

There’s a Christian Dior houndstooth splash bottle on Helen’s vanity, but unfortunately the front label is never clearly visible. It looks white with a touch of pink, but it could be just a lighting trick. In any case, this bottle was used to contain eaux de toilette and eaux de cologne, so many possibilities open up. I think we should follow one lead, though: what vintage Dior perfume could appeal to an elegant working girl like Helen? We don’t know a lot about her background, so this bottle could be something she received from her mother or grandmother, or she could have bought it for herself. I personally think she would wear a classic, so either Diorissimo or Miss Dior.


There’s another classic product on the vanity – a Chanel lipstick.

And what about the blue glass bottles (four of them!)? They remind me of Neal Yard’s products (the film is set in London, so it would be a logical choice), but I found no evidence the brand used these bottles in the 1990s.















The scarlet red lipstick she puts on Juana is another product by Cacharel. The lipsticks of this short-lived line were contained in beautiful matte metal cases, the tops of which were lip-shaped.
The retro-style
It’s the marbled lipstick Glissando, launched in 1964 by the American brand Du Barry.
Available in six shades (“from light-struck pinks to muted ambers to rich reds”), it was housed in an elegant silver and gold metal case.

When María Cardenal (Assumpta Serna) re-applies her lipstick, we can see it falling on her lap.
It’s Stylo à Levres by Lancôme, a product launched in the

Margeeve (Stockard Channing) is checking her make-up in a golden compact by








The antique pink lipstick Michal (Noa Koler) is wearing is
Yeon-gyo (Cho Yeo-jeong) is a lucky woman: she lives in a
On the left there’s a bottle decorated with an orange and black ribbon: it’s
Always on the left, just behind the Penhaligon’s perfume, there’s tall bottle with white stopper and a pale green front label: it’s an 
The several black make-up palettes displayed right in front of the woman are of course by Chanel.