It seems to always happen… You spend hours upon hours finding the right cologne that’s for you, only to find out you’re only wearing it on those “special” occasions. Well, you haven’t had a “special occasion” in years, and now you’re ready to spruce up your fragrance game to that wedding you’re going to. You open up your cabinet to that bottle of cologne you purchased years ago. Is it even any good anymore?
It’s not an unusual question to ask, especially since cologne can take a long time to go through an entire bottle.
So, does men’s cologne expire? Yes, men’s cologne can expire. The typical shelf life of cologne is between 2-4 years and using an expired cologne can lead to skin irritations, foul smells, and other undesirable reactions.
Although a cologne can expire, there are a few things that you can do to help increase its lifespan.
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How Can You Tell If Your Cologne is Expired?
There are a few things that you can check for if you’re wondering if your cologne is expired. The first thing, and most intuitive is to check its scent. When a cologne expires, the fragrance is going to be the first thing to go.
There are some men’s colognes that will contain natural fats in the mixture. These are typically going to be a more “organic” alternative to most popular colognes. If they contain any organic ingredients, it is safe to say that these will have a much shorter life span than other colognes. 
The second thing that you can do to check to see if your cologne has expired is by checking the color of the liquid. This can be harder on some colognes, because most of the colognes are stored in tinted glass bottles for the design appeal.
However, if you have a clear bottle of cologne, checking for the color can be a viable option to check for its expiry. If your cologne beings to display a darker tint than when it was originally purchased, this can be a sign that your cologne has gone bad.
The last option that is a sure-fire way to tell if your cologne has gone bad is the expiration date. Some colognes actually display expiration dates on the bottle itself. This is the easiest way to see if it’s no good, but some colognes don’t offer expiration dates.
If there’s no expiration date on the bottle, it’s better to understand how long a common bottle of cologne will last.
How Long Does Cologne Stay Good For?
The common bottle of cologne will typically be useable if it’s used within 3-4 years from the original purchase date. However, not all colognes are alike, and the way that you store your cologne can play a major role in its shelf life.
Some colognes contain vegetable oils, which will generally have a much lower shelf life than other colognes. Due to the natural fragrance mixture that it uses, the fats within the cologne can begin to go bad, giving off an undesirable scent.
If you’re looking to lengthen the lifespan of your cologne, there are a few tricks that you can do to make sure that your cologne still has that amazing scent, even after a few years.
How Can You Make Cologne Last Longer?
If you’re looking to make your cologne last longer (which I’d recommend), there are a few industry secrets that you can implement right now to help keep those expensive fragrances smelling fresh, even past their expiration date.
Keep The Bottle Out of Direct Sunlight
The first thing that you can do is keep the bottle out of direct sunlight. This might seem obvious, but it can be easy to leave a bottle of cologne on a shelf or counter in your home that might receive direct sunlight through a window at a certain time of the day. By keeping it in a medicine cabinet, this can help make sure that your bottle of cologne is safe from harmful rays.
Avoid Shaking Your Bottle of Cologne
Secondly, it’s recommended to avoid shaking your bottle of cologne. By shaking the bottle of cologne, you’re actually inviting air into the bottle itself, which can actually oxidize your cologne. By doing this, you’re rapidly diminishing the shelf life of the cologne.
Keep the Cap On!
Third, as mentioned above, if you allow air to enter the bottle, you can cause oxidation. Which is why we recommend keeping the cap on as much as possible. It’s easy to forget to put the cap back on if you’re in a hurry, but we recommend taking the extra second it takes to put the cap back on. It can help expand its lifespan.
Don’t Switch Containers
The next tip we can offer to keep your cologne lasting longer is to keep the cologne in its original container. This also carries over from the previous two tips, but some might not think that cologne bottles are actually built the way they are to avoid excess air entering the container.
Avoid Moisture and Humidity
Next, it’s important to store your cologne away from moisture and humidity. This can be especially difficult for those living in a humid climate, but the humidity can actually speed up the colognes aging process, which can allow the cologne to expire faster than normal. By keeping the cologne in a dry, cool place, you can avoid this.
Avoid Drastic Temperature Fluctuations
Lastly, we recommend keeping your cologne in an area with little to no temperature fluctuations. If your bottle of cologne is introduced to a high heat with rapid cooling, the chemicals within your cologne will react negatively, producing a foul stench. This can be especially true if your cologne contains natural fats, such as vegetable oil.
By implementing these basic tips, you can help avoid your cologne expiring faster. However, as mentioned before, not all colognes are created equal and some might expire faster than others, but why?
Why Do Some Colognes Last Longer Than Others?
Although, we know that some colognes last longer on the skin than others… learning why your cologne expires faster than others is a different topic entirely. So what’s the difference in shelf life of colognes?
Some colognes will expire in less than a year, and some will even last up to 10 years. The most common types of colognes that will
expire faster are those with natural ingredients. Believe it or not, some colognes and fragrances will contain ingredients such as vegetable oil and other essential fatty acids that can omit a desirable scent. But, when you’re using a product with natural ingredients, expiration dates are hard to avoid.
When you’re looking for your next cologne, this might be a valuable question to ask a sales rep, or do some research before making your final purchase. However, most colognes you find in a department store don’t contain these kind of natural ingredients.
In conclusion, we went over how to tell if your cologne is expired, how long cologne will last for, how you can make it last longer, and lastly, why some colognes have a longer shelf life than others.
When purchasing a cologne, these factors are not something that are typically thought of when purchasing, however, they can make a difference if you don’t plan on wearing your cologne daily.
Even though some colognes last longer than others and don’t expire as quickly, I typically tend to buy the smaller bottles of cologne. I, personally, do not wear cologne daily, so it doesn’t make practical sense. If you’re anything like me, and tend to only wear cologne during certain occasions, this might help you as well.