Bret (Igby Rigney) is in his bathroom. In it we can see all the products spotted in the TV show pilot.
The horse-shaped column bottle is Avon Pony Post.
The black matte bottle is Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir, an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.
The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.
The only new addition is Fabergé Brut 33 splash-on lotion.
Katherine (Molly Payton) is home alone. She hears strange noises and sounds outside of her house, but inside it’s not safe either. Seeing the content of her bathroom cabinet rearranged (all the products are upside down or lying sideways) gives us a taste of what’s coming for her and for Los Angeles.
Let’s see what the Trawler (this is the name of the serial killer envisioned by Bret Easton Ellis, author of the 2023 novel the TV show has been adapted from) has taken the time to mess with.
On the top shelf there’s a jar of Noxzema skin cream, which we will see in Bret’s bathroom later in the episode.
On the second shelf there’s a cardboard box containing Secret cream deodorant.
On the same shelf there’s a can of Barbasol shaving cream. The picture above comes from a 1980s commercial and shows exactly the can seen in the TV show.
On the third shelf the fragrance game finally starts.
The first bottle on the left is Ralph Lauren Safari For Men, a woody aromatic fragrance launched in 1992. Yes, let’s that sink in: 1992. The TV show is set in 1981, so this prop choice is historically inaccurate. Has it ever been a problem in the glossy fictional worlds created by Ryan Murphy? Absolutely not, so let’s just move on.
The green and white striped box hides a gem from the 1940s — Carven Ma Griffe, a chypre floral fragrance created by Jean Carles and launched in 1946. This is an unusual choice, but I’ll take it, because at least it’s historically accurate.
In the 1980s owning an Avon novelty bottle was an unwritten rule: it simply happened, whether one liked it or not. In this case, the white ceramic container is armoire-shaped and contains a perfumed bath oil.
The bottom shelf gives us other two perfumed products.
The tin bottle is a talcum powder shaker: it contains Avon Topaze.
There’s also a beautiful bottle of Nina Ricci L’air du temps eau de toilette. This floral fragrance, launched in 1948, was created by Francis Fabron.
The very last product is a spray can of Rayette Aquanet unscented hairspray.
In the first episode we get a close look at Brett’s bathroom, and see some interesting products in it.
The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.
The horse head bottle is obviously an Avon design — Pony Post. Traditionally, Avon’s quirky bottles housed several fragrances, so it’s impossible to tell what this one contained.
When the camera follows the protagonist (Igby Rigney) into his bedroom, we can also see a jar of Noxzema skin cream.
Half-hidden behind a perfumed talc shaker, there’s the unmistakable matte black bottle of a 1980s classic — Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir. It’s an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.
There are three Guerlain products on the round table besides Lucy (Emily Browning).
The jar with gold details on the left is Météorites face powder in pearl form.
Next to it, there’s a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar Eau Légère Parfumée, a 2004 evolution of the historical fragrance created by Jacques Guerlain and first launched in 1925.
On the right side of the table there’s a blue jar with a golden cap: it’s the Orchidée Impériale longevity light cream.
Margaret (Emily Blunt) is getting ready for work by sitting at her dressing table, on which we can see several products.
The lip product she’s applying is Pat Mc Grath Labs Lip Fetish Divinyl lip shine. She will wear it throughout the film.
On the left side of the table there’s a bottle of Bobbi Brown Weightless Skin foundation.
On the right side of the table there are some Glossier products —Lash Slick mascara and Cloud Paint seamless cheek colour.
When the camera moves, other two products can be seen. The jar with black cap is Bobbi Brown hydrating face cream, and the bottle with black stopper (just behind the light ring stand) is a Byredo fragrance.
When Margaret reaches her workplace (she serves as a weather reporter and meteorologist for the Kansas City news station KCXE), we can see another bottle of Bobbi Brown liquid foundation on a dressing table, along with a Bobbi Brown compact powder blush.
A few moments back, when she unexpectedly starts talking Korean, we can see the make-up artists hand her a tube of the Pat McGrath lip shine seen at the beginning of the film.
Thanks to Femto Fitz for submitting this post.
Moses Pray buys a box of Ipana toothpaste at a drugstore.
Bottles of Lancôme cleanser and toner can be seen in Roberta’s bathroom. I’m not sure if the Bi-Facil makeup remover (blue liquid) and Tonique Confort rehydrating toner (pink liquid) were available in the 1980s, but these two bottles with grey caps and white lettering, which launched in the late 1960s, are definitely from Lancôme skincare line.
A few moments before, when Susan (Madonna) and Gary (Mark Blum) walk in the bathroom, we can see several bottles on a small tray on the right.
Among them, the romantic floral pattern which characterises the packaging of Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs, a delicate white floral fragrance created by Roger Pellegrino, Robert Gonnon, Paul Leger and Raymond Chaillan, and launched in 1978. I can see Susan wearing it — an element of romanticism in her unfulfilled suburban life.
This post was first published on July 20th, 2014, but I have decided to update it thanks to the help of Daniel Roldán, who spotted the bottle of Anaïs Anaïs. I have watched this film lots of times, yet this specific bottle has always evaded me.
Lady GaGa is the main performer at the Runway event to be held at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. There’s tension in the air: GaGa is performing only because Nigel Kipling (the magazine’s art director) threatened that she would never grace the cover of Runway again if she declined.
On the vanity there’s a bottle of Valentino Born in Roma eau de parfum, a woody vanilla fragrance created by Antoine Maisondieu, Guillaume Flavigny and Michel Girard, and launched in 2019.
On the left side of the vanity there’s also a bottle of Haus Labs Triclone™ Skin Tech foundation.
World Wide Aura 