Category Archives: perfumes in tv shows

perfumes in tv shows

Halston E03 (The Sweet Smell of Success)

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One of the most interesting scenes of the episode sees Halston (Ewan McGregor) and Elsa Peretti (Rebecca Dayan) going to Bergdorf Goodman to check how the newly-launched fragrance is doing. The sales assistant explains that it’s sold out.

There’s a huge bottle on the counter, but the prop masters have done something weird here: they put the glass stopper of the original Halston perfume on a bottle of Halston Couture, a fragrance launched in 1988 (two years before the designer’s death). The original bottle was all made of glass, while the other had accents of silver, stopper included.

This scene is not all about Halston, though: if we look behind Elsa and Halston, we can see a couple of factice flacons bouchon coeur by Guerlain. It’s impossible to know what fragrance they contain. Maybe Mitsouko?

When Halston and Elsa leave the room, we can see on a glass table a factice bottle of Guerlain Chamade, created by Jean-Paul Guerlain and launched in 1969.

Next to Chamade there’s a flacon montre of Shalimar eau de cologne, a trademark prop in many Ryan Murphy shows. The gold stopper is historically accurate because it was used between 1972 and 1979.

perfumes in tv shows

Halston E03 (The Sweet Smell of Success)

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Halston (Ewan McGregor) is becoming a regular at Studio 54. Before heading out, he takes a shower and puts on a fragrance by his brand. Unfortunately it’s impossible to tell what fragrance this is because there’s an interesting story behind the men’s scents by Halston.

Halston Z14, with a prominent leather note, was created by Vincent Marcello and Max Gavarry and launched in 1976. It was housed in the so-called “pinch bottle”, which reproduced on brown glass the effect of fingers pinching a soft material.

Too bad that the aromatic green Halston 1-12 was launched in the same year, housed in the same exact bottle (but made of dark green glass)! From the screencap it’s not clear if the glass is brown or green, so it could be both fragrances.

Michael Edwards, author of Fragrances of the World, first published in 1984, revealed in an 2001 interview with Basenotes’ Grant Osborne the truth behind this unusual double launch:

“I had the chance to concentrate on fragrances when I moved to Paris, to direct the international rollout of Halston’s fragrances, Halston (1975), the great women’s classic created by Bernard Chant, and the two men’s entries, Halston Z-14 (still superb) and 1-12 (both 1976). If you wonder why two men’s fragrances, the answer is that Halston couldn’t make up his mind which one he preferred so he said, ‘Launch both’. The names, Z-14 and 1-12? Those were the perfumer’s code numbers.”

perfumes in tv shows

Halston E03 (The Sweet Smell of Success)

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This episode tells the story behind the creation of Halston, the fragrance the American designer launched in 1974: it became an immediate hit and is still recognized as one of the scented symbols of that decade.

Even if I never write about myself and rarely comment on what I post, I’ve decided to explain what I’ve appreciated in it and what I consider a personal affront.

The episode describes well the designing process of the organic drop-shaped bottle by Elsa Peretti, the original Halstonette: born in Florence, she worked as a model first, but soon became a close collaborator of Halston and later a designer for Tiffany and Co.

The story behind this bottle is accurately presented: it’s true that the manufacturers were not able to fill the curved bottles with the machinery they used and it’s true that Halston paid $50,000 from his own pocket to create an adapter which made the filling operation possible.

The commercial accurately reproduces the advertising campaign with which the perfume was launched.

What has filled me with disappointment and rage is the creative process. When Halston meets for the first time the perfumer who will create his perfume, I literally jumped on my chair. Seriously??? Adèle who??? Poor Vera Farmiga, giving voice to the biggest mistake of the episode.

At least they got something right: the nose who created Halston really worked for IFF. He was the Head Perfumer of the American multinational.

Yes, “he”, because there was no Adèle but Bernard Chant, who gave us fragrances like Cabochard (in 1959), Aramis (in 1966), Clinique Aromatics Elixir (in 1971), Lauren by Ralph Lauren (in 1978) and Estée Lauder hits like Cinnabar (in 1978) and Beautiful (in 1985). In the picture above, he was portrayed by Louie Psihoyos while testing perfumes on human skin.

I understand the reasons behind the narration for TV and I get that Adèle is a reassuring mother-like figure for the troubled designer, but such a gross historical inaccuracy is insulting for the memory of the perfumer, for the designer and for those who were involved in the creation of the perfume.

I’ve covered recent and less recent TV shows by Ryan Murphy and I’ve often praised the impeccable work in recreating the past, but this is too much. What a huge disappointment!

nail polish in tv shows, perfumes in tv shows

Pose S03E03 (The Trunk)

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In this episode we’re brought back to 1983, when Elektra (Dominique Jackson) is trying hard to achieve her goals and to help her three daughters (Blanca, Candy and Lulu). They share a dingy flat, but this doesn’t let Elektra down: it probably gives her a reason to fight and improve her condition.

The deep connection between Elektra and perfumes is nothing new: she name-dropped Caron Poivre in Season 1 and I spotted Givenchy Ysatis on her dressing table in Season 2. I’m glad we get to know her better through another perfume.

In the early 1980s she wears White Linen by Estee Lauder, a floral aldehydic fragrance created by Sophia Grojsman and launched in 1978.

In 1983 this was the advert of the perfume: model Karen Graham, portrayed by Victor Skrebneski, was wearing a chic white outfit with blue details and looked relaxed in an elegant mansion. The imagery conjured here is so different from the world of Elektra, but it represents a goal to reach – money, luxury, comfort.

Behind White Linen there’s Hask Biotin hairspray, which is a historically inaccurate choice because this brand didn’t exist in the early 1980s.

