How Old is Your Fragrance?

To quickly discern how old your fragrance is you can look at the bottle itself, the fragrance name, the words on the label or box, the images on the box and the batch codes.

To first figure out how old it is we must examine five major periods of ownership in the history of Yves Saint Laurent fragrances.


  • From 1963 to 1986 - the company was owned by Charles of the Ritz
  • From 1986 to 1992 - the company was owned by the American firm Parfums Corp. Era.
  • From 1993 to 1999 - the company was owned by the French firm Sanofi Beaute.
  • From 1999 to 2007 - the company was owned by PPR-Gucci.
  • From 2008 to Present - the company has been owned by L'Oreal.


Then we check for the specific wording on the boxes and labels:

  • From 1963-1985 - the words "Made in France Parfums Yves Saint Laurent" was used.
  • From 1986-1992/1993 - the words "Yves Saint Laurent Parfums Corp." and "Dist. New York, NY" was used. 
  • From 1986-1988 there will be no barcodes present.
  • From 1989-1992 barcodes will be present.
  • In 1988/1989 the barcode (bar + numbers) is adopted.
  • In 1992 the Greendot recycling symbol is adopted in France.
  • If in the box labeled ("Parfums Corp.") misses the barcode, it means that it was produced from 1986 to 1988/1989. 
  • On the contrary, if the bar code is present, probably the bottle dates from 1989-1993  
  • Similarly: if Barcodes AND Greendot are BOTH present, it's 1992 or 1993....or even after.

CAUTION: You may find transitional packaging which means "new" perfumes in "old" boxes. You can easily find "Parfums Corp." labeled bottles even after 1993.


  • From 1993 to 1999 the words "Dist. Sanofi Beaute" was used.
  • From 2000 - present the address "NEUILLY" appears on both box and labels.
  • From 2002-2007 the words "Yves Saint Laurent Parfums." was used.
  • From 2004/2005 packaging of all perfumes report the "long list of ingredients". 
  • From 2008, the "Parfums" disappears from the label. The words "Yves Saint Laurent" and the address "Neuilly" remained. The  "B.R.I." acronym stands for  L'Oreal laboratories.
  • From 2011 to the present, the words "Yves Saint Laurent - YSL Beauté."was used.

Batch Codes:


REMEMBER:  sometimes old boxes were used for new perfumes: you can find boxes from Eighties used for bottles from Nineties.You often will find the packaging and labeling somewhat "erratic".

Let's start!
at least 4 numbers on bottom of the box, 4or5 numbers on bottom of the bottle

BOX "Charles of the Ritz" type (years 1964-1986)
  • 1979 = 9xxx
  • 1980 = 0xxx
  • 1981 = 1xxx
  • 1982 = 2xxx
  • 1983 = 3xxx
  • 1984 = 4xxx
  • 1985 = 5xxx

BOX "Parfums Corp." type (1986-1993)
  • 1986 = 6xxx
  • 1987 = 7xxx
  • 1988 = 8xxx
  • 1989 = 9xxx
  • 1990 = 0xxx (here the barcode appears)
  • 1991 = 1xxx
  • 1992 = 2xxx (here the greendot appears)
  • 1993 = 3xxx

BOX "Sanofi" type (1993-1999) 
  • 3xxx = 1993
  • 4xxx = 1994
  • 5xxx = 1995
  • 6xxx = 1996
  • 7xxx = 1997
  • 8xxx = 1998
  • 9xxx = 1999

BOX "PPR-Gucci" type (1999-2008)
  • 0xxx = 2000
  • 1xxx = 2001
  • 2xxx = 2002
  • 3xxx = 2003
  • Shifting to "1 number+3 letters" batch code
  • 4xxx = 2004 (both codes: you can find 4123 and 4ABC)
  • 5ABC = 2005 (here  the "long list of ingredients" on the box appears)
  • 6ABC = 2006
  • 7ABC = 2007
  • 8ABC = 2008
  • during transition period between PPR-GUCCI and L'Oreal:in year 2008, there are some inusual batch numbers such as "EA00A", and similar ones.


BOX "L'Oreal" type (since 2008, with B.R.I. acronym label)
  • 9ABC = 2009
  • 0ABC = 2010
  • 1ABC = 2011 (here "YSL BEAUTE" appears on box)
  • now shifting to long batch code
  • 62 H XXX = 2011
  • 62 J XXX = 2012
  • 62 K XXX = 2013
Thank you to Raiders of the Lost Scent for their incredible hard work and information.

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