All posts by Born Unicorn

Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows

Stranger Things S05E02 (The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler)

In a season filled with chaos and violence, Karen Wheeler (Cara Buono) is the only character who gives us a short moment of relax — nice music (ABBA’s Fernando is playing on the small stereo she keeps on the bathroom counter), a glass of white wine and a bubble bath.

On the same counter there’s a can of Aqua Net super-hold hairspray.

Half-hidden among other bottles, there’s a Guerlain flacon montre with a gold stopper. This is a historically accurate choice, because this specific bottle was introduced on the market in 1972. The front sticker is not visible, so it’s impossible to tell what fragrance it contains.

The product she generously pours into her bath tub is Avon Bubble Bath in Soft Pink.

Susan Slept Here (1954)

There are two interesting bottles on Isabella’s vanity.

Both fragrances are by Prince Matchabelli. There’s no way to know exactly what the small crown bottle contained, because the same bottle housed several fragrances by the same brand.

The taller crown-topped bottle housed the Duchess of York eau de toilette, so maybe the other bottle contained the eau de parfum version. This white floral fragrance was launched in 1934.

In another scene other two fragrances join the Duchess of York tall bottle.

The one on the left is a fragrance by Charbert. It could be Breathless (launched in 1933), Grand Prix (launched in 1938) or Fabulous (launched in 1944), because all of them were housed in the same bottle.

The last bottle is Lucien Lelong Sirocco, a musky powdery fragrance launched in 1934.

Thanks to Daniel Roldán for submitting this post and for the ids.

The Holiday (2006)

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Among the skincare products that Amanda takes to England there is Chanel Précision Rectifiance Intense retexturizing line correcting fluid.

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She loves Kiehl’s products: on the glass shelf we can see a tube of intensive treatment and moisturizer for dry or callused areas, a bottle of Creme de Corps body lotion and a cucumber bath and shower liquid body cleanser.

Behind the Kiehl’s products there’s a tube of Dermalogica Active Moist oil-free probiotic moisturizer.

Park Ji-min (2025)

I often experience a momentary feeling of wonder and surprise when different worlds I am interested in come — quite unexpectedly — together. This happened when I came across some pictures of K-Pop idol and global superstar Park Ji-min. After a long period of inactivity, today he recovered his Instagram account and posted what can be easily called a photodump. Among several (apparently candid) shots, these two caught my attention, because they feature a very secular and cheap product.

A Carmex moisturizing lip balm is not unusual or niche, yet I would have never expected to connect it to my favourite idol. I’m currently using the strawberry version: too bad I can’t twin with him, since he’s using the classic version.

Palm Royale S02E02 (Maxine Serves a Swerve)

Getting to know the fragrance worn by a fictional character is fascinating because it adds more depth to them. This is the case of Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons (Kristen Wiig), who longs to be part of Palm Springs’ high society by entering its most exclusive country club, the Palm Royale.

In this episode, she finds herself in the mysterious apartment of the “disgraced socialites”, and once she hears someone approaching, she hides into a nook in a wall.

When the country club manager (James Urbaniak) enters the apartment, he immediately detects a very precise fragrance, which he mentions: Tuvaché Jungle Gardenia.

Originally launched in 1933, it’s impressive how it was still loved in 1969, the year in which the TV show is set. In the ad above (dating back to 1966), Jungle Gardenia was marketed as the “favorite fragrance of the world’s most beautiful woman”. A stereotypical slogan, of course, but at the time it still worked.

Thanks to Betty for submitting this post.

Bugonia (2025)

Among the several products in Michelle’s bathroom I can see:

The tall blue bottle with bronze stopper is Augustinus Bader The Cream Cleansing Gel.

Right in front of her there’s a tube of Chanel La Mousse camellia cleansing cream-to-foam.

On the right side of the sink there’s a pump bottle of Byredo hand wash. Too bad it’s impossible to read the exact name on the front of the bottle.