Category Archives: cosmetics in movies

Taking Care of Business (1990)

Debbie Lipton (Anne De Salvo) works at the Chanel beauty counter at I. Magnin luxury department store in Los Angeles. She may be loud and very chatty with her former high school classmate Spencer (one of the protagonists), but she looks very classy and professional at her workplace.

Besides her lovely Chanel black-and-white outfit, she’s surrounded by a beautiful selection of skincare, cosmetics and fragrances by the French maison.

Behind Debbie there’s a Chanel skincare counter. It’s impossible to tell what those glass bottles contained, but I’m pretty sure one of them was Lotion Douce (shown above in a 1978 advert).

Hard not to notice the huge factice bottle of Chanel Coco eau de toilette, an amber/warm spicy fragrance by Jacques Polge launched in 1984. The advert above, starring Inès de la Fressange, was released in 1989.

Right in front of Coco there’s a bottle of Chanel No. 5, the classic floral aldehyde fragrance by Ernest Beaux launched in 1921.

The white pump bottles are body lotion/body emulsion testers. Hard to tell what fragrance these were ancillary products of.

The atomisers in front of the pump bottles contained No. 22 (white atomiser) and No. 19 (steel grey atomiser). No. 22, a white floral fragrance by Ernest Beaux, was originally launched in 1922; on the other hand, No. 19, a green floral fragrance by Henri Robert, was launched in 1970.

A different angle reveals another factice – a massive black glossy case of Chanel Lift Sérum, an anti-aging product launched in the late 1970s.

There are also several black boxes, possibly containing compacts. Moreover, just below the oval mirror on the right there’s a Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow palette.

Debbie has helped Spencer (Charles Grodin) with his misadventures; before getting his privileged life back, he gives her a dalmatian puppy as a thank-you gift. I’m sure Debbie and the puppy will become best friends in no time.

Behind Spencer and Jimmy (Jim Belushi) there’s an interesting Christian Dior product. The front label is not fully visible, but I managed to identify this white pump bottle as part of the Capture skincare line, shown above in a promotional card from 1987.

Eleanor the Great (2025)

Eleanor (June Squibb) is 94 years old and is back in New York, after living many years in Florida. Adjusting to city life is not easy, but going out and keeping active will help her make new friends. I love that she still takes care of herself by getting manicures and pedicures, and by applying make-up whenever she goes out.

In the scene above, set in her grandson’s bedroom (temporarily her own bedroom), we can see a tube of L’Oreal Age Perfect BB Cover hydrating serum.

Later in the film, on the same desk seen previously, a drop bottle of Ilia super serum skin tint makes its appearance.

Bagnomaria (1999)

The black tube with gold accents is Lancôme Stylocils mascara.

There’s another similar tube, which I think is a mascara or liquid eyeliner by L’Oreal, from their make-up line Corolle.

There are two perfume miniatures, too. One is Van Cleef & Arpels First, a floral aldehyde creation by Jean-Claude Ellena launched in 1976.

The second miniature is Vendetta Pour Homme by Valentino, a creation by Edouard Flechier launched in 1991.

Thanks to Alessandra for submitting this post.

A Normal Woman (2025)

Erika (Gisella Anastasia) is a make-up artist who’s in charge of taking care of Liliana (Widyawati) before her much-anticipated birthday party. It’s unclear when the events are set, but it’s interesting to notice how her professional kit includes products from some years ago.

The first item I noticed is Make Up For Ever Ultra HD foundation. Erika owns it in different shades.

There’s also a Bobbi Brown Luxe lip color.

This is a limited edition of Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense lipstick. The Moulin Rouge collection was launched in fall 2010.

Another lip product of the same brand is Ultra HD lip booster.

Erika clearly loves working with Make Up For Ever products: her kit includes the pressed powder and the Duo Mat matte powder foundation.

La baie des anges (1963)

Jackie (Jeanne Moreau) has finally reached Monte Carlo, where she’s ready to take the local casino by storm. We’ve seen that a massive bottle of Weil Antilope sits on her bathroom shelf, but what’s on her vanity?

On the right side of the table there’s a tin can of Max Factor Primitif talc. This was an ancillary product of a chypre floral fragrance launched in 1956.  

There are several make-up items, too. Their packaging is quite basic, but among them I couldn’t miss another product by Max Factor – the Pan-Stik foundation.