All posts by Born Unicorn

Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows

Marlene Dietrich’s Dressing Table (1944)

Marlene Dietrich worked just once with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: it happened in 1944 for Kismet by William Dieterle, an Arabian-Nights extravaganza set when “when old Baghdad was new and shiny”. The picture above was taken at the time.

There are many beauty products on her dressing table, but one has caught my attention: the bottle half-hidden behind the photo frame.

It’s a glorious flacon bouchon coeur by Guerlain. Designed by Raymond Guerlain in collaboration with Baccarat, it was originally created to house extraits of three fragrances by Jacques Guerlain – L’Heure Bleue (1912), Fol Arôme (1912) and Mitsouko (1919).

The front label cannot be read, so we wonder what fragrance was in the flacon. Dietrich was said to be a fan of perfumes like Bandit by Robert Piguet and Angelique Encens by Creed; the Guerlain fragrance usually mentioned among her favourites is Shalimar, traditionally housed in the flacon chauve souris. One may assume she wore Mitsouko, but I don’t agree: I personally see her wearing an evocative, comforting yet dark perfume like L’Heure Bleue.

On the far right side of the table there’s a bottle of Sea Breeze skin antiseptic.

Thanks to Kailey for submitting this post and for the Sea Breeze id.

Gloria Vanderbilt’s Dressing Table (2023)

Gloria Vanderbilt’s two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan has recently been featured on The World of Interiors: photos by Annie Schlechter and words by Vanderbilt’s son, Anderson Cooper, walk the reader through furniture and accessories of a place where the American artist, designer and writer lived for 23 years.

On the small table on the left there’s a Cyprès candle by Rigaud.

The first thing one notices on her vanity is the massive bottle of Worth Dans la Nuit: made of frosted blue-stained glass and decorated by raised stars, it was made by Lalique in 1924. This is an early issue of the bottle, as we can see from the stopper, described as “a disc with an eclipsed moon of crystal-polished glass in bas-relief against a cobalt-stained sky filled with raised, crystal-polished stars”. This stopper stopped being produced in the 1930s because of an allegation of trademark infringment, so the later versions feature the eclipsed moon only.

Dans la Nuit is a floral fragrance created by Maurice Blanchet.

Next to Dans la Nuit there’s a bottle of Outremer Pêche eau de toilette.

The third non-decorative bottle is Robert Piguet Fracas extrait. This tuberose triumph was created by Germaine Cellier and first launched in 1948.

Dans la Nuit is not the only Worth perfume on this table: there’s also a big empty bottle of Je Reviens eau de cologne.

The last product I can see is the round tin box of Smith’s Rosebud salve.

Source.

Thanks to alindri for submitting this post and to Cédric for the Rigaud candle id.

The Birds (1963)

Once in Bodega Bay, Melanie (Tippi Hedren) gets attacked by a seagull. Mitch (Rod Taylor) tends to her head wound after taking her into a diner.

The gold compact Melanie is holding is Revlon Petite Love-Pat in the early 1960s design by French jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels.

This compact was refillable with either Love-Pat complete make-up (it combined pressed powder and foundation) or Touch and Go pressed powder.

Thanks to Daniel Roldán for submitting this post.

The Idol E03 (Daybreak)

Jocelyn’s vanity is packed with beauty products.

On the left side of the table there’s a bottle of La Mer The Concentrate serum.

The two perfume bottles are decorative but I recognise their stopper: it’s from Annick Goutal perfumes (old packaging).

There’s also a bottle of MAC Studio Fix fluid foundation.

The dropper bottle is a face serum by L’Oreal, but even in this case I think the prop masters modified it: the bottle looks like the one from Revitalift 1.5% hyaluronic acid serum, but the dropper seems to have been taken from Revitalift 12% pure vitamin C + E + salicylic acid Serum.

Next to the serum there’s another L’Oreal product – Color Riche lipstick.

The Idol E05 (Jocelyn Forever)

Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) is getting ready to go on stage for her much-anticipated comeback.

On her dressing table there’s a bottle of Sunday Riley C.E.O. 15% vitamin C brightening serum.

The lip pencil she uses is Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat, possibly in Foxy Brown.

From a different angle we can see an Ouai hair conditioner, too.

When she finally meets Tedros (The Weekend), we can see a bottle of Etat Libre d’Orange Rien Intense Incense behind her. This amber woody fragrance was launched in 2014.

Thanks to Alessandra for submitting this post and to Jack Mason for the Etat Libre d’Orange id.

The Idol E05 (Jocelyn Forever)

There are several make-up products on Jocelyn’s dressing table.

On the left there’s Maybelline The City mini palette.

There are two Maybelline mascaras, too – The Colossal Volum’ Express in the yellow tube on the left and The Falsies Push Up Drama in the red and fuchsia tube on the right.

The yellow kite-shaped object on the left is from the Flik-Off set by Half Magic: it’s Wing Magician, a reusable silicone guide to draw eyeliner flicks.

Thanks to Alessandra for submitting this post.

Ann Miller’s Vanity (1945)

Checking the dressing tables and vanities of celebrities is always thrilling, especially when they include lots of cosmetics or fragrance bottles. The latter is certainly the case of this 1945 portrait of the American actress and dancer Ann Miller.

Here is what I have identified. Starting from the left: there are two bottles of D’Orsay Intoxication, a chypre floral fragrance launched in 1938.  

There’s also a flacon bouchon coeur by Guerlain, possibly containing Mitsouko, a chypre fruity fragrance by Jacques Guerlain launched in 1919.

Impossible not to spot the beautiful bottle of Schiaparelli Shocking under a glass dome. This amber floral creation by Jean Carles was launched in 1937.

Right in front of the mirror there are two flacons chauve souris by Guerlain containing Shalimar, a Jacques Guerlain creation launched in 1925.

On the same side of the table there’s Worth Je Reviens eau de cologne. The eau de toilette version of this floral aldehyde fragrance created by Maurice Blanchet was launched in 1932.

Last, we can see the fluted bottle of an eau de cologne by Jean Patou.

Thanks to Barbara for submitting this post.