do also, for those reasons, and for aesthetic/historical reasons as well. The colonge is Yardley Black Label. I also have a companion bottle of the A/S. Several years ago, a member of the forum snagged this gift set on eBay and he passed it on to me. I'd been trying to get some Black Label for ages and had been unable to. It is the cologne that I mostly wore in high school, and I initially discovered English Fern in my search for something similiar.
Regards,
Gordon

95% · Post by **95%** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:16 pm

Gordon, coming from that era - though I'm a few years ahead of you - I think I recall Yardley Black Label, but I never wore it. Since you wore it regularly in high school, it must have important sentimental value to you. If as you say it was similar to English Fern, there's an interesting continuity in your tastes from your teens until today.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:25 pm

Porter, Yes, definately. I was fortunate to be somewhat into cologne even then because in the 1960s there were still quite a number of real quality men's stuff available without much hassle ( or knowledge )...it was just there. For example, the Muelhen's/4711 people used to offer a superb Russian leather cologne that was available in a dept. store not far from where we lived. And Yardley, and Lentheric, and the real Dunhill, stuff like this was not hard to get, and yes, my basic tastes and reference frame formed up in that era. I realize now that Yardley Black Label was a classic English gentlemen's fougere. There was a lot of lavender in it, and it was the follow up and successor to their reknown English Lavender for Men that Sinatra was so fond of. Black Label was similiar, but a little sharper, stronger and more assertive.
Regards,
Gordon