Stay out of the bathroom. According to Stéphanie, there are three enemies to perfume: light, heat, and oxygen. Bathrooms are hotbeds (literally) of light and heat. Every time you shower, your bathroom gets steamy, then cools off. "Fragrance is like a good wine — it has to be maintained at a low temperature and no differences of temperature."
Keep things dark. "Light is really the first enemy of perfume," reiterated Stéphanie. If it's your everyday fragrance, you don't need to keep it in the dark. If you're going to use your bottle in the coming weeks, keep it on a shelf in your bedroom, or in your living room, but not in front of the window. In a cabinet is an ideal place to store fragrances when you're not using them.
Chill out. If the fragrance is really special, keep it in its box in the fridge. Keeping the fragrance in a dark, cool space will slow its breakdown.
Decant old fragrances. In a predominantly empty bottle of perfume, the air above the fragrance will break down and ultimately destroy the scent. If you have just a few drops of fragrance left, pour it into a tester spray.
