Category Archives: perfumes in movies

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

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While Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) is leafing through a phone book to find Jim Hutton’s phone number, we can see a Taylor of Old Bond Street box on the marble counter beside him. It’s impossible to tell what product it contained, but I appreciate the choice of the prop master.

Phoebe Freestone, Freddie’s personal assistant, has given a thorough description of the singer’s perfume habits: “In the early 80s there were two standard colognes with him wherever he went, Aramis and Lagerfeld. He did try others occasionally but always reverted back to those. Later, when he was spending more time in Switzerland, he discovered L’Eau Dynamisante by Clarins which he wore much of the time. There was always a surprise in all the bathrooms he had, whether in England, New York or Munich and that was a ladies fragrance called L’Interdit, created for Audrey Hepburn by Givenchy. His drawers always had bars of soap in them to keep the clothes smelling good and those were by Roger & Gallet.” There’s no mention of traditional fragrances like those by Taylor of Old Bond Street, so I guess that specific box was chosen purely for decorative/aesthetic reasons.

Shopgirl (2005)

shopgirl_bornunicorn (3)Lisa Cramer (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) works as a sales assistant in the beauty department at Saks. In some scenes of the film she’s literally surrounded by Lancôme products. 

lancomemiracle_bornunicorn.jpglancometresorbodylotion_bornunicornIn the first image, there’s a factice of Miracle, a creation by Harry Fremont and Alberto Morillas launched in 2000, and two bottles of Trésor body lotion and shower gel.

shopgirl_bornunicorn (4)In the second picture there are boxes of Miracle and some skincare in the old white and grey packaging.

A Single Man (2009)

asingleman_bornunicornWhile Charlotte (Julianne Moore) is applying eye-liner, we can get a glimpse of her dressing table.

esteelauder_youthdewcolognesplash_bornunicornThere are two versions of Estee Lauder Youth Dew, the perfume created by Josephine Catapano in 1953: the aqua blue spray bottle contains the eau de parfum, while the glass bottle contains the cologne.

tomfordesteelauderazureesoileilfaceglow_bornunicorntomfordesteelauderazureesoleilcompact_bornunicornThe other three products are from Tom Ford x Estee Lauder Azurée Soleil collection, launched in 2006: they are the Face Glow (in the tall bottle with fluted stopper), the Sunbronzer mirror compact and the Cheek Glow stick.

The Hunger (1983)

thehunger_bornunicornThe moment in which a movie character opens a bathroom cabinet is always thrilling. I personally get the chills because I know I’m about to see something interesting in it. Sarah Roberts’ cabinet, for example, is a very simple but intriguing one.

vintagejohnsonsbabypowder_bornunicornOn the bottom shelf there are a spray bottle of Evian Water and a bottle of Johnson’s Baby Powder.

guerlain_vetiveraftershave_bornunicornI’m a bit on the fence when it comes to the glass bottle on the bottom shelf. It’s definitely a flacon de voyage by Guerlain (see the plastic ring around the stopper), but the bottle looks larger than usual.

gillette_rightguarddeodorant_bornunicornOn the top shelf there’s Gillette Right Guard deodorant.

Carne trémula (1997)

Clara (Angela Molina) is finally leaving her abusive husband Sancho, so she’s quickly packing some toiletries. In her bathroom there are many beauty products.

shiseidobenefiancelotion_bornunicornOn the glass shelf there are two Shiseido Benefiance products – a toner and a cleansing milk.

l_oreal-elnett-hairspray_bornunicornThere’s also L’Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray, which has an important function in this scene.

chanelcompact_bornunicornIn classic Almodóvar style, Chanel products make their appearance. In this case, there are a compact and a bottle of bi-phase make-up remover (or toner). There’s also a black box with gold band I haven’t been able to identify. It may be related to No. 5, but I have no idea what it can be.

talcoausonia_bornunicornUnder the glass shelf there’s a cardboard bottle of Ausonia talc.

guerlainchampselysees_bornunicornNext to the Chanel make-up remover there’s Guerlain Champs Elysées in a beautiful gold bottle designed by Robert Granai. The perfume, created by Jacques and Jean-Paul Guerlain, was launched in 1996.

guerlainmeteorites_bornunicornBut Champs Elysées is not the only Guerlain item in Clara’s bathroom. On the top glass shelf there’s a round gold box containing Météorites face powder pearls.

Carne trémula (1997)

Helena (Francesca Neri) is soaking in the tub after having sex with her husband David.

guerlainhabitrouge_bornunicornBehind her we can see a Chanel bottle, probably containing a bath gel. Next to it, there’s Guerlain Habit Rouge, one of the most famous creations by Jean-Paul Guerlain, launched in 1965.

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chanelcocobathgel_bornunicorn1989-ines-de-la-fressange-coco-chanelDavid (Javier Bardem) is bathing in the same tub. Behind him we can see Chanel Coco bath gel and Coco eau de toilette.

All About Eve (1950)

Margo (Bette Davis) and Karen (Celeste Holm) are at the Stork Club in New York with their partners. Two boxes of Le Galion Sortilège can be seen on their table. This choice is extremely accurate because the French fragrance, created in 1937 by Paul Vacher, really was the trademark perfume of the NY nightclub.

The boxes are unfortunately left unopened, so we cannot see its content, but this would be it – the beautiful fluted bottle the perfume had in its original version.

But the perfume bottles are not the only Sortilège presence on Margo’s table.

There’s a cute scented gadget – a stork-shaped perfume holder.

Besides the cameo in the Mankiewicz film, many are the stars who went to the Stork Club and were photographed with a box of this perfume on their tables. How glamourous!