All posts by Born Unicorn

Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows
stars' vanities/make-up cases/cabinets in real life

Christina Aguilera and Matthew Rutler’s Bathroom (2015)

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wpid-wp-1439383691830.jpgChristina Aguilera has never loved social networks: she rarely interacts on Twitter and hardly ever posts personal pictures on Instagram. Yesterday things drastically changed, though; she literally took over her Instagram account by posting pictures of her favourite things, many of them are fashion-related. She made my day with the picture above, shot in her bathroom. It looks like a very quiet place, with crystals, a statue of Lakshmi (the Hindu goddess of wealth), marble and mirrors. The stone tray – Matthew Rutler’s – on the left caught my attention, with many interesting men’s perfumes on it.

montblanclegend_bornunicornThe black and silver metal bottle is Mont Blanc Legend, a fresh fougère fragrance created by Olivier Pescheux and launched in 2011.
valentinouomo_bornunicornThe studded bottle is Valentino Uomo, a gourmand scent created by Olivier Polge and launched in 2014. It contains notes of hazelnut, chocolate, leather, roasted coffee beans, cedar, myrtle and bergamot.

versacemeneaufraiche_bornunicornThere’s another studded bottle, and it’s Versace Man Eau Fraîche, a citrusy scent with woody/fresh spicy notes, created by Olivier Cresp and launched in 2006.
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There’s also Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l’Homme, an aromatic fragrance with notes of cardamom, lavender, bergamot, caraway, cedar and vetiver, created by Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion in 2009.

johnvarvatos_fragrancecoffret_bornunicornThe tiny bottles are from the John Varvatos fragrance collection coffret: they are Classic, Vintage, Artisan and Artisan Black.
christinaaguilera_bynight_bornunicornviktorrolf_bonbon_bornunicornkenzoflowerintheair1_bornunicornkenzoflowerintheair_bornunicornThe only products I’ve been able to id on Christina’s side of the bathroom are By Night, one of her fragrances, Viktor & Rolf Bonbon and Kenzo Flower in the Air. By Night was launched in 2007: it has a strong note of vanilla, plus apple, pineapple, peach blossom, freesia, heliotrope and lily of the valley. Bonbon is a gourmand perfume, with caramel as its key note; it was created by  Cecile Matton and Serge Majoullier in 2014. Last but not least, Flower in the Air, created by Alberto Morillas in 2013, is a rose scent with notes of raspberry, magnolia, gardenia, pink pepper and white musk.

Thanks to my Twitter friends Roberto, Jon and Katie who did most of the ids for me.

perfumes in movies

Across the Universe (2007)

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The dressing table in Lucy Carrigan’s bedroom is pretty busy, but one bottle has caught my attention – the third from the left.

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il_fullxfull.722925921_7au2The label and the golden bow mean one thing only: Annick Goutal. It’s not the trademark fluted bottle, but the squared one, which I believe can be dated back to the late 1980s. It’s impossible to read the paper label, so we can only assume it could be Gardenia Passion (created by Goutal herself after a trip to Japan and launched in 1989), Eau d’Hadrien (the first fragrance of the French maison, created by Goutal and Francis Camail and launched in 1981) or Eau de Charlotte (created by Goutal for her step-daughter and launched in 1982). I’m not sure if other scents were released in squared bottles, though.

perfume quotes in tv shows

Hannibal S03E09 (And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…)

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This conversation between Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) focuses on the sense of smell. They actually had similar conversations in the first and in the second seasons: the topic is always Will’s “atrocious after-shave”, “something with a ship on the bottle”, that is Old Spice.

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This time there’s something different, though: Hannibal doesn’t know what has happened in Will’s life after their adventure at Muskrat Farm, but his exceptional sense of smell gives him an idea. “Beneath that shaving lotion” he can smell “dogs” (obviously), “pine” (Will lives in a house in the woods) and “oil”. Furthermore, he comments on the person who has possibly given him the after-shave as a gift: a child. Hannibal is right again: Will now lives with Molly and Willy, her son from a previous marriage.

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The last part of the conversation is heart-breaking: he tries to uncover Will’s desire to see him again, to “get that old scent again”, but the apparent lack of reaction from Will brings out the spiteful “Why don’t you just smell yourself?”, with which Hannibal emphasizes their similarities, even if Will is not ready to admit it yet.

cosmetics in movies

Jem and the Holograms (2015)

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chanelcreamblush_bornunicornThe film is not out yet, but there are a couple of interesting make-up moments in the trailer. In the first, the protagonist (Aubrey Peeples) starts experimenting with hot pink on her face, using a Chanel cream blush.

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wetandwildnailpolish_bornunicornbumbleandbumbletonic_bornunicornThe second scene is set in the protagonist’s dressing room, and sees her in a moment of rage. Among the products she throws away from the table, we can see a row of Wet n Wild Megalast nail polishes and Bumble and bumble tonic lotion.

stars' vanities/make-up cases/cabinets in real life

Marc Almond’s Dressing Rooms (2015)

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wpid-wp-1438510334498.jpgI’ve got a soft spot for Marc Almond as an artist, but I love his habit of posting pictures of his dressing rooms, too. The one above was taken on July 26th, 2015 at the Sands Centre in Carlisle (Cumbria), where Marc performed with the Jools Holland Band.

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diorskin_nudeaircompact_bornunicornflorisnightscentedjasmine_bornunicornOn the table I can see some items I spotted last May (MAC Mineralize Skinfinish and Dior Cannage compact), plus some additions. The bottle on the shelf is Night Scented Jasmine by Floris, a fragrance with a citrusy opening, floral heart (gardenia, iris, jasmine, lily, mimosa, narcissus, rose and ylang ylang) and a musky base. Thanks to Marc himself for letting me know about the perfume.

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diorskin_nudeaircompact_bornunicornmacfoundationsponge_bornunicornbeccaevermatteporelessprimingperfector_bornunicornecotoolsbrushes_bornunicornkryolan_camouflagecremepalette_bornunicornThe picture above was taken yesterday at the Dublin National Concert Hall. There’s the Dior Cannage compact again, plus several MAC pencils and foundation sponge (in the black plastic bag in front of the mirror), Becca Ever-Matte poreless priming perfector and a couple of ecoTools make-up brushes. The 16-pan palette is Kryolan Dermacolor Camouflage Creme.

Thanks to my reader Jessica for the Kryolan id.

 

 

perfume quotes in tv shows

Scream S01E01 (Pilot)

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mtvscream_s01e01_bornunicorn (5)This conversation between Noah Foster (John Karna) and Riley Marra (Brianne Tju) uses the word “musk”as a pun. Noah tells the girl about a possible internship at the space technology company SpaceX, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. She perfectly knows who Musk is, but plays the dumb card commenting that she loves perfumes.