Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) is putting on some Stila Lip Glaze gloss in Raspberry. On her dressing table there’s a MAC lipstick.
Manhunter (1986)
When Will Graham (William Petersen) visits Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox) in prison, the doctor doesn’t miss out on commenting on his perfume. Thanks to his exceptional sense of smell, he knows Will is wearing the “atrocious aftershave” he wore in court three years before, something which “has a ship on the bottle”, that is Old Spice.
Soon after commenting on the aftershave, Hannibal moves the conversation on a more personal level. Will is the one who caught Lecktor: despite appearances, they’re “just alike”, which excites Hannibal and scares Will. The doctor goes on: “You came here to look at me, to get the old scent back again”, referring to the thrill of being able to enter someone’s mind and think like him/her, something that Will does, being an empath.
When Will leaves the cell in a hurry, Hannibal is disappointed: his remark (“Smell yourself”) is spiteful but also refers to Will’s power. To get “the old scent back again”, he just has to smell himself, to look inside of himself.
The same conversation appears in Hannibal S03E09.
This Is England ’90 E02
There’s a satin glass bottle of Yardley Lace in Lol and Woody’s bedroom. I’ve always wondered what fragrance the former-skinbyrd-turned-lunchlady wears, and now we have an answer. According to Fragrantica, this fragrance, originally launched in 1964, is built on three notes – aldehydes as top notes, rose as heart notes and wood and oakmoss as base notes. It sounds like a very feminine and romantic scent, something which definitely appeals to Lol’s sentimental side. This specific bottle could be the 1982 formula, created by Dominique Ropion, or even a more recent version, since this perfume is still available in shops.
Thanks to Stephan Matthews and Jane Daly for the id.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
There’s a bee bottle of Guerlain Cologne Veritable in the factory’s barber shop.
Thanks to Stephen Matthews for the id.
Alanis Morissette’s Bathroom Altar (2015)
On August 13th, 2015, the singer and songwriter Alanis Morissette posted this picture on her Twitter account, with the comment: “Never a missed opportunity to build this week’s altar in the bathroom w/some of my favorites”. The aforementioned altar includes three beauty/wellness products, a photo in a heart-shaped frame, a tiny statuette, a Daren Wilson vase with a feather in it, a candle holder and a glass pyramid with sand and shells in it.
The first beauty product is Love White Magic spray by Species by the Thousands, a Brooklyn-based shop. This contains distilled water, vodka and a mix of 100% natural essential oils (ylang ylang, palmarosa, lavender and geranium). It can be used during meditation, as room refresher or a personal misting spray.
The bottle with the gold cap is a perfume oil, TBPV1 by Lurk, another New York-based shop. This oil mixes floral and black pepper notes.
The vial with the black cap contains dōTERRA InTune, a blend of essential oils, among which sandalwood, frankincense, lime, patchouli, ylang ylang and Roman chamomile.
What Women Want (2000)
One of the most important moments of the film is the introduction of the “pink box”, a box containing beauty and personal care products that women usually use. Darcy McGuire (Helen Hunt) is a newly-appointed manager at the Chicago advertising company where the film is set: she presents her staff with pink boxes to stir their curiosity and encourage their creativity.
The box contains Vidal Sassoon hair mousse.
Nick Marshall (Mel Gibson) is a chauvinist avertising executive who doesn’t like Darcy and her attitude. He is very skeptical when it comes to the pink box, but he ends up with trying every product in it; among them, Maybelline Great Lash mascara.
There’s also a bottle of Lancôme Triple Tenue red nail polish in the box.
Hannibal S01E10 (Buffet Froid)
Will Graham’s (induced) hallucinations and seizures are caused by encephalitis: this results from a brain scan he’s undergoing, but Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) already knows it. He explains Dr. Sutcliffe (John Benjamin Hickey) he “could smell it”.
Dr. Sutcliffe is a former colleague of Hannibal’s and remembers he was able to call out a nurse’s perfume, but he couldn’t imagine now he can diagnose an autoimmune disease by the smell only.
He’s curious and asks Hannibal what the “specific scent” of encephalitis is like. Hannibal’s description is terrifying, yet intriguing: this disease “has heat” and a “fevered sweetness”. I personally connect such a description with fruity fragrances, especially those with peach as a dominant note. What perfumes do you think could match this description?
Crazy in Alabama (1999)
The opening credits of the film are made of several animations, including a MAC lipstick. The tube is from the 1980s (the brand was founded in 1984 in Toronto), so it’s historically inaccurate, since the film is set in 1965.
Red Dragon (2002)
There’s a jar of Elizabeth Arden Ardena cleansing cream in Francis Dolarhyde’s bathroom shelf. This product is a vestige of a long-gone past, originally used by the man’s grandmother.
The Ardena cleansing cream was part of the Venetian Ardena line, created by Elizabeth Arden in collaboration with the chemist A. Fabian Swanson in 1912, after a trip to Paris. The first successful products of the line were Venetian Cream Amoretta, a “fluffy light-whipped cream-like skin cream”, and Arden Skin Tonic. The line included a wide range of items, among which cleansing tissues, Crème Mystique (to conceal redness, blemishes and the shine on the nose), Crème de France (a protective after-sun cream) and cosmetics.
Miami Vice S01E02 (Heart of Darkness)
In the opening sequence of this episode we learn what the Miami undercover agents Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs smell like. They’re getting ready to go to work (at night, of course, on Sonny’s black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4) and both of them wear a fragrance. Sonny opts for a bold power scent – Jean Patou Pour Homme, a fougère fragrance launched in 1980 that includes notes of lavender, clary sage and basil (top), patchouli, geranium, vetiver and fir (middle) and leather, civet, vanilla and tonka bean (base).
Rico opts a more traditional choice – Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene, a woody fragrance created by Andre Fromentin and launched in 1975. It includes notes of galbanum, neroli, petitgrain, bergamot and lemon (top), mimosa, iris, violet, sage, rose, geranium and narcissus (middle), tonka bean, almond, oakmoss, vetiver and cedar (base).
The song in the opening is Devo’s Going Under, from the album New Traditionalists (1981).
World Wide Aura 
