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Pedantic archivist of beauty products in films and tv shows
haircare in movies

The Boys in the Band (2020) and Van Halen’s Poundcake Music Video (1991): A Mystery Solved!

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When Donald (Matt Bomer) arrives at Michael’s, he takes his shirt off and throws himself on the friend’s bed. There’s a bottle on the shelf behind the bed and believe me when I say that I’ve spent most of my waking hours (since I watched the film) trying to identify it.

Things took a weird turn a couple of nights ago, when the same bottle popped up in a music video I used to love as a teenager – Poundcake by none other than Van Halen! The 1991 video, directed by Andy Morahan, famously shows Eddie Van Halen using the power drill technique in the introduction and in the solo. But it also features girls showing up for an audition, and that’s where the mysterious bottle appears.

I had just decided to abandon the Boys in the Band bottle to its sad destiny, when the Van Halen showed me the way. I had to identify it! I turned to the place where I know I can always find an answer – the Fragrantica forum – and an answer is what I got. A surprising one.

My mistake? Thinking that bottle was a perfume. Now I know it’s Richard Hudnut Three Flowers/Tres Flores brilliantine, housed in this beautiful glass bottle with aqua green conical stopper.

There’s more: it appears in its original form in the Van Halen video, but it has a different label in the Joe Mantello film and that was the ultimate trap. After much pondering, I’ve realised it’s the same bottle: they just changed the front sticker for the film, probably to make it look like a perfume.

Thanks to c_donna and all the lovely ladies at Fragrantica who helped me solve the mystery.

bodycare in movies, haircare in movies, make-up quotes in movies, perfumes in movies, skincare in movies, teeth care in movies

La voz humana (2020)

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The Woman (Tilda Swinton) is applying mascara in front of a round mirror. The bathroom she’s in is tiled in different colours and is full of beauty products and toiletries.

Starting from the left red-tiled niche, I’ve identified:

Rochas Eau de Rochas bath and shower gel

Chanel La Crème Main hand cream

Perlier Honey Miel bath and shower cream and Thai Coco body lotion

Chanel Paris-Biarritz shower gel

Moving right, there’s the blue-tiled niche, where there are two hair products:

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Touchably Full conditioner

L’Oreal Extraordinary Oil oil-in-milk leave-in hair cream

Now there’s the washbasin counter, packed with bottles of medicines.

On the far left there’s a tube of Natura Bissé The Cure all-in-one cleanser.

There are two different bottles of elixirs by My Yébenes. The first on the left is Repair, while the second one (a bit further moving towards the right) is Resistance.

There’s also a jar of Natura Bissé C+C Vitamin face cream.

The first perfume bottle I’ve spotted is Hermès Eau de Citron Noir cologne.

Then there’s obviously the Chanel No. 5 factice.

There’s also a bottle of Chanel Les Beiges foundation among the medicine bottles.

Next, two products by Natura Bissé from the C+C Vitamin line – sun protection at the top left corner of the washbasin and micellar cleansing water next to the tap.

Moving back to the first screencap, all the right part of the counter is for Chanel make-up items. So we can see

Joues Contraste powder blush

Rouge Allure red lipstick

A cream blush

Poudre Universelle Libre loose powder

Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow palette in Tissé Camélia

Palette Essentiel in Beige Clair

Les Beiges compact powder

Le Lift Lèvres et Contours firming cream.

Last, two toothpastes in a silver glass

One is Marvis Classic Strong Mint toothpaste.

The other is Verkos Kemphor toothpaste.

bodycare in movies, haircare in movies, skincare in movies, teeth care in movies, vintage beauty products

The Boys in the Band (2020)

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Lots of things happen at the birthday party that Michael organises for Harold: for example, the fight between Emory (Robin de Jesús) and Alan ends up with a split lip. Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington) takes his friend to the toilet, where they check the wound.

On a shelf in Michael’s bathroom there are four products.

The glass bottle on the left is Listerine mouthwash.

The cardboard shaker contains Spicy perfumed talc by Avon.

Next there’s Lucky Tiger hair tonic with oil.

On the far right side of the shelf there’s a glass jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly.

bodycare in tv shows, deodorants in tv shows, haircare in tv shows, perfumes in tv shows

We Are Who We Are E02 (Right Here, Right Now #2)

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Among the toiletries in Caitlin’s parents’ bathroom, there are a bottle of Old Spice Classic cologne and Speed Stick deodorant.

When she moves into her own bathroom, we can see two Palmer’s products (coconut body oil in a spray bottle and cocoa butter formula).

The deodorant in the silver case is Old Spice Swagger.

The green bottle contains Galàn Moco de Gorila hair gel.

perfumes in tv shows

Ratched S01E03 (Angel of Mercy)

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Mildred (Sarah Paulson) is about to meet the private detective Charles Wainwright in her room again. On her dressing table we see an old acquaintance and a new bottle.

The tall ribbed bottle – previously seen in the pilot – is Moment Suprême eau de cologne by Jean Patou.

The other bottle is the Lanvin boule, a special one: it’s made of colourless glass (and not of the more ordinary black glass) and its gold stopper has got a raspberry shape (and not the more ordinary ribbed ball shape) [1]. This bottle was used to house Mon péché (My Sin), originally launched in 1924, and Arpège, launched in 1927. I like to think My Sin is sitting on Mildred’s vanity: she’s a character full of contrasts, who is definitely hiding many secrets and sins.

[1] Later, the ribbed stoppers would replace the raspberry ones. The change didn’t happen before the 1960s, as shown by this 1964 advert for My Sin

Thanks to lepetitcivet for the Lanvin id.