Lola (2024)

Lola’s dressing table at the strip club where she works is full of make-up products and beauty tools.

Her lipstick is by MAC.

There’s also a shaker of Evyan White Shoulders talcum powder, which is a quite surprising choice. The perfume counterpart was in 1945: it includes notes of gardenia, jasmine, lily of the valley, orange flower and tuberose.

Another surprising choice is Rayette Aqua Net unscented hairspray. This is the vintage version, so I wonder why it appears in a film that is clearly set nowadays.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

In 1968 Noodles (Robert De Niro) pays a visit to Deborah (Elizabeth McGovern): she’s in her dressing room in the Broadway theatre where she’s performing as Cleopatra in a play.

Her vanity is packed with beauty products and perfumes but one specific bottle has caught my attention.

It’s the fluted bottle with black stopper of Lanvin Eau de Lanvin Arpège, one of the many versions of the historical floral/aldehyde fragrance created by Paul Vacher and Andre Fraysse and launched in 1927.

Thanks to Carolina for submitting this post.

Les Filles d’Olfa (2023)

Ichraq Matar is a professional actress who plays the role of Ghofrane Chikhaoui. In the scene above she’s having her make-up done before filming a scene of the documentary.

The make-up artist is applying Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre loose powder on her with a MAC 150S face brush.

Basket Case 2 (1990)

The beautifully poetic advert for Guy Laroche Fidji can be seen on a stack of magazines. This is the 1984 version of one of the most evocative perfume adverts from that decade. “The woman is an island [1], Fidji is her perfume,” says the caption, which transfers the exotic location of the advert (supposedly the Fiji islands) to the woman who will wear the perfume (she becomes “an island”).

This warm spicy fragrance was created by Josephine Catapano and launched in 1966.

[1] Probably the copywriter who wrote the caption didn’t know about John Donne’s sonnet according to which “no man is an island, entire of itself” 😉 Or maybe they knew the poem and wanted to give it a twist.

Thanks to Szymon for submitting this post.

Talk to Me (2022)

Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Mia (Sophie Wilde) and Daniel (Otis Dhanji) are hanging out together in Jade’s bedroom.

There are three nail polishes on her bedside table. Here’s those I have managed to identify.

The first on the left is Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, possibly in the shade Shock and Mauve.

On the far right there’s a bottle of OPI Infinite Shine 2. The shade is probably Trading Paint.

Margot Robbie Takes You Inside the Barbie Dreamhouse (2023)

Last June Architectural Digest released an exclusive behind-the-scene video from the set of Barbie, the summer blockbuster directed by Greta Gerwig. The protagonist Margot Robbie gave a tour of the Dreamhouse and the movie set; moreover, Gerwig herself, production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer explained how they created such a unique world which pays homage to Palm Springs mid-century modernism and to the whimsical Dreamhouses of the past.

It’s not a secret that Chanel had a key role in the costume department (Barbie’s transparent wardrobe contains an extensive collection of Chanel clothes and accessories), but the influence of the French maison didn’t stop there.

As a matter of fact, Barbie’s Chanel collection includes three tubes of Coco Baume hydrating conditioning lip balm in a very pale pink shade. Simple and chic in their white and gold packaging, the tubes are displayed alongside tweed suits and gorgeous bags.

Don’t miss the video: getting a glimpse of the talent and creativity of those who worked on the set is fantastic.

A growing archive of beauty products and perfumes in movies and tv shows