More Fabulous Miss Fisher Merchandise

I received a comment a while back king what lipstick Miss Fisher wears on my post entitled 'What's in Phryne's Bag'. With no points of reference I could only speculate on Phryne's chosen shade but now you can wear the same lipstick as Red Earth have released the "After dark lipstick which captures Miss Fishers signature lip colour in vibrant red. The product is available in the Miss Fishers Costume Exhibition shop here.

Phryne's Toilette - Phryne's Bath Products and Soaps

Phryne uses a number of different toiletries throughout the books but here are they main ones mentioned.

Egyptian asses milk bath as used by Cleopatra:
It was purported the Cleopatra bath in asses milk to keep her young and beautiful. In the 1920's people had a fascination with ancient Egypt so i'm sure this information would have come to light and companies making beauty products may have exploited that.

Floris:
Phryne uses a number of scents from Floris including tea rose and honeysuckle. Floris is the oldest English retailer of toiletries and accessories and second oldest in the world. Floris was founded in 1730 by Juan Famenias Floris, who arrived in England from his native island of Menorca to seek his fortune. Shortly after his arrival, in 1730, he secured premises in Jermyn Street, in the elegant quarter of London's St. James's where the shop still is today.

Rose de Gueldy:
Gueldy was established in 1905 by Lelaurin and A. Sergent at 370 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore in Paris. Gueldy. Inc., aso operated at 21 East 40th St.. New York. Gueldy released La Rose in 1919

Facial Youth face cream:

Castile soap double milled scented with freesias:
Dr. Hunter's castile soapis  same all-purpose Olive Oil soap Caswell-Massey has been making since 1861. This is most likely the soap Phryne mentions.

Phryne's Toilette - List of Phryne's Bath Products and Soaps

During the series of books Phryne uses a number of toiletries. They are:

Cocaine Blues:
Lavender salts
Facial Youth face cream
Parisian soap

Flying Too High:
Nuit de Paris bath salts

Murder on the Ballarat Train:
Reve du Coquette bath oil
Rose de Gueldy

Death at Victoria Dock:
Pine salts

The Green Mill Murder:
Spruce bath scent

Blood and Circuses: 
Nuit de Amour soap
Horse chestnut

Ruddy Gore:
Chestnut blossoms

Urn Burial:
Arnica
Goanna oil

Raisins and Almonds:
Orchid bath salts
Pine bath salts

Death Before Wicket: 
Rose de Gueldy
Jasmine soap
Lavender bath salts

Away with the Fairies:
Chestnut blossom salts
Pine salts

Murder in Montparnasse:
Chestnut blossom

The Castlemaine Murders:
Egyptian asses milk bath as used by Cleopatra
Floris tea rose bath oil

Queen of the Flowers:
Lily of the valley
Milk powder

Death by Water:
Floris honeysuckle

Murder in the Dark:
Lemon blossom
Magnolia bath salts
Rose
Chestnut blossom

Murder on a Midsummer Night:
Pine soap
Castile soap double milled scented with freesias
Ocean bath scent

Dead Man's Chest: 
Milk of roses
Epsom salts
Coconut shampoo

Unnatural Habits:
Cypress oil
Freesia
Pine soap
Chestnut

Murder and Mendelssohn: 
Chestnut blossoms

A Question of Death:
Nuit d'Amour bath salt

Phryne's Toilette - Phryne's Favourite Scents

In Cocaine Blues a number of scents that Phryne uses are mentioned. Phryne continues to use the perfumes throughout the books. They are:

 Floris:
Phryne uses Floris in a number of scents including Honeysuckle, Tea Rose and Stephanotis. Juan Floris and his wife Elizabeth began selling perfume from their london shop in 1730. Floris is the oldest English retailer of toiletries and accessories and second oldest in the world after Farina gegenüber of Cologne, Germany.

Le Fruit Defendu:
Le Fruit Defendu (the forbidden fruit) was created by created by Henri Almeras and launched in 1916 for Rosine. It has notes of fruits (apple, peach, banana, plum, coconut), vanilla, cinnamon, ylang ylang, patchouli, tuberose, aldehydes and honey. Le Fruit Defendu was discontinued.

Jicky:
Jicky was created by Guerlain in 1889. It was their first scent described as a 'Parfum' and is widely heralded as the first "modern" fragrance. It was the first to use synthetic ingredients (vanillin and coumarin) alongside natural extracts. Jicky is said to be named either after the nickname Aimé Guerlain gave to his nephew, Jacques, or after a girl who broke Aimé's heart as a student in England.  The fragrance is known for its main notes of lavender and vanilla over animalic civet. Although marketed by Guerlain as a women's fragrance, it was initially more successful with men and has proven to be a popular unisex fragrance. Over 120 years later, Jicky is still being sold, making it the oldest fragrance (other than colognes) in continuous production.

Phryne's Toilette - Koko for the Hair

To keep her black bob in perfect condition Phryne uses Koko for the hair. Koko for the hair was made in London, England by a firm called Koko Maricopas Ltd. It first became available around 1888 and was still being sold in 1915.

The claims made for Koko included the "eradication of scurf" and "will positively stop hair from falling out and prevent it turning prematurely grey. Will certainly increase the growth of the hair, and if consistently used will make it bright, soft, and wavy."

The British Medical Association analyzed the Koko preparation and it contained 94% water, 3% alcohol, 2% glycerine along with trace amounts of borax and formaldehyde.

Advertisements were extensive, but inevitably actually said very little. Testimonials were a common method of advertising with Koko "recruiting" famous names including the Greek royal family to support their product. The special offer in the advert below shows enticements to buy scam products have been around for a long time.

In addition, Koko adverts would try to play the honest broker saying "The strong assertions of interested sellers of preparations cannot be relied on, and testimonials, as a rule, cannot be safely taken as genuine unless the position of the writer places him or her above suspicion. We often think that the public must be sick of seeing the eternal - this is the best - attached to every conceivable article which is offered for sale; and for this reason we usually refrain from saying much about Koko, leaving it to our illustrious patrons to speak of its good qualities".