How long do bottles & imps last?

[animalcule]

I'm a wand-cap dabber, 2-4 little drops per application. And I go through times where I wear very little perfume oil (mostly due to whiny boyfriends...) The only bottle I have made significant headway on is my first of Snow White '10, and there's still at least 1/4 left. My collection is on the smaller side but I'll probably have some of these bottles for 20 years/until they go bad.

 

My oldest bottles are from 09 and they still smell great, even my Embalming Fluid which is half gone AND a citrusy blend. But I have tried (and swapped away) bottles from 04-08, and never had one smell bad, and most seemed true to notes and reviews. The oldest was an Alice from 2004, still smelled pretty much just like my lab-fresh imps of Alice have (and unfortunately, neither last on me!)

[AVATARfeline]

Following on from the 'where do you store 'em' thread, can I ask those of you who have been at this for a bit longer how long their BPAL perfumes have lasted?

 

I try not to keep store-bought perfume for over 12 months as I've found they tend to change scent. As these are oil-based rather than alcohol-based, I'm guessing that their shelf life is less.

 

I know that this will vary according to how often I open the bottles, and where they are stored (currently in the USPS box, but closed so they're in the dark!) but any personal thoughts would be good to hear

 

Ta.

 

Steph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, I have some bottles from 2005 that smell devine. Much of my collection is from 2006 & 2007. Alcohol sours, but like a fine wine Beth's oils just get better with age.

[Anne M.69]

Following on from the 'where do you store 'em' thread, can I ask those of you who have been at this for a bit longer how long their BPAL perfumes have lasted?

 

I try not to keep store-bought perfume for over 12 months as I've found they tend to change scent. As these are oil-based rather than alcohol-based, I'm guessing that their shelf life is less.

 

I know that this will vary according to how often I open the bottles, and where they are stored (currently in the USPS box, but closed so they're in the dark!) but any personal thoughts would be good to hear

 

Ta.

 

Steph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, I have some bottles from 2005 that smell devine. Much of my collection is from 2006 & 2007. Alcohol sours, but like a fine wine Beth's oils just get better with age.

I wore Harvest Moon '05 today and it's still gorgeous

[schackjj]

I wore Snow White '04 last night. Nearly 10 years old and as lovely as ever

 

 

ETA: I keep that one next to my bed, which is fairly dark, and it doesn't get opened/used that often (not that I hoard it, but it's better than lavender for a sleep aid)

Edited September 27, 2013 by schackjj

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I wore Snow White '04 last night. Nearly 10 years old and as lovely as ever

 

Hey! I wore my Snow White '04 today as well - and you're right, it's still completely gorgeous

 

I'm hoping all my best-loved BPALs will last longer than dirt. And I suspect they will

[schackjj]

I wore Snow White '04 last night. Nearly 10 years old and as lovely as ever

 

Hey! I wore my Snow White '04 today as well - and you're right, it's still completely gorgeous

 

I'm hoping all my best-loved BPALs will last longer than dirt. And I suspect they will

*high fives*

 

Mah scent twin!!

[heygraycatbird]

I've been collecting perfume for a little over a year now. I wear a scent almost every day, usually a few swipes from a wand cap or from the inside of a regular cap.

 

One of my oldest and most favorite bottles is Alkemia's Midnight Garden, which is about half gone. Most of my other bottles are still near the top of the label or higher.

 

Rose Red '12 is almost half gone as well, but that's mostly because I've been using it as a room fragrance in an oil burner (in part because I'd like to get a bottle of the 2013 version for perfume use if I like the label better than the 2012 version's, is that bad? )

Edited September 28, 2013 by heygraycatbird

[chinkee21]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

[Mokiefraggle]

I'd consider myself a pretty generous user when it comes to my BPALs, maybe not an outright slatherer, but I always feel like I'm being way too generous with my applications. In spite of that, I've only gone through four imps and am maybe halfway through my most-used bottle (Black Bear Moon), and that's been since late 2011. I've got something like 25~ish imps and six bottles, and I rotate through them regularly, which might be why it takes so long. That said, I've never encountered one I'd say has gone bad, even including ones I've had for 2-3 years. They mostly get more concentrated, especially the resinous or spicy scents, which is why I one day found that putting on Al-Shairan fresh out of the shower had become a bad idea; cinnamon burn is nasty!

