There’s a box of Carven Ma Griffe in Natalie Wood’s dressing room. The picture was taken in 1955, just after the death of James Dean, who acted with Wood in Rebel Without a Cause by Nicholas Ray.
Category Archives: stars’ vanities/make-up cases/cabinets in real life
Catherine Deneuve and Hermès (1960s)
I have no idea what Catherine Deneuve was doing in a Hermès shop window in Paris, but I love this shot. Taken in the 1960s, it portrays the French actress barefoot, acting like a shop assistant who’s taking a bag from the window for a customer.
Among the objects displayed, a bottle of Calèche, one of the most famous perfumes by the leather good fashion house. Created in 1961 by Guy Robert, it’s a very feminine perfume, with woody and white floral notes. It takes its name from a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle, thus echoing its logo (a duc carriage with horse).
Frank Sinatra’s Bathroom Shelf (1965)
In this picture, taken in 1965 by John Dominis, the American singer was shaving. On his bathroom shelf there are a Barbicide jar, a tin bottle of Jaris talcum powder and a bottle of Vitalis hair tonic.
Shirley Manson at the Hairdresser’s (2016)
Garbage’s front-woman, Shirley Manson, recently posted this picture on her Facebook account. Her hair stylist Sammy cut her pink hair into a perfect bob. Lovely! One of the products he used on her was Joseph Martin Hair French Argan oil.
Lena Hall’s Dressing Room (2016)
The American actress and singer Lena Hall published this picture on her Instagram account. She was dressed as Yitzhak, one of the protagonists of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. She had this role in the musical’s revival on Broadway, thanks to which she won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2014. In the picture she was holding a NARS lipstick and in the caption she mused: “Trying not to get caught by Hedwig!”. Now the point is: Schiap or Funny Face? What is the exact shade of that lipstick? It looks more the wonderfully fun fuchsia than the shocking matte pink inspired to Elsa Schiaparelli. What’s your guess?
Eartha Kitt’s Dressing Room (1953)
The singer and actress Eartha Kitt started her career in the early 1950s, when she performed in New Faces of 1952, a musical revue with songs and comedy skits at the Royale Theatre on Broadway, New York. In the picture above, taken on February 1953, Kitt was portrayed with her cat Jinx.
A stack of Ivory soap bars can be seen on the shelf by the mirror.
Marc Almond’s Dressing Room (2016)
Marc Almond posted this picture on his Instagram account. He was in France to appear in the tv show Les années bonheur and took a selfie in his dressing room.
On the table there are Simple Kind to Skin micellar cleansing wipes and two products by Paris Berlin, a brand of professional make-up. One is La Fluide liquid foundation (you can see the box in the transparent plastic bag); the other is – I think – the loose powder, judging from the shape of the box on the right and from the round pot in the bag.
Josephine Baker’s Pedicure (1937)
Josephine Baker getting a pedicure in 1937.
Laura Marinoni’s Dressing Table (2014)
There’s a bottle of Robert Piguet Bandit on the dressing table of the Italian actress Laura Marinoni, who starred as Merteuil in Quartett by Heiner Müller. The 1980 piece is an original take on the famous epistolary novel Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Merteuil and Valmont are the only characters who appear on stage.
Given the sensual atmosphere of the play, Bandit is such a great choice. Created by Germaine Cellier and launched in 1944, it’s a peculiar chypre fragrance with prominent notes of leather, aldehydes and oakmoss, blended with the animalic touch of civet.
The picture was taken by Rocco Talucci at the Piccolo Eliseo theatre in Rome in February 2014.
Lilly “Cat Girl” Christine’s Dressing Table
A box of Dana Tabu cologne can be seen on the dressing table of the burlesque dancer Lilly “Cat Girl” Christine. Created by Jean Carles in 1932, Tabu is a sensual warm spicy/woody scent which starts with fresh citrus and spicy notes; according to Fragrantica, its warm oriental base includes amber, resins, civet and precious woods – sandal and patchouli. In Scent and Subversion Barbara Herman explains that “it’s said that Dana’s brief to Carles was along the lines of, ‘Make a perfume a prostitute would wear’”.
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