On her dressing table there’s also an orange OPI nail polish.

cosmetics in tv shows, perfumes in tv shows

Selena: The Series S02E09 (When All the World is Sleeping)

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In the show’s finale we are given a beautiful shot of Selena’s vanity. There are several MAC products and two surprising perfume bottles.

The small brush on the left side of the screen is MAC 182 buffer brush.

Then there are some lipsticks and compacts, which could be blushes or face powders.

The intriguing choices can be seen on the right side of the screen, where there are two Guerlain bottles.

One is the refillable metal canister, shown here without stopper.

The other is a small flacon montre with golden conical stopper. The front sticker is not shown, so there’s no way to know what eau de cologne this contains.

I’m quite surprised to see Guerlain perfumes on Selena’s vanity and not the one that was her trademark perfume in real life.

In this picture, taken at the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi, we can see Chanel make-up products (including the famous Brick lip colour, now discontinued) and brushes, and one perfume bottle – Boucheron Pour Femme, a white floral fragrance created by Francis Deleamont and Jean-Pierre Bethouart and launched in 1988.

Since this perfume is still on the market, I wonder why the show’s prop masters haven’t used it in this scene.

perfumes in tv shows

Pose S03E01 (On the Run)

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In 1994 Pray Tell (Billy Porter) works as sales assistant in the cosmetic department at Macy’s.

A factice bottle of Christian Dior Dolce Vita is displayed. This is an accurate choice because the woody fragrance, created by Pierre Bourdon and Maurice Roger, was launched exactly in 1994.

On the right side of the counter there’s also a bottle of Bijan by Bijan, a white floral eau de toilette created by Peter Bohm and launched in 1986.

Pray Tell is spraying Chanel No. 5 on customers and advertises the iconic product as a perfume that can “reawaken that passion.”

He’s spraying the eau de parfum, the 1986 version by Jacques Polges of the original fragrance created by Ernest Beaux in 1921.

perfumes in tv shows

The Golden Girls (1985-1992)

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The bedroom of Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) has often been under the spotlight for its distinctive palm leaf wallpaper and the exquisite pink and green decor. But let’s not forget the many perfume bottles on her vanity.

In the screencap above, there’s a splash bottle of Delagar Royal Dove cologne, housed in a bottle with pink bird stopper. The design was clearly inspired by Nina Ricci L’air du temps, housed in the dove-topped bottle created by Marc Lalique in 1951.

This floral fragrance, now discontinued, was launched in 1982.

Picture source.

perfumes in tv shows

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour S01E12 (Hangover)

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Jayne Mansfield starred in this episode as Marion, a girl the protagonist (advertising man Hadley Purvis) has taken home with him. He doesn’t remember anything about it because he is an alcoholic, so he has to reconstruct the events of the night before.

Mansfield, sporting a short hairstyle, posed for some on-set pictures in a bathroom. There are two intriguing bottles on the marble shelf behind her.

The tall ribbed bottle is Lanvin Eau de Lanvin. The prop masters replaced the original black bakelite stopper with an ordinary one.

The other bottle is by Lucien Lelong. Since the label usually wrapping the bottle neck is missing, we can make an assumption from the stopper: I think it contained Opening Night cologne.

Picture source.

perfumes in tv shows

Suburra S01E07 (Ultimo Cliente)

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Countess Sveva della Rocca Croce (Elisabetta De Palo) is sitting at her dressing table, getting ready for meeting Samurai at a luxury hotel in Rome. There are lots of products on it, but three bottles in particular have attracted my attention.

On the far left side of the table there’s L’Occitane Verveine Agrumes eau de toilette, launched in 2015.

The tall bottle with rounded silver stopper nearby is Estée Lauder Pleasures, created by Annie Buzantian and Alberto Morillas and launched in 1995.

Even if I appreciate both perfumes, I can’t really imagine the countess wearing them.

But there’s a bottle that saves the day, something the Countess could actually wear. The red round flacon with the clear flower-shaped stopper is Cartier Delices de Cartier, a floral fragrance with fruity (cherry!) notes created by Christine Nagel and launched in 2006.

perfumes in tv shows

Suburra S01E04 (Buon Appetito) and S01E05 (La lupa)

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Spadino (Giacomo Ferrara) is a young member of a Sinti family which controls part of the illegal activities in Rome. Even if he’s homosexual (his mother knows but she’s not supportive), there’s an arranged wedding for him: he’s to marry Angelica, from another Sinti family.

His brother Manfredi (Adamo Dionisi) forces him to spend some time with his fiancé and he reluctantly accepts.

His bedroom is very flashy – arabesque wallpaper, animalier bed cover, a Thug Life poster, gold and purple furniture and a LED screen above the bed. The objects on his dresser, though, reveal a very different side of him.

There’s a brown box with yellow lettering from the Collezione Barbiere by Acqua di Parma. Such a choice contrasts with the image this character has created for himself.

But the real shock comes from the factice bottle with wicker decoration sitting on the same purple dresser.

This bottle is shown in another episode, just before the wedding ceremony. Spadino’s mother, Adelaide (Paola Sotgiu), is giving him a very important heirloom as gift – his late father’s switchblade.

I have no idea how a Revillon splash bottle ended up on that dresser, but I think it’s incredibly exciting. Unfortunately, the back of the bottle is shown, so I don’t know if the one in the TV show contains Detchema or Carnet de Bal (the wicker bottle was used for both).

Now the question is: is this a totally casual prop or was it specifically chosen for Spadino? Is he a lover of vintage perfumes? I hope I’ll see more in the second season (I’ve almost finished watching the first one).