 

Other than that, there's never been more than a subtle change to the scent as it ages, and that's even when I'm being careless and leaving them out, let alone properly keeping them in a dark, cool place like I should. Can't help it; I'm forever going through my imps, and I'm in the middle of completing a new box that's big enough to hold them after the last one got overflowed with 5mls, so they're currently sitting out on my dresser, albeit out of any direct light or heat.

 

So I'm pretty sure that when stored properly, BPAL doesn't really go bad. It might change, or loose scent, or get more concentrated over time, but I've never heard of perfume oil going rancid before.

[Wren12]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

My oldest bottle is 10 years old and smells amazing...

[chinkee21]

Mokiefraggle & Wren12, thank you for your thoughts! I am glad to hear this. 1 less thing to worry about, seeing as I hoard Bpal like there is no tomorrow.

Edited April 30, 2014 by chinkee21

[Circaea]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

I've had a bottle morph into something I didn't want to wear. I bought White Rabbit fresh from the lab. After about a year (stored in a box, no light or heat), it smelled like single note pepper. I frimped it to someone who said it smelled fine. So I'm not sure if it went bad, or if something started to amp on my skin. Either way, my conclusion is that not every scent I buy will last for years and years.

 

So... I wear it like there's no tomorrow, if it's something I really like.

[chinkee21]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

I've had a bottle morph into something I didn't want to wear. I bought White Rabbit fresh from the lab. After about a year (stored in a box, no light or heat), it smelled like single note pepper. I frimped it to someone who said it smelled fine. So I'm not sure if it went bad, or if something started to amp on my skin. Either way, my conclusion is that not every scent I buy will last for years and years.

 

So... I wear it like there's no tomorrow, if it's something I really like.

 

I am a slatherer too! With any oil really, whether it's a fave or not. But with the amount of oils I have, I'm not even making a tiny dent in my collection. I really ought to stop buying...but it's so hard!

[Circaea]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

I've had a bottle morph into something I didn't want to wear. I bought White Rabbit fresh from the lab. After about a year (stored in a box, no light or heat), it smelled like single note pepper. I frimped it to someone who said it smelled fine. So I'm not sure if it went bad, or if something started to amp on my skin. Either way, my conclusion is that not every scent I buy will last for years and years.

 

So... I wear it like there's no tomorrow, if it's something I really like.

 

I am a slatherer too! With any oil really, whether it's a fave or not. But with the amount of oils I have, I'm not even making a tiny dent in my collection. I really ought to stop buying...but it's so hard!

 

 

I'm trying to stop buying so much. I have a dozen opium scents alone! It will take me years to get through them, if I ever do. I've slowed down a lot. It helps that I've finally concluded I don't like going to the post office, so I can't tell myself "if it doesn't work out, I can always sell it or swap it." Now that I know I'll be keeping it all, I'm more conservative.

 

Sometimes when I'm reading a review and I get a hankerin', I'll stop and ask myself... What do I have that is similar? I've rediscovered some gorgeous scents that way. And I realized yesterday that the half bottle of Playful Wooden Mallets I bought two years ago was down to its last two drops. (!) So, maybe I can get through my stash. (I have a new bottle of Mallets lined up, though. Whew, that was close.)

 

Back on the topic of how long do scents last, my oldest is from 2005, Holiday Moon. Still fruity, cool and pretty.

[Atrous]

I've started keeping track on my spreadsheet scents that change, get better, or get worse.

There are a few sadly that have gotten bad like Wrath and Death on a Pale Horse (which I bought fresh from the lab).

