How To Spot a Fake YSL Perfume

  • By: Nathan Cherry
  • Time to read: 4 min.

French designer brand Yves Saint Laurent, also known as YSL, is one of the most established and iconic houses on the market, both in fragrance and fashion. 

Of course, success doesn’t come without challenges, especially in the age of the Internet. An abundance of scammers have seen fit to capitalize on the YSL name and flood the market with fake bottles, causing confusion and anger for those in search of the genuine article. 

But what can you do? How can you tell a real YSL perfume from a fake one? 

There are a number of ways to tell if a YSL perfume is genuine. Make sure the box is wrapped tightly, the serial number on the box and bottle match, and there are no irregularities between the design of the bottle you have and the advertising materials distributed by the brand. 

Want to know more? Let’s break down what to look out for when checking the authenticity of a bottle of YSL perfume. 

1 – Check the Cellophane

One thing you should never neglect to do when determining a fragrance’s authenticity is taking a look at the state the box arrived in. 

An authentic YSL fragrance will be immaculately and tightly wrapped in cellophane, with no undue looseness or improperly folded seams in any part of the wrapping. The boxes are wrapped by machines, after all, so there shouldn’t be any weirdness, right?

Well, if you’ve got a counterfeit perfume, then it’s likely that it won’t be wrapped properly (or wrapped at all). 

Luckily, the wrapping is the first thing you need to remove when you receive a new fragrance, so if your bottle has been poorly wrapped, then you’ll probably be able to see it at a glance and (hopefully) get a refund. 

2 – Look For Bottle Irregularities

The next thing you should take a look at once you’ve received a bottle of perfume which you might suspect is a fake is check the bottle design. 

How? Well, luckily in the age of the Internet, we can look up a brand’s marketing materials with a simple Google search. Compare the bottle you have in your hand with the image from the official YSL website. 

Does the font on the bottle match? Is the cap the same? Does anything look out of place with your bottle? 

Authentic bottles of YSL perfume will have smooth seams and edges with a glossy finish; counterfeiters can’t usually match that level of quality. If your bottle feels rough and unnecessarily faceted – meaning that it has a number of peculiar contours and angles – then you might very well have a fake bottle on your hands. 

Finally, make sure the cap is symmetrical and fits snugly onto the atomizer. If you find it difficult to put the cap on the bottle or remove it, then you have reason to worry. 

3 – Check the Perfume Color

Another thing to inspect is the color of the perfume. 

Yves Saint Laurent and other major designer brands do not opt to use large amounts of dyes in their perfumes, so the color of the fragrance itself is usually light in color, or else naturally dark. Dior Homme Parfum, for example, is quite dark in color, but it has a natural appearance. 

However, if your bottle of YSL perfume seems to be unusually vivid or brilliant in color, then you might have a fake on your hands. 

It’s true that with time, perfume changes color. Fragrances that seem blue might change to more of a blue-gray, given enough time for maceration. However, in most cases, the color of the fragrance becomes less vibrant as time goes on. If you have received a bottle of perfume with an unnaturally vibrant color, then it’s very likely fake. 

Just like with the previous point, make sure that you compare your bottle with the marketing materials from the brand. If the perfume inside your bottle of YSL Libre is bright green rather than pale beige, then you’ve definitely got a fake. 

4 – Match the Batch Codes

All YSL fragrances come with a batch code, more commonly called a serial number. This indicates when the fragrance was manufactured. 

You can find the batch code in two places. One will be either the bottom or the back of the box. The other will be either the bottom or the back of the bottle (usually the bottom). 

Locate the batch code in these locations. Once you’ve done so, check to ensure that the batch code on the bottle and on the box are the same. If they aren’t this is a surefire indication that the bottle in your hands is fake. 

The Final Word

At the end of the day, the safest way to purchase any designer perfume is directly from the brand itself or from a certified retailer. Online discount fragrance websites like FragranceNet and FragranceX also sell legitimate perfumes, but there are a number of online retailers out there who do sell counterfeit fragrances. 

Hopefully, though, this article has armed you with the knowledge to determine if your bottle of YSL perfume (or really, any designer perfume) is genuine. 

To determine if a bottle of YSL perfume is genuine, look out for a few different things. Ensure that the box has been properly wrapped, and that the bottle design and perfume color matches the brand’s official marketing materials. Finally, make sure that the batch code on the box and the bottle match.

If you want to be 100% sure that you’re not buying fake Creed perfume, you can buy the real deal here (Amazon) or here (FragranceX).