There’s Edge shaving gel on the washbasin in Gilbert and Arnie’s bathroom.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
All posts by Born Unicorn
This Is Us S01E12 (The Big Day)
Several bottles of perfume can be seen on a tray. Most of them are decorative, but one is real: it’s California perfume by Avon.
This is the 1976 Anniversary Keepsake edition, the front sticker decorated with a beautiful floral design and a Gibson girl. The perfume was originally produced in 1905 by California Perfume Company [1] with the name California Bouquet.
[1] The company would change its name to Avon Products Inc. in 1939.
Thanks to my friend Maurizio for the id and screencaps.
Gloria Bell (2018)
There are three Hask products in front of Gloria.
The Argan dry shampoo is in the pale blue spray bottle.
The Keratin Protein flash blow-dry spray is in the clear pink bottle.
Last, the Chia Seed volumizing dry shampoo is in the lavender spray bottle.
The Boys in the Band (2020) and Van Halen’s Poundcake Music Video (1991): A Mystery Solved!
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.
La voz humana (2020)
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.
Never Have I Ever S01E10 (“… Said I’m Sorry”)
The Boys in the Band (2020)
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.
The Boys in the Band (2020)
Michael (Jim Parsons) buys some toiletries for his friend Donald (Matt Bomer), who usually spends his weekends in New York. In the 1970 movie the famous “sandalwood soap” was by Elizabeth Arden; the new production has kept the brand but opted for a different box. This one is from the Citruswood men’s line.
The Boys in the Band (2020)
There’s a bottle of English Leather cologne on Michael’s dresser.
Miami Blues (1990)
There’s a bottle of Halsa shampoo on Susie’s bath tub.