But, the vast majority haven't and a number of them have gotten better like Tombeur, which I love fresh but aged is soooo much better, or Dark Pumpkin Mead, which I didn't care for at first but now with just a little aging I really dig.

[Monster]

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

 

In my experience, it depends. Citrus dominant scents tend to not age well for me. I had a bottle of Kunstkammer I bought fresh from the lab. When I first purchased it, the blood orange note was incredibly strong and then after only a few years it turned into something unrecognizable. I ended up giving it to a friend who liked the way it had aged. I've had similar experiences with scents that include grapefruit. Some really foody scents tend to not age well to my nose as well. My bottle of Sugar Cookie from 2005 became really mild over time. Resins tend to age the best for me. I have bottles of Urd from 2004-2013 and the longer I let them age, the better they get.

[tyche]

 

Does bpal oil go bad even stored in a cool dark place?

In my experience, it depends. Citrus dominant scents tend to not age well for me. I had a bottle of Kunstkammer I bought fresh from the lab. When I first purchased it, the blood orange note was incredibly strong and then after only a few years it turned into something unrecognizable. I ended up giving it to a friend who liked the way it had aged. I've had similar experiences with scents that include grapefruit. Some really foody scents tend to not age well to my nose as well. My bottle of Sugar Cookie from 2005 became really mild over time. Resins tend to age the best for me. I have bottles of Urd from 2004-2013 and the longer I let them age, the better they get.

 

I definitely agree that the food scents don't hold up well over time. I've placed 2 orders of BPAL, one in 2009 and another in 2011 (yes, I know I am overdue for another order, just waiting on weenies!). All of the scents from both years are still wonderful, with the exception of Bite Me '11. It's a sugary sweet scent, but I opened it last night and just did not like it at all. It almost smelled like rotten fruit, very sickly sweet. If I get other food related scents, I'd better use them up fast!

[GKingsley]

Helo, BPALlers! This is my very first post, so please be gentle. I was turned on to the olfactory crack that is BPAL approx. 12 years ago, when a good friend gave me a pile of imps. Then the gods of finance decided to challenge me, and I didn't indulge in, well, anything fun for a long time. Recently, I got back into BPAL and when I went to add my new imps to the box of old imps, I realized those old imps are at least a decade old. Now, here is my question: how does one tell if an imp is no longer any good, especially without anything to compare it to? Is this even possible?

 

Thank you all for any help or suggestions you may have. I am so very glad to be back in the world of BPAL.

[lady_pandora]

Helo, BPALlers! This is my very first post, so please be gentle. I was turned on to the olfactory crack that is BPAL approx. 12 years ago, when a good friend gave me a pile of imps. Then the gods of finance decided to challenge me, and I didn't indulge in, well, anything fun for a long time. Recently, I got back into BPAL and when I went to add my new imps to the box of old imps, I realized those old imps are at least a decade old. Now, here is my question: how does one tell if an imp is no longer any good, especially without anything to compare it to? Is this even possible?

 

Thank you all for any help or suggestions you may have. I am so very glad to be back in the world of BPAL.

 

I'd say try each of them, sometime when you don't need to be anywhere that day (like, just a kicking around the house day), so if they stink, you aren't stuck at work/the mall/whatever smelling like rancid ass. If you like the way they smell, great! If you don't, maybe it's the elapsed time, maybe you just never would have liked that scent anyway. I'd say as long as it smells good to you, don't worry too much about whether it smells exactly like its old self. They all change a bit as they age anyway. You can also read reviews on here to see if what you smell is in the general range of what other people have experienced.

 

But a lot of them will probably be fine, in any case. My BPAL comes in "generations"--I tend to buy a lot at once and then nothing for 2-3 years and then a lot at once again--and my oldest "generation" is from 2005. A lot of that was used up or lost in the intervening years, but some of the ones I still have are fine. Some of them get better over time, some lose something, some don't seem to change much at all.

[GKingsley]

Excellent suggestion - thank you!

