Selena is in her bathroom, getting ready to go and take Yolanda to the hospital. Among the lipliners on the counter there is Cork (muted golden brown) by MAC.
The lipstick she wears is a brownish pink shade by MAC.
Selena (Christian Serratos) has just arrived at her boutique to interview candidates for a sales assistant position. Yolanda (Natasha Perez) hands her a MAC lipstick.
When Selena applies it, we can see it’s a deep red shade, possibly Russian Red (intense bluish red), which she used in real life.
The opening scene shows some of the beauty products used by the protagonist, the actress Mia Roarke.
From the left we can see a jar of Cetaphil moisturizing cream.
There’s a bottle of MCMC Noble fragrance, created by Anne McClain and launched in 2009.
Next, there’s Hamadi Organics shea leave-in moisturizing styling cream.
Next, a peachy pink blush by MAC.
Last, the small toppled-over bottle contains Mario Badescu drying lotion.
Thanks to my friend Jennifer for the screencaps and ids.
Lemar Khan (Jason A. Rodriguez), a former member of the House of Abundance, Ferocity, Evangelista and Wintour, is now the father of the House of Khan and he’s ready to challenge his former mother, Elekra Evangelista.
On his dressing table we can see a bottle of Thayers rose petal and witch hazel alcohol-free toner and a bright red nail polish by Sally Hansen.
There’s also a pump bottle of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula moisturizing hand wash.
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.
While perfume lovers and professionals still believe the urban legend according to which a bottle of Caron Narcisse Noir appears on Norma Desmond’s vanity (it doesn’t), no one has ever taken the time to see what’s actually on that table.
Well, I have and I love what I’ve found – three Lucien Lelong bottles!
Right under the round standing mirror on Norma’s left there’s a short bottle with bow-like stopper: it’s Jabot, launched in 1939.
If we move to the left side of the table, there’s a tall balloon bottle containing Balakaïka eau de cologne, launched in 1939.
When Norma stands up, we can see a golden bottle of Orgueil on a small table on the far left. This Jean Carles fragrance was launched in 1946.
I don’t think my passion for Lelong perfumes is a mystery: I’ve written about them many times and I find their bottle designs very distinctive and original. Seeing some of them on such an iconic dressing table really makes sense: it shows us that Norma Desmond is a fragrance lover and supposedly uses more than one fragrance, as shown by the several bottles sitting on the table (I haven’t been able to identify them all).
Now another question pops up: if we assume she is wearing a Lucien Lelong perfume in this famous scene, what perfume is it? Where does the infamous tuberose come from? It could be from Orgueil, which, according to Basenotes, includes tuberose in its heart notes, along with carnation, iris, jasmine, rose, clove and nutmeg.
The protagonist of the episode At the Opera is Eve (Shirley MacLaine), a woman with a fashion emergency that ensues when her rival, Madame Lisari, gets photographed in a dress that Eve believed to be a unique piece.
The perfume bottle on her dressing table is Hermès Calèche, a 1961 floral fragrance created by Guy Robert.
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.
The lipstick Cassie (Carey Mulligan) puts on before going to Al’s bachelor party is MAC Retro Matte in All Fired Up.
A box of Coty Airspun loose face powder appears in this backstage picture, taken by Joseph F. Cultice in Indiana in 1996. Footage from this backstage was included in Dead to the World, Manson’s first video album released in 1998.
World Wide Aura 