Before leaving the Hawthorne School, Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson) and Myrtle Snow (Frances Conroy) comment on the smell in the air. Myrtle can’t bear it: she states Bourbon Street in New Orleans smells like Chanel No. 5 in comparison.
Category Archives: perfume quotes in tv shows
Red Oaks S01E01 (Pilot)
Nash (Ennis Esmer) and other members of the Red Oaks Club staff are having an outdoor party. When asked what his blood tastes like to mosquitoes, he replies: “Cardamom and Drakkar Noir.”
No surprise he namedrops the perfume by Guy Laroche. Created by Pierre Wargnye in 1982, it was basically everywhere in the 1980s.
Red Oaks S01E09 (The Bar Mitzvah)
There has been a bag swap at the Red Oaks Club: Wheeler (Oliver Cooper) realises what has happened when he finds a bottle of Williams Aqua Velva after-shave lotion in the bag which turns out to be Herb’s.
Glow S01E02 (Slouch. Submit)
Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron) asks the wannabe wrestlers what their “special abilities” are. Sheila the She-Wolf (Gayle Rankin) explains she has “a very acute sense of smell.” Sam tries her: what cologne is he wearing? She replies: “Drakkar Noir.”
The TV show is set in the 1980s, so this reference is very accurate: the Guy Laroche aromatic woody fragrance, created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982, was incredibly popular at the time.
Sam’s question is tricky, though: he’s not actually wearing Drakkar Noir, but he has sprayed it on his clothes, something he does when he forgets to do his laundry.
Hannibal S01E05 (Coquilles)
Bella Crawford (Gina Torres) is a very elegant woman, so no wonder she wears an “exquisite” and exclusive perfume. Dr. Lecter’s description is a clear reference to its name: it’s “similar to the aroma on the air just after lightning strikes,” an elaborate nod to JAR Bolt of Lightning.
Created by Joel Arthur Rosenthal and launched in 2001, it features tuberose and green notes. JAR perfumes are famous for not containing “the typical top, middle, and base notes,” as explained on the WGSN Insider blog. “Rather, they blend together for an unpredictable release. The Bolt of Lightning fragrance takes 10 minutes to develop on the skin.”
American Horror Story S06E10
With Lee Harris on the run, sieged in the Roanoke House, people are desperate to know more about her. Actor William Van Henderson (Denis O’Hare), who played Dr. Elias Cunningham in My Roanoke Nightmare, appears on the news, but he can’t say much about her. They briefly met at Paley Fest 2015: he remembers she wore Shalimar.
Ryan Murphy must be a fan of the Guerlain perfume. You may remember a character from American Horror Story: Hotel (Ramona Royale) wears it.
Twin Peaks S01E03 (Rest in Pain)
Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) compliments Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) on her perfume. Even if no more is said about it, I’m pretty sure she got it at Horne’s perfume counter, the place where both Laura Palmer and Ronette Pulaski worked.
What perfume would Audrey wear? Things to bear in mind while you choose: the tv show is set in the late 1980s/early 1990s; Dale Cooper thinks it’s “incredible”. I think she would wear something feminine and seductive like Cacharel LouLou (a Jean Guichard creation launched in 1987) or a classic chypre like Guerlain Mitsouko.
Mr Selfridge S01E03
There’s a bottle of Guerlain Mitsouko on Ellen Love’s dressing table – a contemporary bottle which was given the vintage touch of an atomizer pump. Choosing this perfume may not be historically accurate – it was created in 1919, ten years after the time in which this episode takes place – but it totally suits Ellen’s vampy and flamboyant style.
When Mr Selfridge asks his mistress to be the testimonial for the first Selfridges perfume, her mind immediately goes to one of her personal heroines – Emma Calvé, the most famous French opera singer of the Belle Époque. Ellen certainly loves the opera singer for being talented and successful, but is also fascinated by her lifestyle, which includes using Guerlain perfumes. Who knows? Maybe Ellen wears a Guerlain perfume herself to emulate her idol.
Sons of Anarchy S05E09 (Andare Pescare)
Tara (Maggie Siff) visits Otto (Kurt Sutter) in hospital and brings him his favourite perfume, the one worn by his (now dead) lover Luann. Described by Gemma as smelling “like cum and patchouli,” it’s the only fragrance Otto wanted Luann to wear. No surprise he asks Tara to wear it for him. The scene where he sniffs her wrist is pure perfume fetishism, a very intimate moment.
Orange is the New Black S01E06 (WAC Pack)
Piper (Taylor Schilling) has a conversation with Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) after meeting her mother. “Everybody has got problems,” she tells Nicky, who replies: “Sure, but some problems are worse than others.” “Yours,” she continues, “smell like Shalimar,” the perfume Piper’s mother wears. Nicky ironically comments on Piper’s complaining about her mother: she visits her in prisons, buys her pretzels and hugs her goodbye. There’s no reason to complain! Nicky’s bottom line is that Shalimar-scented problems are no problems at all.
Nicky, whose mother is a New York wealthy socialite, immediately recognizes Piper’s perfume. Who knows? Maybe her mother uses it, too. After all, the magic of the 1925 perfume created by Jacques Guerlain is undeniable.
Thanks to my Instagram friend Mustapha for pointing this out to me.
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