Some of you may already have spotted the pun in the title of this article, and for that I apologise. The reality however is that sometimes, buying cheap perfume, be it online or elsewhere, can have some unexpected and even painful results, and not just financially. While astute shoppers can find great deals online, the old adage applies “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”, and that can apply to buying perfume as well.

Do yourself a favour and search online for phrases like ‘fake perfume’ or ‘fake fragrances’ and you’ll be amazed at what you find. And if you think fake perfume is rare, think again. In fact in 2008, the Birmingham (UK) Trading Standards seized over 40 000 bottles of suspected fake perfume from top designer brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Versace. Not only did they find the perfumes themselves, they also found all the paraphernalia needed to produce counterfeit branded perfume on an industrial scale, including bottle labelling and wrapping equipment.

Some of this perfume gets sold in flea markets or car boot sales and some of it ends up online, including eBay. Don’t get me wrong, eBay is a great place to buy almost anything but it’s always buyer beware – and make sure you check the seller’s feedback before buying. That said, eBay has cracked down on the sale of fake goods recently, but then they’ve had to following a string of successful court cases against them (by brands including Givenchy, Christian Dior and Hugo Boss) for allowing the sale of fake goods.

And don’t think that seeing a picture of the perfume in its packaging is a safe way to spot fakes online. These days, fake fragrances are so hard to spot that even experts can find it hard to tell the difference. That is of course until you actually apply the perfume but by then it’s usually too late. And it’s more than just money you risk losing. There have been some horror stories of fake perfumes containing all kinds of nasty ingredients – even urine in one reported case. The fact is that legitimate perfume manufacturers spend a huge amount of time testing their products to ensure that they contain quality ingredients and are safe for the average person to use. Fake fragrances aren’t tested and, as some unsuspecting shoppers have discovered, using them could result in a terrible rash or allergic reaction.

It’s certainly easy to buy perfume online these days, and there are no shortage of online fragrance stores, some of them offering to save you as much as 80% off normal retail prices. But you’ve got to wonder where they get their product from if they can afford such huge discounts. Now I’m not saying that all discount perfume stores are selling fake perfumes. I’m just saying be aware and do some checking before you part with your hard-earned cash. Does the shop offer a guarantee that the perfumes on sale are genuine? Can you return your purchase for a full refund? Does the website provide clear contact details including registered company name and physical address? If not, you could be taking a chance purchasing from that store. The fact is that sometimes it’s worth paying that little bit extra for piece of mind. Happy perfume shopping.

Have you ever wondered if your perfumes can expire? You no doubt paid good money for your perfume so it’s a valid question and one you’ll find popping up regularly on Q&A sites all around the web. And quick scan of a perfume bottle or the outer packaging won’t leave you any wiser. The fact is that owing to the alcohol content, if you keep your perfume relatively cool and in a dark place, it should last almost indefinitely or at least long enough for you to finish it if you use it fairly regularly.

Some people suggest storing perfumes in a fridge but that’s not recommended. Yes, if you’re an absolute perfume aficionado with a valuable collection and a temperature controlled cooler then that’s one thing, but since extreme temperatures of either hot or cold could upset the chemical balance in the perfume, using your normal kitchen fridge is most probably a bit of a no-no. And don’t put your perfume on your dresser or shelf if it could be in direct sunlight. A cozy drawer will do just fine. So how do you know if a perfume has expired? Firstly, the juice itself can become discolored or even milky in appearance. Secondly, the smell, which could change over time or even begin to fade.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having an expired perfume, what can you do with it besides simply throwing it away? Well just because you wouldn’t use it on your skin it doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to still get some joy out of an expired perfume (assuming the scent itself hasn’t changed significantly). One fairly obvious solution would be to use an old perfume to fragrance the home. Now perfumes aren’t formulated in the same way as regular room fresheners so don’t expect to get the same result, but a few spritzes in the air will certainly brighten up a room but it won’t be particularly long lasting.

A better use would be as an alternative to using oils in a traditional scented oil burner, you know the ones that use a small tealight or nightlight candle to heat a small bowl of water containing a few drops of oil. Obviously normal perfume is not as concentrated as scented oils so it would require more frequent topping up to get the same effect. But that’s still better than throwing the perfume away altogether. Another clever use would be to refresh an old potpourri that’s lost its smell or you could be really creative and create your own potpourri by drying flowers or leaves.

These are just a few ideas but I’m sure that if you put your mind to it you could come up with a whole host of different ways to use expired perfumes in your home. A fragranced drawer liner – there’s another one. The fact is that it is such a shame to throw out a perfume, especially if it’s one you really love that perhaps evokes fond memories of a place or person, so don’t let it go to waste.

