While watching the film, seeing a bottle of Clarins Eau Dynamisante on Allie’s dresser didn’t surprise me at all. I think very few perfumes can capture a certain 1990s vibe as accurately as this perfume. Fresh, citrusy and never overpowering, it was created by Jacques Courtin-Clarins in 1987. It was the epitome of that chic minimal mood with an active twist which was a staple of that decade.
There’s Perlier Honey cream soap in Allie’s bathroom.
The Italian brand was huge in the 1990s, so this sighting brings back lots of memories. I’ve lost count of the times I gifted friends with Perlier’s lovely bodycare products. My favourite lines were White Almond, White Musk and Honey.
The opening credit sequence is set in a bathroom, where one girl is putting make-up on her twin. Later in the film, we will see these are Hedy (one of the protagonists, whose real name is actually Ellen Besch) and her twin sister. Many bottles are on the tiled counter.
On the right there are English Leather and Old Spice colognes.
The tall bottle with round black stopper is Jean Natè after-bath splash.
Tracy (Sasha Barrese) is getting ready for her wedding, while waiting for her fiancé to get back from Las Vegas. On her dressing table there are several MAC products, among which:
Prep+Prime Fix+ setting spray
Charged water cleanser from the Mineralize skincare line
Studio face and body foundation
Lipgelée lip colour
185 kabuki brush
Zoya nail polish bottles in red and pastel shades
Victoria Rudd (Sally Field) is having her make-up done before going on air for an interview. The make-up artist uses two Stila brushes: the first is #5 all-over eye-shadow brush.
The second is #15 double-sided crease and liner brush.
Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is working as cologne spritzer at a menswear shop. On the counter behind him bottles of Bijan perfumes in different sizes are visible.
There are bottles of DNA For Men and For Women, a factice bottle of Bijan Women eau de parfum (made of glass) and Bijan Women eau de toilette (the one with the white stopper).
Porn actress Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) has a refined taste for perfumes, as shown by what is sitting on her dressing table.
The almost empty bottle with black stopper is Giorgio Armani Armani, a chypre floral perfume created by Ron Winnegrad in 1982.
The red box with gold accents is unmistakably the packaging of Yves Saint Laurent Opium, one of the most famous perfumes of all times, hugely popular in the 1980s. Created by Jean Amic, Raymond Chaillan and Jean-Louis Sieuzac and launched in 1977, it redefined the concept of oriental spicy perfume.
Debbie keeps some toiletries and a picture of her brother Danny (George Clooney) on her desk.
The bright green bottle is Deva Curl styling cream (old packaging).
The perfume is Jo Malone Amber & Lavender cologne.
The orange and white bottle is Bumble and bumble styling creme.
Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) uses Marc Jacobs Enamored hi-shine gloss lip lacquer. From how it looks in the tube, the colour could be Ch-Ch-Changes (plum with blue and green shimmer).
Has anyone ever listed the ways Dr. Lecter hates Old Spice after-shave? The popular shaving lotion is mentioned in the 1981 novel by Thomas Harris and ever since. All the Hannibals we’ve seen on tv or on the silver screen have expressed their hatred for it: the one played by Brian Cox in Manhunter (1985) by Michael Mann, Anthony Hopkins in the 2002 film and Mads Mikkelsen in the NBC tv show.
For such a refined character, Old Spice is a symbol of uncouthness and carelessness. “Something a child would select,” the doctor remarks with what I think is a pinch of envy: Will has a family; someone who loves him always selects this perfume for him, even if it’s atrocious, something that Lecter will never experience.
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