There are two perfume bottles in Colonel Race’s cabin. Despite the ribbons in different colours, I think they are the same bottle – Penhaligon’s Hammam Bouquet.
The woody floral perfume was created in 1872 by William Penhaligon, who found inspiration in the Turkish baths located in Jermyn Street, London.
The bottle above has the old packaging, the Turkish star and crescent design being a nod to its main inspiration.
One of the opening scenes is set in the protagonist’s bathroom. He’s standing alone in front of the mirror, but he’s looking at the other side of the counter, where many beauty products are. A close-up on this side shows us that it used to be Helen’s, his dead wife.
In the central part of the counter I’ve spotted a bottle of Kiehl’s Creme de Corps, Marvis toothpaste in Cinnamon Mint and some Jo Malone perfumes.
There are other products around the washbasin, among which a small bottle of L’Occitane Verveine shower gel (old packaging) and a NARS lipstick.
There’s a bottle of Van Cleef & Arpels First on a glass shelf next to Marc (Gaspard Proust).
While watching the film, seeing a bottle of Clarins Eau Dynamisante on Allie’s dresser didn’t surprise me at all. I think very few perfumes can capture a certain 1990s vibe as accurately as this perfume. Fresh, citrusy and never overpowering, it was created by Jacques Courtin-Clarins in 1987. It was the epitome of that chic minimal mood with an active twist which was a staple of that decade.
The opening credit sequence is set in a bathroom, where one girl is putting make-up on her twin. Later in the film, we will see these are Hedy (one of the protagonists, whose real name is actually Ellen Besch) and her twin sister. Many bottles are on the tiled counter.
On the right there are English Leather and Old Spice colognes.
The tall bottle with round black stopper is Jean Natè after-bath splash.
Porn actress Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) has a refined taste for perfumes, as shown by what is sitting on her dressing table.
The almost empty bottle with black stopper is Giorgio Armani Armani, a chypre floral perfume created by Ron Winnegrad in 1982.
The red box with gold accents is unmistakably the packaging of Yves Saint Laurent Opium, one of the most famous perfumes of all times, hugely popular in the 1980s. Created by Jean Amic, Raymond Chaillan and Jean-Louis Sieuzac and launched in 1977, it redefined the concept of oriental spicy perfume.
Debbie keeps some toiletries and a picture of her brother Danny (George Clooney) on her desk.
The bright green bottle is Deva Curl styling cream (old packaging).
The perfume is Jo Malone Amber & Lavender cologne.
The orange and white bottle is Bumble and bumble styling creme.
There are several perfumes and toiletries on Anna’s dressing table.
First, two bottles of Revlon nail polish in the signature bottle with super-long cap handle.
Now let’s focus on the perfume bottles. At the centre of the table there’s Jean Patou Joy, “the world’s most expensive perfume” created in 1930 by Henri Alméras.
Next to it, a beautiful amphora bottle by Christian Dior. Hard to tell what perfume it contained here: designed in 1947 by Fernand Guéry-Colas and produced by Baccarat, it was first used for Miss Dior, but later used for all the other perfumes of the French house – Diorissimo, Diorling, Diorella and Diorama. If we consider the film was released in 1958, the amphora could contain Miss Dior, Diorama (launched in 1948) or Diorissimo (launched in 1956).
Last but not least, there’s a Guerlain flacon montre. Again, it’s impossible to say what eau de cologne it contained, but we can make some assumptions. It could be Shalimar or Cachet Jaune (blood orange and yellow stickers, respectively; both launched in 1937), L’Heure Bleue (pale blue sticker; launched in 1945), Ode (purple sticker; the eau de cologne was launched in 1950s, but I don’t know the exact date), Fleur de Feu (hot pink sticker; the perfume was released in 1948, so probably the eau de cologne was on the market by the time Indiscreet was shot), Mitsouko (teal sticker; launched in 1937), Jicky (deep purple sticker; launched in 1945), Chypre 53 (light green sticker; the perfume was released in 1953, so it’s possible the cologne already existed in 1958) or Liu (black sticker; launched in 1956).
The opening scene of the film sees the actress Gloria Grahame is in her dressing room at the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster, UK, unpacking her toiletries and getting ready to perform in The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams [1].
She takes out a can of L’Oreal Elnett hairspray.
The perfume sitting on the dressing table is Chanel No. 5.
[1] The film is based on the last years of the American actress’ life. It’s true she performed at the Dukes in 1980, but she had the leading role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, not in the Williams play as seen in the film.
Ginny (Blanche Baker) is a bride-to-be who’s being totally focused on the preparations of her wedding day. She’s unsympathetic with her sister Samantha and is very rude to her. Under this behaviour there’s a lot of unhappiness, in my opinion [1]: she doesn’t really love her fiancé (he’s the only one who’d been in love with her for six months straight) but feels this is the only chance she has to get married.
Some interesting beauty items can be seen on her busy dresser.
The white bottle with blue cap next to the lamp is the suntan lotion QT Quick Tanning by Coppertone.
On the golden tray on the right there’s a bottle of Avon Timeless, a floral chypre perfume released in 1974.
The hot pink bottle is Tickle roll-on deodorant.
[1] Sixteen Candles has never been among my favourite 1980s films, but after recently re-watching it, I’ve realised it’s a deeply disturbing and problematic movie. Here 16 reasons that prove it.
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