All posts by Born Unicorn

Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows

Taking Care of Business (1990)

Debbie Lipton (Anne De Salvo) works at the Chanel beauty counter at I. Magnin luxury department store in Los Angeles. She may be loud and very chatty with her former high school classmate Spencer (one of the protagonists), but she looks very classy and professional at her workplace.

Besides her lovely Chanel black-and-white outfit, she’s surrounded by a beautiful selection of skincare, cosmetics and fragrances by the French maison.

Behind Debbie there’s a Chanel skincare counter. It’s impossible to tell what those glass bottles contained, but I’m pretty sure one of them was Lotion Douce (shown above in a 1978 advert).

Hard not to notice the huge factice bottle of Chanel Coco eau de toilette, an amber/warm spicy fragrance by Jacques Polge launched in 1984. The advert above, starring Inès de la Fressange, was released in 1989.

Right in front of Coco there’s a bottle of Chanel No. 5, the classic floral aldehyde fragrance by Ernest Beaux launched in 1921.

The white pump bottles are body lotion/body emulsion testers. Hard to tell what fragrance these were ancillary products of.

The atomisers in front of the pump bottles contained No. 22 (white atomiser) and No. 19 (steel grey atomiser). No. 22, a white floral fragrance by Ernest Beaux, was originally launched in 1922; on the other hand, No. 19, a green floral fragrance by Henri Robert, was launched in 1970.

A different angle reveals another factice – a massive black glossy case of Chanel Lift Sérum, an anti-aging product launched in the late 1970s.

There are also several black boxes, possibly containing compacts. Moreover, just below the oval mirror on the right there’s a Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow palette.

Debbie has helped Spencer (Charles Grodin) with his misadventures; before getting his privileged life back, he gives her a dalmatian puppy as a thank-you gift. I’m sure Debbie and the puppy will become best friends in no time.

Behind Spencer and Jimmy (Jim Belushi) there’s an interesting Christian Dior product. The front label is not fully visible, but I managed to identify this white pump bottle as part of the Capture skincare line, shown above in a promotional card from 1987.

The Intercine Project (1974)

Bert (Harry Andrews) is a masseur who is part of a business espionage ring: he gets information from his rich clients and passes it to Robert Elliot, the economist who runs the ring.

In the men’s club where he works there’s a very interesting bottle next to a small TV set: it’s a massive bottle of Hermès Calèche. This floral aldehyde fragrance was created by Guy Robert and launched in 1961.

Thanks to Gregory for submitting this post.

Les quatre cents coups (1959)

Gilberte Doinel (Claire Maurier) keeps a Carven fragrance on her dressing table.

The first sighting of the bottle happens at the beginning of the film, when her son Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) sits at her table.

It’s impossible to tell which one (the front label isn’t visible), but four were the Carven perfumes released before 1959 – Ma Griffe in 1946, Robe d’Un Soir in 1947, Chasse Gardée in 1950 and Vert et Blanc in 1958.

carven_magriffe_bornunicorn
carven_robedunsoir_bornunicorn
carven_chassegardee_bornunicorn
carven_vertetblanc_bornunicorn

All these fragrances were housed in the same bottle.

The Intercine Project (1974)

Scientist David Baker (Michael Jayston) sneaks into the apartment of the Foreign Office official Alex Hellman (Ian Hendry) and replaces the diabetic Alex’s regular insulin supply with a stronger dose.

A bottle of Hermès Equipage takes centre stage: the camera lingers on it several times. This aromatic eau de toilette by Guy Robert was launched in 1970.

When Hellmann returns home and injects the lethal dose on insulin, the camera clearly shows another bottle in his bathroom.

It’s Victor Acqua di Selva, a classic fougère fragrance first launched in 1949.

Thanks to Gregory for submitting this post.

The Intercine Project (1974)

Christina Larsson (Christiane Krüger) is watching the news on TV while sitting in front of her vanity. Two objects on it have captured my attention.

The first is the tall glass bottle on the right. The large disc stopper tells us it’s a fragrance by Weil, although the front label is impossible to read.

The square box on the left reveals its identity thanks to the umistakable wallpaper pattern on it: it’s Rochas Madame Rochas, a white floral fragrance by Guy Robert launched in 1960.

Thanks to Gregory for submitting this post.