Question:
If you think identifying factors on fragrance bottles is fun you have to get to know the obsessive/compulsive types in the guitar hobby. Try googling Rickenbaker and serials especially.
I think it's a mild form of OCD. I like a guitar that's been set up by a pro and has proper intonation along the neck. The great serial numbers on most things are spoken for during production. There are limited editions of everything now, instant collectables that show up on ebay within a week. Like printing money.
a 4 digit code doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Whether I trust the seller is more important and I can't quantify that. A trustworthy seller will not sell you a bottle which has been diluted. What good is a tester with a recent serial number if it's been diluted.

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Originally Posted by G Man (I know you were referring to me as ONLY ONE MEMBER)Maybe I worry because I pay 65 dollars for it and money doesn't come out of nowhere and I worry I spent my money on something that is old and not quality. How am I supposed to know if Macy's kept it in good conditions? I come here to get information and found a topic that I want to go into further detail.
I'm sorry if posting concerns is wrong. Maybe I should go google "when does chanel cologne go bad according to the date code"
I wont find it anywhere else and if I did, it won't be in open discussion like a forum.
I don't see how i'm harming anybody or creating problems. I am getting discreetly bashed here for asking questions and being concerned. Gman, my post wasn't directed at you, but you were the one to whom I was referring, since you are the only one on thread overly concerned about your bottle. That's not bashing; it's just pointing something out. You are so quick to jump every time somebody might have a criticism... or how somebody rates your thread... instead of looking at whether or not it actually IS a criticism (and, as for the ratings, I don't know of more than a handful of members who even look at the rating when viewing a thread; until about two weeks ago I didn't even know there WAS a rating system, so really it doesn't matter if you get 1 or 5 stars... the content within it speaks for itself).
The best suggestion is just trust your nose; if it smells good to you, then it is good. You will know if it has gone bad, just because you'll ask yourself, "Is Chanel PE supposed to smell like rancid cheese?" Despite the fact that many companies say all of their juice from all batches smells the same, it just isn't the case (especially with smaller companies). I've had two different bottles of L'artisan Patchouli patch that smelled quite different, but were from two different batches. I tended to wear the one that smelled better to me, regardless of which one was technically "newer."
Also, Frederictoo, I don't think it is compulsive just to be curious about your own items. A date code isn't a serial number... it's a date code. Most of my experience with this comes from friends who work for some of the big Luxury goods makers (LV, Prada, etc.), where date codes are a big part of the game. With fragrances, this isn't as much the case, but it is still just fun to know something extra about a product on which you are spending lots of money. Does it really mean anything? No, not really, but quite frankly just the sort of discussion it GENERALLY provokes makes for a much more interesting thread than, "I think 4711 smells just like Chergui," "Please recommend me some Creed," or "Where do I buy authentic GIT?"

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sorry, I don't think a thread with a few folks talking about deciphering the codes on Chanel bottles is OCD. Going to stores and looking at all the bottles probably would qualify though.
I'm going to start a thread on soon about RFID chips and are they showing up and where. I've encountered one on a box of Farenheit. Are these boxes with early chips going to be collecters items because most folk are probably going to smash theirs so Dior isn't following the box around.

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Originally Posted by fredricktoo I'm going to start a thread on soon about RFID chips and are they showing up and where. I've encountered one on a box of Farenheit. Are these boxes with early chips going to be collecters items because most folk are probably going to smash theirs so Dior isn't following the box around. Lol; fred, I can always count on your posts to make me laugh and think at the same time. Although, I'm still waiting for one to top your retort to shiver's anger about getting a low thread rating. You said something like, "I've seen some five-star threads, and this isn't one of them." I'm still trying to find a time to use that one somewhere. It has something of a "I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. You, Senator, are no Jack Kennedy" vibe to it.

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Originally Posted by rach2jlc With fragrances, this isn't as much the case, but it is still just fun to know something extra about a product on which you are spending lots of money. Does it really mean anything? No, not really, but quite frankly just the sort of discussion it GENERALLY provokes makes for a much more interesting thread than, "I think 4711 smells just like Chergui," "Please recommend me some Creed," or "Where do I buy authentic GIT?" I couldn't agree more, rach. I'm relatively new to Basenotes, and it amazes to see serious treatment given to threads like "should I buy these frags, cozz my Mom is going to be so mad if I do".
I don't understand why a thread, like this one, that is just chugging merrily along gets cold water thrown on it by someone who finds their keen sensibilities offended. If the thread isn't your cup of tea, move to another. Just like I do when Skippy needs group permission to make a purchase.

