Category Archives: perfumes in movies

perfumes in movies, vintage beauty products

An American in Paris (1951)

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anamericaninparis_bornunicorn (1)Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) visits a perfume shop in Paris, where he first meets Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), who works there as shop assistant.

lucienlelongsirocco_bornunicornschiaparelli_shocking_bornunicornIn the screencap above, three bottles of Lucien Lelong Sirocco and a giant bottle of Elsa Schiaparelli Shocking can be seen. Sirocco was launched in 1934, while Shocking – a creation by Jean Carles – was launched in 1937.

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vintage-guerlain-shalimar-eau-de-cologne-splash-1-7-oz-new-rope-sealed-7cc19a1fb031c4c8f019950e9bc5749a (1)Lots of bottles here! On the glass table on the left there’s Lucien Lelong Tailspin cologne; on the right counter, there’s a Guerlain flacon montre and there’s another one on the second shelf in the background. The first flacon montre is confusing because it contains a green liquid and has a golden disk on the front, so I guess it was a promotional factice. The second one has an orange disk, so it’s definitely Shalimar eau de cologne.

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On the counter there are several Lelong fragrances: Orgueil, Balalaika cologne, Sirocco again and Balalaika eau de toilette. Orgueil was created by Jean Carles and launched in 1946; Balalaika was launched in 1939.

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lucienlelong_openingnight_bornunicornTailspin cologne and Balalaika eau de toilette make another appearance, along with two beautiful fluted bottles of Indiscret, launched in 1936. The tiny bottle just under Gene Kelly’s chin is Opening Night, a box of which can be seen under the glass shelf. This fragrance was launched in 1935.

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lucienlelong_parfumn_bornunicornThree bottles and boxes of Lucien Lelong Jabot can be seen on the bottom shelf of the counter, along with two bottles of Balalaika cologne and a bottle of Parfum N. This one could also be Parfum B, since they had the same bottle. Jabot was launched in 1939 and Parfum N in 1928.

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lucienlelong_openingnightpyramid_bornunicornThe Lelong fest is not over yet: the red/white/blue box on the left, under Gene Kelly’s elbow, is Tailspin eau de parfum. The pyramid bottle next to the actor’s hip is Opening Night (Lelong loved using different bottles for the same fragrance).

perfumes in movies

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

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corday_possession_bornunicornThere’s a bottle of Corday Possession on Joey Drayton’s dressing table.

According to Fragrantica, this is a floral aldehyde fragrance launched in 1937. The beautiful bottle is accented by a satin ribbon, while the oval box is decorated with a unicorn sitting in a fence. This is obviously a reproduction of The Unicorn in Captivity, one of the seven hangings from the Middle Ages known as The Unicorn Tapestries.

Thanks to Bgirlrhapsody for this (impossible for me) id.

perfumes in movies

Totò, Peppino e la… malafemmina (1956)

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guerlainmitsoukocologne_bornunicornThere’s a Guerlain flacon montre on the dressing table of the showgirl Marisa Florian (Dorian Gray). There’s no way to know what cologne the bottle contained: the disk label can’t be read and the black and white of the film doesn’t help. In any case, the choice is historically accurate: the bottle with the glass stopper was produced from 1936 to 1972.

Thanks to my friend Rocco for the id.

perfumes in movies

The Last Days of Disco (1998)

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guerlain_shalimarvintagecologne_bornunicornThere’s a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar eau de cologne (or eau de toilette) in the pharmacy where Alice gets some medicines. Even if it’s clearly stated that the story is set in the early 1980s, lots of details (especially costumes) reveal it’s actually a 1990s film. The presence of a footless chauve souris bottle is not historically accurate: it made its appearance in 1995 (three years before the film was directed), first used for the eau de toilette, later for the eau de cologne.

This is an example of “partial inconsistency,” in the sense that the perfume in question was not on the market at the time in which the story takes place, but it was at the time in which the film was shot.

Picture source.

cosmetics in movies, perfumes in movies

Martha (1974)

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The iconic Christian Dior houndstooth perfume bottle appears on Martha’s hotel bathroom shelf while she’s in Rome with her father. The front label is not visible, so it’s impossible to tell what fragrance she wore.

diorellahoundstooth_bornunicornWe should add Diorella to my list of “suspects”, since the floral-chypre perfume created by Edmond Roudnitska was launched in 1970.

The pink stick on the left is Max Factor Pan Stik foundation.

Thanks to Amy in the comments for the Max Factor id.

perfumes in movies

The Bitch (1979)

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thebitch_bornunicornThe “bitch” of the movie title is Fontaine Khaled (Joan Collins), the fierce owner of a trendy disco. She loves living surrounded by luxury, so no surprise to see expensive perfumes in her bathroom.

hermes_calechevintage_bornunicornThe 400 ml bottle on the left is Hermès Calèche, a woody floral fragrance created by Guy Robert in 1961.

hermes_calechevintagead_bornunicornThe refillable spray in the middle is Calèche again.

hermes_amazonevintage_bornunicornThe glass bottle with the dark red stopper is Amazone, another classic Hèrmes perfume, created by Maurice Maurin in 1974.

hermes_calecheaerosprayvintage_bornunicornNext to Amazone there’s another bottle of Calèche, the aérospray version. Amazone was marketed in aérospray version, too: the bottle is the same, but the metal details are silver, not gold.

Endless gratitude to The Scentimentalist, who pointed this beautiful perfume sighting out to me.