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The Shards S01E02 (Don’t You Want Me)

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The opening of this scene deserves a moment of silence. This is the intricately ornate vanity of Debbie Schaffer (Hayes Warner), who’s getting ready for a night out. The “frieze” decorating the bottom of the mirror perfectly echoes the maximalist style of the early part of the decade. Honestly it’s left me speechless, because there’s a lot about the 1980s (visually speaking) that I have tried to forget over the years, but let’s move on from here.

A can of Aquanet super-hold hairspray can be seen on the table. It’s the first product she uses.

There’s a lot happening on her table, but I have managed to identify two bottles. The one with the milky white stopper is Dior Miss Dior eau de cologne; the other, with the milky white dove stopper, is Nina Ricci L’air du temps, previously seen in the pilot, although housed in a different bottle. Both choices are historically accurate: the original Miss Dior (a creation by created by Paul Vacher and Jean Carles) was launched in 1947, and the Nina Ricci fragrance (a Francis Fabron creation) was launched in 1948.

Among the nail polish bottles, there are a couple with a distinctive hexagonal cap: they are Super Nails nail polishes by Natural Wonder.

It makes sense for Debbie to own Remington 600 Super hand-held hair dryer, which came with attachments for different stylings.

When the girl opens a drawer of her table (she’s looking for something), more products can be seen.

There are several Lip Smacker lip balms, among which Blue Raspberry, Piña Colada and Kiwi. These are not vintage products, but these lip balms were first introduced in 1973 by Bonne Bell. They’re definitely a realistic choice.

Last, a Chanel compact. It’s impossible to know what it contained (pressed face powder or eye-shadows), but it’s another realistic choice. The advert above is from 1980: it promoted the make-up collection Les Provocatifs, which I haven’t been able to find more information about. In any case, in the early 1980s both pressed face powder and eye-shadow palettes were part of Chanel cosmetics collections.

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The Shards S01E02 (Don’t You Want Me)

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Generational rivalries and half-hidden secrets run deep in the Schaffers’ household. Debbie (Hayes Warner) and her mother Liz (Evan Rachel Wood) mirror each other: they look alike and live in a world where money and appearances matter more than anything else. “You are me,” says Liz [1] to Debbie, when the girl confronts and criticises her questionable life choices.

Whether one likes it or not, the blue and gold bottle on Liz’s vanity is Versace Dylan Blue, a floral fruity fragrance created by Calice Becker and Natalie Gracia-Cetto, and released in 2017. The prop masters of the TV show must have had a great time by planting such a blatant historical inaccuracy in a 1981 context.

Debbie storms into her mother’s bedroom because she wants her Lancôme compact back. The content of the compact is never mentioned, but we can assume it is an eyeshadow palette, because that’s what Liz is applying on her face when Debbie enters her bedroom.

I haven’t found the exact compact seen in this scene, but there’s evidence of Lancôme using red packaging (not the classic glossy black one) in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The advert above features Carol Alt: the American model became testimonial in 1979, when she was 18. She was the face of Lancôme for three years, more or less until 1981; her successor would be Isabella Rossellini. The compact she’s holding doesn’t look like the one seen in the TV show, but let’s just say it’s a realistic detail.

[1] Liz, a former model now trapped into an unhappy marriage, gives Elvira vibes, doesn’t she?

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The Shards S01E02 (Don’t You Want Me)

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Bret (Igby Rigney) is in his bathroom. In it we can see all the products spotted in the TV show pilot.

The horse-shaped column bottle is Avon Pony Post.

The black matte bottle is Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir, an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.

The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.

The only new addition is Fabergé Brut 33 splash-on lotion.

bodycare in tv shows, deodorants in tv shows, perfumes in tv shows, shaving products in tv shows, skincare in tv shows

The Shards S01E01 (Pilot)

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Katherine (Molly Payton) is home alone. She hears strange noises and sounds outside of her house, but inside it’s not safe either. Seeing the content of her bathroom cabinet rearranged (all the products are upside down or lying sideways) gives us a taste of what’s coming for her and for Los Angeles.

Let’s see what the Trawler (this is the name of the serial killer envisioned by Bret Easton Ellis, author of the 2023 novel the TV show has been adapted from) has taken the time to mess with.

On the top shelf there’s a jar of Noxzema skin cream, which we will see in Bret’s bathroom later in the episode.

On the second shelf there’s a cardboard box containing Secret cream deodorant.

On the same shelf there’s a can of Barbasol shaving cream. The picture above comes from a 1980s commercial and shows exactly the can seen in the TV show.

On the third shelf the fragrance game finally starts.