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Originally Posted by rach2jlc Lol; fred, I can always count on your posts to make me laugh and think at the same time. Although, I'm still waiting for one to top your retort to shiver's anger about getting a low thread rating. You said something like, "I've seen some five-star threads, and this isn't one of them." I'm still trying to find a time to use that one somewhere. It has something of a "I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. You, Senator, are no Jack Kennedy" vibe to it. Left Dan Quayle speechless, not that it was a hard thing to do.

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Again, any offense to anyone by previous post was not intended. I am just trying to inform others through the benefit of my experience and particularly to assuage any anxiety.
G Man, if you ever need any help or advice, please send me a private message me. I'd be happy to help out and certainly don't ever feel that you can't post questions to the forum.

Furthermore, I didn't mean to imply that an interest in the date of production is irrelevant. That certainly wasn't my intention, and I fully understand where MadScientist and rach2jlc are coming form, and I respect that. If fact, knowing an approximate date of production can keep one attuned also to formulation changes. I wish there was a lot more information about such formulation changes and the dates they occurred than is otherwise available.
What I was really getting at was the unnecessary worry about anything older than one or two years and the mistaken belief that if anything is old it’s no good. A further point: the recommendation of designer houses and even those who work in the retail end of the fragrance industry about the shelf life of fragrances should be take not with a grain of salt but rather with a teaspoon of salt. I've heard everything from advice to use up a bottle within two years to even a year. Sorry but that's just BS of the first order. I will hazard this observation. A bottle standing under shelf lighting in Sephora will go off quicker--say in a week or two especially if it doesn't contain benzophenone--essentially a sunscreen for fragrances--than a bottle that's been carefully stored in its packaging and away from light for years. It’s always best to test fragrances out in retail establishmentw that keep their testers boxed or at least when that tester is full rather than close to empty. You don’t know how long it’s been sitting around exposed to light. Close-to-empty testers that have been sitting in shelf or overhead lighting for weeks will give you a false reading about the nature of a fragrance especially its top and middle notes. Basically, most bottles are safe if stored correctly and especially if they’re boxed and come from reputable e-retailers. If there is a problem, most of these reputable e-retailers will not give you problems with returning the said bottle. Be firm and clear that you’re not happy with the product and that you want to return it. Tell them you are familiar with the fragrance and how it’s supposed to smell and the tell the bottle you have from them does not smell like it supposed to smell. I have found calling the said retailers on the phone if it’s an e-retailer, works better than email.

Having said all that though, I will say this about buying Creeds, which an altogether different proposition. Buying a Creeds is a lot trickery. Two years ago, or even year ago, I wouldn't have said this, but having bought at least 40 bottles over the last two years from all kinds of retailers, I will conclude on the basis of my experience, limited as it might be, that buying Creed is indeed tricky. The date is mostly irrelevant, though not wholly irrelevant (see below). One thing is for sure. Every time you buy a 8.5 oz or 16.9 oz flacon, you're taking a huge risk because of the crappy glass stopper Creed uses to secure the contents of their flacons. One pays 300 to 400 dollars for one of these bottles and a glass stopper is the best they can do? Basically, there is large failure rate in terms of the glass to glass fit being air tight. Glass to glass is not a good idea. If you buy a new Creed flacon and you can smell the fragrance when you open the box, that's not a good sign, and with many Creed flacons, this is a not uncommon problem. This includes flacons I've purchased from Neiman Marcus. I went to purchase a flacon of Angelique Encens from Neiman Marcus before Christmas, and when the sales person handed me the 8.5 oz flacon, I could smell the fragrance. I immediately informed him that wasn’t acceptable; he agreed, although somewhat bemusedly, and then proceeded to bring me a flacon that had no discernable smell. It's not from where one purchases them; it's the design of the flacons themselves. All Lutens bell jars come with a plastic stopper that ensure an air-tight fit. I don’t think I’ve ever heard even one person in all my years at Basenotes speak of a bad Lutens’s bell jar.

If you’re buying Creed from e-retailers, some are better than others, and some are worse than others, but there’s never a guarantee that the bottles will be fresh. I’ve bought from perfumeworldwide.com, fragrancenet.com, and scentiments.com mostly but not ever without problems. In most cases, the surest bet I’ve found are the boxed 2.5 oz bottles, with the boxed 4.0 oz being slightly less of a surer bet, and the 8.5 oz flacons the worst bet and the larger ones being a little more secure than the 8.5 oz flacons. I would never buy an unboxed Creed from anyone.

