The new season opens with new adventures and new career goals for Midge (Rachel Brosnahan): she’s performing at a military gig to entertain the troops. Before the performance, we see her backstage with Susie (Alex Borstein), adding the final touches to her red, white and blue outfit.
On her dressing table there’s a can of the Australian hairspray Gossamer.
On another dressing table there’s the round cardboard box of Coty Airspun loose powder.
There are some Revlon lipsticks (with the ivory and gold case) on Midge’s counter. On a shelf nearby there’s a Guerlain flacon quadrilobe: impossible to say what scent it contains.
The other make-up products on the counter are by Revlon but I couldn’t identify any of them. Some are original (see the Paint the Town Pink box) but the others seem generic items with the label Revlon on them. I couldn’t find any evidence that Revlon nail polish had ever had those bottles, for example, and the same can be said for the black and red compacts. This leaves me a bit perplexed. If Revlon allowed the production of the tv show to use its name, why didn’t they provide original vintage items?
While Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is walking through the beauty department at B. Altman, we get a glimpse of two factice bottles. The tallest one is Rochas Madame Rochas; the one with the squared black stopper is an eau by Lanvin (it could be either Arpege or My Sin).
One of the most ground-breaking eye shadow colours – the jade green Mermaid Eyes by Max Factor – gets a mention in this scene, set at the make-up counter where Midge works. Too bad this namecheck is historically inaccurate: the story is set in the late 1950s, while the Max Factor product was released in 1962.
Even before starting to work at B. Altman as sales assistant, Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) puts herself in the spotlight by recommending a lipstick to a customer. She actually mentions two shades, both by Revlon – Raven Red and Cherries in the Snow.
The first, launched in 1945, has been discontinued, while the second, launched in 1953, is still among the most popular colours of the brand.
While Mary (Erin Darke) and Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) are walking through the beauty department, some perfume bottles can be seen on the counter on the left: they’re Madame Rochas by Rochas (created by Guy Robert in 1960) and a flacon abeilles dorées by Guerlain.
World Wide Aura 