The first bottle on the left is Ralph Lauren Safari For Men, a woody aromatic fragrance launched in 1992. Yes, let’s that sink in: 1992. The TV show is set in 1981, so this prop choice is historically inaccurate. Has it ever been a problem in the glossy fictional worlds created by Ryan Murphy? Absolutely not, so let’s just move on.

The green and white striped box hides a gem from the 1940s — Carven Ma Griffe, a chypre floral fragrance created by Jean Carles and launched in 1946. This is an unusual choice, but I’ll take it, because at least it’s historically accurate.

In the 1980s owning an Avon novelty bottle was an unwritten rule: it simply happened, whether one liked it or not. In this case, the white ceramic container is armoire-shaped and contains a perfumed bath oil.

The bottom shelf gives us other two perfumed products.

The tin bottle is a talcum powder shaker: it contains Avon Topaze.

There’s also a beautiful bottle of Nina Ricci L’air du temps eau de toilette. This floral fragrance, launched in 1948, was created by Francis Fabron.

The very last product is a spray can of Rayette Aquanet unscented hairspray.

haircare in tv shows, perfumes in tv shows, skincare in tv shows

The Shards S01E01 (Pilot)

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In the first episode we get a close look at Brett’s bathroom, and see some interesting products in it.

The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.

The horse head bottle is obviously an Avon design — Pony Post. Traditionally, Avon’s quirky bottles housed several fragrances, so it’s impossible to tell what this one contained.

When the camera follows the protagonist (Igby Rigney) into his bedroom, we can also see a jar of Noxzema skin cream.

Half-hidden behind a perfumed talc shaker, there’s the unmistakable matte black bottle of a 1980s classic — Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir. It’s an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.

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Sleeping Beauty (2011)

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There are three Guerlain products on the round table besides Lucy (Emily Browning).

The jar with gold details on the left is Météorites face powder in pearl form.

Next to it, there’s a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar Eau Légère Parfumée, a 2004 evolution of the historical fragrance created by Jacques Guerlain and first launched in 1925.

On the right side of the table there’s a blue jar with a golden cap: it’s the Orchidée Impériale longevity light cream.

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Disclosure Day (2026)

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Margaret (Emily Blunt) is getting ready for work by sitting at her dressing table, on which we can see several products.

The lip product she’s applying is Pat Mc Grath Labs Lip Fetish Divinyl lip shine. She will wear it throughout the film.

On the left side of the table there’s a bottle of Bobbi Brown Weightless Skin foundation.

On the right side of the table there are some Glossier products —Lash Slick mascara and Cloud Paint seamless cheek colour.

When the camera moves, other two products can be seen. The jar with black cap is Bobbi Brown hydrating face cream, and the bottle with black stopper (just behind the light ring stand) is a Byredo fragrance.

When Margaret reaches her workplace (she serves as a weather reporter and meteorologist for the Kansas City news station KCXE), we can see another bottle of Bobbi Brown liquid foundation on a dressing table, along with a Bobbi Brown compact powder blush.

A few moments back, when she unexpectedly starts talking Korean, we can see the make-up artists hand her a tube of the Pat McGrath lip shine seen at the beginning of the film.

Thanks to Femto Fitz for submitting this post.

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Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

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Bottles of Lancôme cleanser and toner can be seen in Roberta’s bathroom. I’m not sure if the Bi-Facil makeup remover (blue liquid) and Tonique Confort rehydrating toner (pink liquid) were available in the 1980s, but these two bottles with grey caps and white lettering, which launched in the late 1960s, are definitely from Lancôme skincare line.

A few moments before, when Susan (Madonna) and Gary (Mark Blum) walk in the bathroom, we can see several bottles on a small tray on the right.

Among them, the romantic floral pattern which characterises the packaging of Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs, a delicate white floral fragrance created by Roger Pellegrino, Robert Gonnon, Paul Leger and Raymond Chaillan, and launched in 1978. I can see Susan wearing it — an element of romanticism in her unfulfilled suburban life.

This post was first published on July 20th, 2014, but I have decided to update it thanks to the help of Daniel Roldán, who spotted the bottle of Anaïs Anaïs. I have watched this film lots of times, yet this specific bottle has always evaded me.

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

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Lady GaGa is the main performer at the Runway event to be held at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. There’s tension in the air: GaGa is performing only because Nigel Kipling (the magazine’s art director) threatened that she would never grace the cover of Runway again if she declined.

On the vanity there’s a bottle of Valentino Born in Roma eau de parfum, a woody vanilla fragrance created by Antoine Maisondieu, Guillaume Flavigny and Michel Girard, and launched in 2019.

On the left side of the vanity there’s also a bottle of Haus Labs Triclone™ Skin Tech foundation.

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