[Minh Scent]

It's good to hear that in general, BPAL ages well, except perhaps for the gourmands and citrus. This is certainly something to consider in terms of buying scents and deciding if they need to be used up immediately in wild abandon or can have some cuddle time in the cupboard. Very pleased to hear many of you have some very long lived (and well loved) bottles. I guess Beth or Brian's answer of "one year" in the Frequently Asked Questions on the main site is a disclaimer to protect themselves from whingers.

[sunlitgarden]

I have a bottle of Sugar Cookie 2008 that honestly smells like it's gone bad. It smells like stale/bad vegetable oil. HOWEVER, I bought it from a seller on LJ who was suspended for, among other things, selling adulterated oils. I didn't think it was bad when I first got it (in 2010?), but over time it's gotten gradually worse in a way that none of my other scents (even other bottles from that year or older) have. So I suspect it's not actually the BPAL's fault, but that the seller diluted it with something that's since gone bad... but does anyone else have an older Sugar Cookie that can comment on what it smells like?

Fortunately, this was the only outright bad experience I've had in all the online buying/swapping I've done.

[Fuhrankie]

I have a bottle of Sugar Cookie 2008 that honestly smells like it's gone bad. It smells like stale/bad vegetable oil. HOWEVER, I bought it from a seller on LJ who was suspended for, among other things, selling adulterated oils. I didn't think it was bad when I first got it (in 2010?), but over time it's gotten gradually worse in a way that none of my other scents (even other bottles from that year or older) have. So I suspect it's not actually the BPAL's fault, but that the seller diluted it with something that's since gone bad... but does anyone else have an older Sugar Cookie that can comment on what it smells like?

Fortunately, this was the only outright bad experience I've had in all the online buying/swapping I've done.

I have a bottle of the 2005 sugar cookie, and it's still AMAZING. I'm thinking that seller was a giant butt.

[LizziesLuck]

 

I have a bottle of Sugar Cookie 2008 that honestly smells like it's gone bad. It smells like stale/bad vegetable oil. HOWEVER, I bought it from a seller on LJ who was suspended for, among other things, selling adulterated oils. I didn't think it was bad when I first got it (in 2010?), but over time it's gotten gradually worse in a way that none of my other scents (even other bottles from that year or older) have. So I suspect it's not actually the BPAL's fault, but that the seller diluted it with something that's since gone bad... but does anyone else have an older Sugar Cookie that can comment on what it smells like?

Fortunately, this was the only outright bad experience I've had in all the online buying/swapping I've done.

I have a bottle of the 2005 sugar cookie, and it's still AMAZING. I'm thinking that seller was a giant butt.

 

 

I had a bottle of Sugar Cookie 2005 as well. I loved it, but my skin chemistry changed over the years and I ended up having to swap it. I did test it once last time before swapping it (that was several months ago) and it smelled amazing in the bottle, and amazing on my skin for a few seconds before my chemistry ruined it. So I, too, think that seller may have done something to the oil.

 

I have a lot of BPAL from 2005-2008 (some foodie like Midway and my Monster Baits) and not a single one has ever gone "off" on me. I really do think the secret is keeping them in the dark and making sure they don't get too crazy hot (that's never a problem in Canada).

 

Really sorry to hear you had that experience! Who does that to a BPAL???

[vanilla323]

I have a bottle of Sugar Cookie 2008 that honestly smells like it's gone bad. It smells like stale/bad vegetable oil. HOWEVER, I bought it from a seller on LJ who was suspended for, among other things, selling adulterated oils. I didn't think it was bad when I first got it (in 2010?), but over time it's gotten gradually worse in a way that none of my other scents (even other bottles from that year or older) have. So I suspect it's not actually the BPAL's fault, but that the seller diluted it with something that's since gone bad... but does anyone else have an older Sugar Cookie that can comment on what it smells like?

Fortunately, this was the only outright bad experience I've had in all the online buying/swapping I've done.

I have a 2008 bottle and it still smells amazing! Sorry someone might of tampered with your bottle. That sucks!