All posts by Born Unicorn

Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows
bodycare in movies, perfumes in movies, skincare in movies

Coup de chance (2023)

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Fanny (Lou de Laâge) and her husband Jean (Melvil Poupaud) are getting ready to attend a party. There are several interesting skincare products and perfumes on her vanity.

On the far right side of the table there are two products by Officine Universelle Buly – the Double Pommade Concrète hand cream and a bottle of Huile Antique.

On the same side there’s Guerlain Habit Rouge, an amber woody fragrance by Jean-Paul Guerlain launched in 1965.

Before they leave, Jean gives his wife a present – a Cartier necklace. The camera moves to the left side of the table and the movement reveals more items.

The white bottle with gold stopper is Eau Triple by Officine Universelle Burly. As with the Huile Antique, it’s impossible to identify the fragrance because the same bottle is used to house several scents.

There are two skincare products by Guerlain, both from the Abeille Royale line. One is Double R – Renew and Repair – advanced serum, the other is the advanced youth watery oil.

The blue bottle with copper stopper is Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream.

Last but not least, we can see a bottle of Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Or, a multi-purpose dry oil that can be used on face, body and hair.

perfumes in movies

Un homme hereux (2023)

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There are several versions of the same fragrance on a shelf in Jean and Edith’s bathroom: it’s Habanita by Molinard, launched in 1921 with the intention of “scenting” cigarettes. As explained by Barbara Herman, it originally “came in scented sachets you could put into a pack of cigarettes or as a liquid you could apply to your cigarettes with a glass rod to ‘perfume the smoke with a delicious, lasting aroma.” Three years later “Molinard turned their scent into a perfume to be worn rather than smoked”.

The black bottle with gold stopper is the eau de toilette version.

The white bottle contains Habanita L’Esprit, launched in 2013.

The black bottle contains the eau de parfum, launched in 2012.

Thanks to Alessandra for submitting this post.

perfumes in tv shows

Ripley E03 (Sommerso)

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One of the most distinctive symbols introduced in the 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, a 1955 novel by the American writer Patricia Highsmith, is the perfume by Santa Maria Novella that Dickie buys for his fiancée Marge. In the film only the packaging was shown, so I have always wondered what the mysterious perfume could be.

Now the series created and directed by Steven Zaillian finally gives us a solution to the mystery. A bottle of Acqua di Colonia G. Ugo Stefani by Santa Maria Novella is shown in all its golden foiled glory in the dramatic scene of Dickie’s murder.

This fragrance, now discontinued, was named after one of the heirs of the pharmacist Cesare Augusto Stefani, who first rented the historical Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on February 5th, 1867, and passed it down to his descendants.

The bottle can be seen again when Tom collects Dickie’s belongings on the beach. This scene reminds me of a similar moment in Casino Royale (2006) by Martin Campbell, where James Bond finds a bottle of Acqua di Colonia al Melograno by the same brand among the belongings of Vesper Lynd.