Fragrances improving with time?

I know it's pretty normal for fragrances to improve with time but I'm finding that a large portion (up to half) of my newer bottle need time to improve in one way or another. Wether it's performance or the fragrance itself. 

I'm assuming this can't be just my experience. So my question is this: How often do you find that your fragrances improve with time. And additionally, does it seem to be more inexpensive fragrances because I'm finding more and more that more expensive frags need time to live up to their expectations.

Thanks!

Maceration and maturation should happen before the fragrance even hits the shelf, that's the manufacturer's responsibility. Some niche brands even mention maceration/maturation times.

Introducing oxygen into your bottle can help with both cheaper (clones) and high concentration perfumes. It can positively affect scent profile and performance.

However, if you're disappointed by a scent or it smells different from a sample, it's usually either because the manufacturer has neglected the essential steps or the scent has been reformulated. Sometimes both lol.

Definitely, and I'm certainly not arguing against that. And of course this is a debate that is hotly contested in fragrance circles. That said, out of my 30 or so bottles (of admittedly mostly less expensive bottles) I have found that a large portion HAVE improved over time, whether that should be the case or not. The most egregious example being my bottle of Ferragamo Bright Leather. Initial sprays were headache inducing sweet candy citrus. I almost threw the bottle away. No leather was present. But I don't like throwing money away so I held onto it. A few months later I decided to give it another chance, lo and behold, it was incredible. A well balanced smooth well blended affair with the softest leather base. Completely unrecognizable to the bottle I bought.

All that to say, I'm not here to argue the merits of the idea of maturation. I'm just curious how often people here actually experience the kind of improvements that I myself have experienced.

Could just be your olfactory system adapting and improving over time.

But it also depends on the composition, certain raw materials act in different ways and letting them sit for some time with oxygen in the dark can help to bring them out or tone them down.

I have never experienced what you’re describing though. In retrospect, it was mostly about putting my nose to many different things, coming back to a scent that was sitting on my shelf and suddenly being able to pick up different things in the scent profile.

I definitely have experienced that, recently in fact. When I first bought CK One Shock for Him I absolutely hated it. I'm certain the bottle hasn't changed but last week I gave it another chance and I couldn't get enough of it. Some of it might be me but with some of my experiences there's just no way some of it isn't bottle improvement. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I find that to be the case for Annick Goutal. I only use Le Chèvrefeuille one year or so after purchase. I find that this way the longevity and projection tend to improve.

I haven't experienced this to any great degree, with the exception of a fragrance I have with a few natural patchouli oils included in the mix. It's a bit richer and deeper now than when I first bought it, I think because of the aging of the patch elements.

Also, my older bottle Chypre Palatin has darkened, I think that's the vanilla but not certain.

On the annoying side, I have had a scent or two with thick resins gunk up the atomizers after sitting on the shelf for a few months (one was L'incendiaire by Lutens - not a cheap fragrance!). I can no longer spray that one and have to dip dabbers into it to use, which is enough of a hassle that I don't bother most of the time. Still smells good though.

Have you tried soaking the atomizer in alcohol?

I haven't had one yet that needs that much time but I have one that I'm not sure if it's ever going to improve or if I just got a bad bottle.

Most of the time people talk about things improving greatly because of maceration I get the sense that they just got used to the fragrance.
I've certainly never found relevant differences between the same fragrance used even years apart.
But memory isn't THAT accurate that it allows you to accurately remember such fine details about things you've only smelled a few times, regardless of what some people might think about their own memory, so it's easy enough that a poor memory is interpreted as a big change in smell.