There are three Hask products in front of Gloria.
The Argan dry shampoo is in the pale blue spray bottle.
The Keratin Protein flash blow-dry spray is in the clear pink bottle.
Last, the Chia Seed volumizing dry shampoo is in the lavender spray bottle.
When Donald (Matt Bomer) arrives at Michael’s, he takes his shirt off and throws himself on the friend’s bed. There’s a bottle on the shelf behind the bed and believe me when I say that I’ve spent most of my waking hours (since I watched the film) trying to identify it.
Things took a weird turn a couple of nights ago, when the same bottle popped up in a music video I used to love as a teenager – Poundcake by none other than Van Halen! The 1991 video, directed by Andy Morahan, famously shows Eddie Van Halen using the power drill technique in the introduction and in the solo. But it also features girls showing up for an audition, and that’s where the mysterious bottle appears.
I had just decided to abandon the Boys in the Band bottle to its sad destiny, when the Van Halen showed me the way. I had to identify it! I turned to the place where I know I can always find an answer – the Fragrantica forum – and an answer is what I got. A surprising one.
My mistake? Thinking that bottle was a perfume. Now I know it’s Richard Hudnut Three Flowers/Tres Flores brilliantine, housed in this beautiful glass bottle with aqua green conical stopper.
There’s more: it appears in its original form in the Van Halen video, but it has a different label in the Joe Mantello film and that was the ultimate trap. After much pondering, I’ve realised it’s the same bottle: they just changed the front sticker for the film, probably to make it look like a perfume.
Thanks to c_donna and all the lovely ladies at Fragrantica who helped me solve the mystery.
Lots of things happen at the birthday party that Michael organises for Harold: for example, the fight between Emory (Robin de Jesús) and Alan ends up with a split lip. Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington) takes his friend to the toilet, where they check the wound.
On a shelf in Michael’s bathroom there are four products.
The glass bottle on the left is Listerine mouthwash.
The cardboard shaker contains Spicy perfumed talc by Avon.
Next there’s Lucky Tiger hair tonic with oil.
On the far right side of the shelf there’s a glass jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly.
Michael (Jim Parsons) buys some toiletries for his friend Donald (Matt Bomer), who usually spends his weekends in New York. In the 1970 movie the famous “sandalwood soap” was by Elizabeth Arden; the new production has kept the brand but opted for a different box. This one is from the Citruswood men’s line.
There’s a bottle of English Leather cologne on Michael’s dresser.
There’s a bottle of Halsa shampoo on Susie’s bath tub.
Among the toiletries in Caitlin’s parents’ bathroom, there are a bottle of Old Spice Classic cologne and Speed Stick deodorant.
When she moves into her own bathroom, we can see two Palmer’s products (coconut body oil in a spray bottle and cocoa butter formula).
The deodorant in the silver case is Old Spice Swagger.
The green bottle contains Galàn Moco de Gorila hair gel.
In a promotional video for the tv show, Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson) puts on her make-up.
The lipstick she wears is Debutante sheer lip colour by Bèsame Cosmetics.
Her blush is one of the most famous products by the American brand – the cream rouge in a beautiful red tin decorated with golden chrysanthemums.
Mildred (Sarah Paulson) is about to meet the private detective Charles Wainwright in her room again. On her dressing table we see an old acquaintance and a new bottle.
The tall ribbed bottle – previously seen in the pilot – is Moment Suprême eau de cologne by Jean Patou.
The other bottle is the Lanvin boule, a special one: it’s made of colourless glass (and not of the more ordinary black glass) and its gold stopper has got a raspberry shape (and not the more ordinary ribbed ball shape) [1]. This bottle was used to house Mon péché (My Sin), originally launched in 1924, and Arpège, launched in 1927. I like to think My Sin is sitting on Mildred’s vanity: she’s a character full of contrasts, who is definitely hiding many secrets and sins.
[1] Later, the ribbed stoppers would replace the raspberry ones. The change didn’t happen before the 1960s, as shown by this 1964 advert for My Sin
Thanks to lepetitcivet for the Lanvin id.
