DESPERATE CHARACTERS (PAULA FOX) AND THE EXPIRATION DATE OF PERFUMS

He sniffed at her hair. There was a faint trace of the perfume she always wore, but it floated on a rather stronger chemical smell. That monstrous bottle he had given her had probably turned to alcohol. Next birthday, he would buy her three small bottles instead

Once opened, perfums begin to loose their volatile compounds ( especially esters, aldehydes and ketones). These compounds are in charge of their smell and due to the passage of time, they may smell to alcohol sometimes. Not everybody knows that cosmetic industry is an important career opportunity for many chemists, where the composition of the perfum is as important as the addition of masked agents that avoid copying the scent to the competition.