Marlene Dietrich worked just once with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: it happened in 1944 for Kismet by William Dieterle, an Arabian-Nights extravaganza set when “when old Baghdad was new and shiny”. The picture above was taken at the time.

There are many beauty products on her dressing table, but one has caught my attention: the bottle half-hidden behind the photo frame.

It’s a glorious flacon bouchon coeur by Guerlain. Designed by Raymond Guerlain in collaboration with Baccarat, it was originally created to house extraits of three fragrances by Jacques Guerlain – L’Heure Bleue (1912), Fol Arôme (1912) and Mitsouko (1919).

The front label cannot be read, so we wonder what fragrance was in the flacon. Dietrich was said to be a fan of perfumes like Bandit by Robert Piguet and Angelique Encens by Creed; the Guerlain fragrance usually mentioned among her favourites is Shalimar, traditionally housed in the flacon chauve souris. One may assume she wore Mitsouko, but I don’t agree: I personally see her wearing an evocative, comforting yet dark perfume like L’Heure Bleue.

On the far right side of the table there’s a bottle of Sea Breeze skin antiseptic.

Thanks to Kailey for submitting this post and for the Sea Breeze id.