Pond’s dry skin cream and Coty AirSpun face powder on Jessica’s dressing table.
If you follow my Facebook page, you know that I sometimes post pictures of beauty products from friends and fellow beauty addicts. I don’t post them here because the topic is not strictly cinema, tv or literature-related, but this time I’ve made an exception to the rule because this is a very special entry.
I received the picture above from Zelda, a fellow Erno Laszlo and vintage beauty fan. These are her favourite vintage products that have been discontinued or reformulated to be very different from their original formula. All the products are from 1980s – 90s. All the comments are Zelda’s.
– Vidal Sassoon shampoo: the nicest smelling shampoo ever and SLS free.
– Estee Lauder Almond Clay pack – one of her original products, a great deep cleansing mask that was available from the 1950s till the 1990s.
– Helena Rubinstein Bio Clear lotion – great for treating the occasional breakout. This was when Rubinstein was still a serious classy line before L’Oreal bought it and virtually killed it off in favour of Lancôme.
– Erno Laszlo Sea Mud soap – original bar from 1990s in original case. This was when it still was a slightly mystical product with legendary effects. It didn’t contain charcoal powder in those days.
– Erno Laszlo Sea Mud mask from the late 1990s, now sadly discontinued. It was great for an at home facial and literally pulled the dirt out of pores. Much missed.
– Givenchy III eau de toilette – original formula. Immensely popular in the 1970s – striking green mossy chypre. Great on a man or a woman. Due to scarcity of oakmoss it’s been reformulated and is a pale shadow of its former self…..
Loving a beauty product or a perfume and witnessing its death because it’s been discontinued or reformulated is hard to stand. Are there any beauty products are gone this way and that you miss?
Royal Crown pomade.

Mustela foam shampoo, PhysiObébé cleansing fluid and Hydra Bébé body lotion in Abel Teller’s bedroom.
Old Spice after-shave lotion in the bottom shelf at Schwab’s Pharmacy.
This picture of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski was taken by Bill Ray in London in 1968.
Among the products sitting on the tiled shelf I can see
some Erno Laszlo products (among which a jar of pHelityl Cream)
a Revlon nail polish
a fluted bottle of Rochas Moustache eau de cologne, a citrus aromatic fragrance created by Edmond Roudnitska and Thérèse Roudnitska, and launched in 1949
a bottle of La Bottega Vetiver eau de cologne

a tiny bottle of Shiseido Zen, a chypre fragrance created by Josephine Catapano and launched in 1964.
Thanks to Showtimesynergy in the comments for the Rochas id, and to Obliviana in the comments for the Shiseido id.
A bottle of Robert Piguet Fracas eau de parfum can be seen on Elizabeth James’s dressing table.