Perfume Bottle Sizes – A Handy Guide

I occasionally receive questions from online shoppers about the various sizes of perfume bottles. Depending on where you shop, some perfumes are advertised in Fluid Ounces (FL OZ) whilst others are advertised in Milliliters (ml). This can be a bit confusing so I thought I would create a handy list of the most common perfume bottle sizes and show their equivalent measures.

0.05 FL OZ - 1.5ml This is essentially a sample vial - you know the ones you can get from the girl behind the perfume counter (but only if you ask really really nicely).

0.17 FL OZ - 5ml

0.5 FL OZ - 15ml

0.8 FL OZ - 25ml

1 FL OZ - 30ml

1.4 FL OZ - 40ml

1.7 FL OZ - 50ml

2 FL OZ - 60ml

2.5 FL OZ - 75ml

2.7 FL OZ - 80ml

3 FL OZ - 90ml

3.4 FL OZ - 100ml

4.2 FL OZ - 125ml

Of course to make things a little more confusing, there are US Fluid Ounces and UK Fluid Ounces but there is very little difference between them:

3.4 US FL OZ = 100.55ml

3.4 UK FL OZ = 96.60ml

Some perfume bottles specifically say US FL OZ whereas others simply say FL OZ in which case it's safe to assume that the US measure is implied.

Whilst on the subject of perfume bottle sizes, another question I'm sometimes asked is which is the best size to buy? There's no right or wrong answer to this question but here's some guidance.

If you're buying a perfume for the first time then I would recommend buying one of the smaller sizes (30ml or less). This is especially true if you are one of those people brave enough to buy a perfume online that they've never tried before. Even if you've actually gone into a perfume store and tried something new and liked it, I wouldn't buy the biggest size. Chances are you tried a number of different fragrances in the same session and as they all began to mingle, your impression of an individual fragrance would have been affected. Also bear in mind that the way a perfume smells on your body changes the longer you wear it so ideally, you really need to test one fragrance for several hours to know if it's going to work for you.

Buying an old favourite? Then go for the biggest size you can afford. Per millilitre is works out much cheaper. And I wouldn't worry too much about the perfume going off before you've finished it. As long as you keep the bottle cool and out of direct sunlight it should last at least a year, especially if it is a spray bottle.

Then of course there's the issue of handbag size. That's the only drawback to buying a 100ml bottle - it's not so great for carrying around. If you really want to spoil yourself, buy a full size bottle for your dresser and a 15ml bottle to travel. Alternatively, look out for designers like Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent who offer some of their fragrances in handy 3 x 15ml travel sets.

Happy shopping.

The Perfume Fairy