The nurse (Lupe Barrado) who’s taking care of Pablo in the hospital retouches her red manicure with a Christian Dior nail polish.
Tag Archives: pedro almodovar
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)
The retro-style opening credits of the film (designed by Juan Gatti) contain, quite surprisingly, a real advert of a real make-up item.
It’s the marbled lipstick Glissando, launched in 1964 by the American brand Du Barry.
Available in six shades (“from light-struck pinks to muted ambers to rich reds”), it was housed in an elegant silver and gold metal case.
It’s true the brand started its decline in the 1970s and eventually died [1], but I still wonder what happened here. Did the title designer get away with reproducing an advert of a defunct brand? Or did they just paid what was due to whatever multinational company owned the Du Barry name in the 1980s?
[1] This is not entirely accurate: the brand was relaunched in 2002. But I guess that was the end of it.
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)
Lucía (Julieta Serrano) is a woman with a troubled past: abandoned by her husband Iván with a child (Carlos, now grown-up and interpreted by Antonio Banderas), she’s spent a long time in a mental institution. Now she’s living with her parents, who try to support her and her extravagant looks.
In this scene, she’s applying her eyeliner. On her dresser there are many beauty products, among which the unmistakable golden spray can of L’Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray.
But there’s also another interesting product – a white jar with pink lid, which screams “Christian Dior skincare”.
It’s impossible to say exactly what product this was, but was for sure part of the Hydra-Dior collection.
It’s not a coincidence that later in the film we see several products from the same line on Pepa’s vanity. Pepa (Carmen Maura) is the former mistress of Iván. She’s another woman “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, just like Lucía: they’re in love with the same man (who has dumped both of them for another lover) and happen to use the same skincare.
Matador (1986)
When María Cardenal (Assumpta Serna) re-applies her lipstick, we can see it falling on her lap.
It’s Stylo à Levres by Lancôme, a product launched in the late 1970s but still on the market in the following decade.
Los abrazos rotos (2009)
Lena (Penélope Cruz) keeps a bottle of Lancôme Trésor body lotion on her vanity.
Dolor y gloria (2019)
There’s Neutrogena hand cream on Mercedes’ desk.
Dolor y gloria (2019)
In Salvador’s bathroom there are two Bulgari products: one is Eau Parfumée au thé vert hair conditioner, the other is Aqua Pour Homme shampoo and shower gel.
Dolor y gloria (2019)
There’s a bottle of Cartier Eau de Cartier Concentrée on Alberto’s dressing table. This fragrance, launched in 2002, was created by Christine Nagel.
¡Átame! (1989)
When Ricky (Antonio Banderas) breaks into Marina’s apartment, he follows her around. When they’re in the bathroom, he comments it looks like a pharmacy. But the woman doesn’t keep medicines only in there: there’s also a bottle of Chanel Coco bath gel.
Eight years later, this bath gel would appear in Carne trémula.
¡Átame! (1989)
Marina (Victoria Abril) has a metal shelving unit in her bathroom: on it she keeps toiletries and a box of Balmain Ivoire de Balmain, a green floral chypre perfume created by Francis Camail and Michel Hy and launched in 1980.
World Wide Aura 