Next time you take a walk through your local perfume shop or health and beauty store, have a look at the differences between fragrances for men and fragrances for women. You’ll notice that there is a clear distinction between them, not only in the way they smell, but also in the way they are marketed. You won’t for example find a rugged men’s fragrance in a delicate bottle with pretty flowers all over it because, well, flowers are for girls right?

But haven’t you ever wondered why this is the case when male and female skin is essentially the same and perfumes are simply chemical compounds? So who was it that decided that men and women were so different that we needed our own particular scents? A century ago, all perfume was considered unisex (although the term ‘unisex’ hadn’t been coined back then) and we seemed less hung up on his and hers when it came to perfumes, and simply chose whatever we liked.

But times have changed and we as a society (with the help of fragrance designers/perfume noses and very clever marketers) have created this separation based on what the ideal man or women is supposed to smell like. She is a soft, delicate floral or sensual spice. He is bold and rugged with the scent of citrus, wood, leather and tobacco. But there’s no reason why this should be seen as some unbreakable rule as if you’ll shunned by your friends and peers if you happen to wear the ‘wrong’ fragrance. The fact is that we all have unique body chemistries, which means that the same fragrance can react differently on different skins. Some fragrance ingredients will work for you and others won’t so it’s less about gender and more about simple chemistry.

There’s now a growing trend towards more sensual spicy fragrances for men and even a few woody or aromatic scents for women (although the traditional aromatic ‘fougere’ family is still dominated by men’s fragrances) as well as an increasing number of unisex scents. There’s some debate as to who created the first modern unisex fragrance although from a marketing perspective, Calvin Klein’s CK One launched in 1994, could claim to be the first to call itself unisex. Since then, many of the top designer brands have released unisex fragrances, Comme des Garcon’s Wonderwood, Gaultier2 and D&G’s Anthology to name a few but that doesn’t mean your choices should be limited to the relatively few unisex fragrances available if you’re after something different.

So next time you visit your local perfume shop to do some testing, don’t get too caught up in the differences between men’s and women’s fragrances. Be a little daring and try something intended for the opposite sex – you may just be surprised.

If you’re a perfume lover like me, chances are that a trip to your local high street perfume shop is like letting a child loose in a sweet shop. I just can’t resist the urge touch every bottle and spritz perfume on every available patch of skin, even my husband’s if he’s unlucky enough to be with me at the time. As much fun as this can be, if you’re actually looking for that next signature scent for yourself then this is not exactly the best way to go about testing perfume and here’s why.

You see the human nose is a funny old thing. The more you bombard it with different smells, the more difficult it becomes to differentiate between those smells, something which is obviously pretty important when choosing a fragrance. The general rule seems to be that you shouldn’t test more than three fragrances at a time. I personally would go so far as to say you shouldn’t actually test more than two on your skin at any one time.

But before you even try a perfume on your skin you should try blotter tests first – you know, the little strips of paper that you see in your perfume shop. Blotter testing allows you to get an initial impression of a fragrance. Some fragrances you may immediately dislike and so there’s no real point in testing those on your skin. Others you may not dislike but you may be a little uncertain about them. Don’t ignore those completely – remember that fragrances change when they come into contact with your particular skin chemistry and they also change the longer you wear them. And like most things, when testing, take your time with these blotter tests. Smell one or two perfumes and then give your nose a minute or two to settle before trying more.

Once you have a selection of blotters that you like, try to choose the two or three that stood out the most for you. Now you’re ready for some actual skin testing. In an ideal world, your friendly perfume sales assistant will be able to provide you with sample vials of your selected fragrances so that you can take these home and test them at your leisure. More often than not there won’t be any samples in which case you will have to spritz or dab some in the shop. I would suggest applying a little of each perfume to the inside of each wrist or ‘pulse point’.

The key here is to give it time. As I’ve mentioned previously, fragrances change when they react to your body chemistry and the longer they are exposed to air, releasing first the top notes then, after ten or twenty minutes the heart or middle notes (the dominant character of the fragrance) followed by the base. This is when you start to get a better sense of what this fragrance is really like and what it would be like to wear throughout the day. You’ll be amazed at how different some fragrances can seem from top notes to base. In fact I can’t count the number of times I’ve smelt a particular perfume and been disappointed by its initial impressions only to love it as it has settled. As you will no doubt have realised by now, this is why you can really test and fully appreciate a perfume by a quick little smell in a perfume shop.

Hopefully out of this process you will have found yourself a wonderful new signature perfume. If not, well there are so many fragrances to choose from, you’ll just have to keep on testing. After all, that’s part of the fun isn’t it?