Here’s the real point though, instead of spending an inordinate amount of time stressing about purchases gone wrong or posting about yet another dud Creed bottle, I immediately contact the seller and tell them I am returning the bottle because it’s not fresh. I’ve never had any problems in that regard, and I have had my money refunded each time, even with ebay sellers; although, I buy very few Creeds on ebay; there are just not enough sellers I trust to do so. One thing I’ll never do though is act like I am surprised when I get a dud Creed or like some one owes me an explanation or worst still a shoulder to cry on. It’s clear that it’s caveat emptor with buying Creed. It has more to do with sloppy inventory control and glass stoppers and less to do with dates. For company that touts it’s uniqueness, there are so many Creed bottles floating around that one never knows whether a 2006 bottle will be a safer bet than a 2002. You don’t know where they’ve been and how they’ve been stored and transported. Although, I don’t know this for a fact, I also think that Creeds generally don’t contain preservatives so this also adds to the uncertainty and problems with purchasing them. A case in point: when I replaced a perfect 2002 bottle of Creed Original Vetiver 3 months ago, I received a 2006 bottle from one of the e-retailers. It was off. No sparkle at all in the top notes, and the heart notes were dull. It eventually ended up smelling like Original Vetiver, but eventually isn’t good enough. I emailed the e-retailer and sent it back immediately and got a refund. Just another day in the game of buying fragrances at less than retail.

As I said, especially with Creed; it’s crapshoot. If you can afford the price, buy from the Neiman Marcus of parfumraffy.com; if you can’t afford full retail price or don’t want to pay full retail price, buy from reputable e-retailers, but always expect the unexpected. It’s that simple; there’s no need to turn the experience into a saga of Da Vinci code proportions were dates become the basis of cabbalistic-like speculation and study. Finally, I won’t dignify the absurd notion that there are vintage years that are better than others with any further words, except to say that such a notion is absurd and no self-respecting perfumer would ever own up to it. All modern perfumes are standardized to smell same, unless of course the formulation changes. That’s why aromachemicals are used along with natural components, and that’s why you’ll find on all 2006 Creed packing a list of the IFRA potential aromachemicals listed in full, just like all the other mass produced fragrances of today.

Here are some further tips, I’ve picked up along the way. Although, as I’ve said before a lot of this has been posted before and can be easily found with a little effort and the search function.

Don’t ever buy unboxed bottles from ebay sellers, unless you are willing to take the chance that there is a very good likelihood that the fragrance will be attenuated with exposure to light. Now as with e-retailers, some ebay sellers are to be trusted more than others with unboxed bottles. I have bought many unboxed testers from scentiments.com, but they are about the only e-retailer from whom I would buy unboxed bottles without the expectation that there will be any problems. Why? Because having done so I have never received a dud. I can’t say that about some other e-retailers, but then I’ve just simply stopped buying unboxed bottles from them. Again, it depends where and how that unboxed bottle was stored. It’s not simply a matter of a fragrance being unboxed that is the problem; it’s almost always a matter of how that bottle has been and subsequently is stored. For instance, whenever I get an unboxed bottle, the first thing I do is check it out for freshness, and if it’s okay, I place it in a larger light proof container where I store unboxed bottles till I can find boxes for them. Even then, I store those newly boxed bottles and all my boxed fragrances for that matter in light proof storage or refrigeration. I had a large 6.8 oz bottle of Guerlain Vetiver EDC I purchased in 1980 that was good to the very last drop. It was unboxed when I bought it.

I always decant Creed flacons into smaller, usually 4 oz aluminum containers that have a special, non-reactive coating, and I always refrigerate all my Creeds and all Annick Goutal fragrances (another house that doesn’t use preservatives) and all older bottles to maximize their shelf life. Wine coolers defeat the purpose if they let in light. Any regular fridge will do; just set the settings to the lowest possible setting which will usually provide the optimal temperature for storage, around 10 degrees Celsius. I also always refrigerate predominantly citrus fragrances, and, if I have space, everything for matter that I can fit into my refrigerators.

There is very little mystery to all this; it’s mostly common sense. Like I said, if you’re not sure about a fragrance, offer to send a sample to a more experienced member. I for one, would be happy to help, or, even more simply, contact your seller and ask for a refund.

scentemental


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Makes perfect sense, Scentemental. Thanks for the clarification and very informative post!
Regards,

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Originally Posted by rach2jlc Makes perfect sense, Scentemental. Thanks for the clarification and very informative post!
Regards, Now, that's much better, John. I trust we won't soon see you "cluttering up the board" with any more "quite absurd" threads on manufacturing date codes.
I do have to agree with you, though. Scentemental's second post was very informative, and should be required reading for all who purchase and store their frags. Too bad it wasn't his first post.