I don't know if anyone else on earth will find this as fascinating as I did, but here is a YouTube video of Susan Lucci (Erica Kane!) of All My Children selling her signature fragrance, Invitation, on HSN. Note that very little effort is made to describe the fragrance itself; instead, they keep repeating the key words "high end" and "award winning". Apparently that is all that is necessary, because they sell tons of bottles (assuming the little ticker at the bottom is accurate) before they even mention the fragrance notes. They also demonstrate the "spray and walk" technique (see Angela's article on How to Apply Perfume), which I'd never do in a million years, but given that Invitation is only $19.95 for 60 ml, I suppose you can afford to waste a little. And why is the other lady wearing a trench coat?
For even more Susan Lucci fun, check out the first 42 seconds of her 1984 made-for-TV movie, Invitation to Hell. Pure 1980s awesomeness. Do you suppose that was the inspiration for her fragrance name?
Update: video is no longer available, sorry!
And if you missed it, check out the latest All My Children fragrance, Charm.
Ugle bottle, but good concept in having a eau de parfume and cologne.
I have really got to try the “spray and walk” technique. I have a couple of fumes that, uh, I can afford to experiment with. OK, they were dirt cheap, but I like them.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's the most intense 42-second hit of 80's camp I have EVER seen. I'm still wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes!!!
I have read (in more than one interview) that Susan Lucci has always worn Shalimar. It is what made me first try it years ago. So, wonder if she gave that one up?
The bottle doesn't do anything for me either, but obviously their customers love it!
Damselfly, I guess it is worth doing if you have a really overactive spray. Personally, in that case I'd rather decant and dab than have it all over my body and clothing, but this is a “time honored” technique, I guess — people have been doing it for years.
I just LOVE the way she pops back up from underneath the car! I watched it twice just for that. Couldn't decide if that was an actual jumpsuit or a 2 piece, but whatever it is, it is just perfect.
Interesting, than wonder if Invitation is has any Shalimar-ish-ness to it?
I suppose if you like it enough the two way thingy is a good idea, if furiously ugly.
Memorable fragrance-as they call it, isn't exactly a resounding compliment either.
I used to do the spray and walk with Chanel no 5, I had to stop when I moved in with my husband as he didn't like the bathroom smelling like “a French department store”.
“Shalimar-ish-ness”? I say there's a new word for the perfume lexicon. That's fantastic!
This perfume has been out for some years. I guess her fans buy it.
I was just impressed that she gave Givaudan props for actually creating it. None of that “oh I had a smell in my mind and I whipped some up in my kitchen/bathroom/perfume lab one day”.
And a spray stem is unsightly, so you dump it out into a cap by flipping the bottle upside down? LOL
Why thank you 🙂
Some other company did a 2 way bottle, and now I can't remember who. I didn't like that bottle either, is all I remember.
No, “memorable fragrance” didn't get me either, and I find it odd that people would find “high end” and “award winning” reasons to buy a scent. I guess what I find fascinating about this video is that they told me almost nothing that I'd want to know before I bought, yet clearly, what they are doing works. So it is me that is “out of it”, LOL…
So I understand, although she never said which year. I should go look it up but I'm too lazy 🙂
Agree on Givaudan, and wish she'd taken it a step farther and said the name of the perfumer.
I assume the real reason for the design is that they couldn't get a spray stem to work in a bottle that was twisted in that way, right?
My God, how old is La Lucci in this clip? Girlfriend looks good.
Yes, the bottle is ugly, but I give the concept some props. I think they were really trying to figure out what would be useful to women and tried something new. And, hey, at least the notes aren't “caramel cloud droppings” or whatever.
The thing that makes me laugh is the way that the host pronounces Eau de Parfum.
Not sure this is a recent clip, actually, but assumed it was because of the Mother's Day reference? But hey, I'd say girlfriend not only looks good, she looks arguably better than she did back when I was watching All My Children in the 1980s. Even most actresses who have had serious cosmetic surgery don't look that good. Making the “Invitation to Hell” concept all the more intriguing…
Nobody has yet explained to me what the host is doing in that trench coat…
That clip is hilarious! Reminds me of something that Mystery Science Theater 3000 would have had a field day mocking.
My guess is that the HSN host is wearing the trenchcoat because at some point she's going to be selling it. If not in the Susan Lucci portion of the show, then soon. I'm baffled at the high perfume sales too; iirc I heard the words soft, light, memorable, intense and sexy all mentioned. Hard to get a glimpse of how it smells 🙂
Yeah! And that deadpan look as she raises her finger and shoots — great camera angle as the windshield shatters; I mean, this is ART! — and the serious smoke effect from the head of her hapless (and deserving) victim. She is Woman, hear her ROAR!! Now that's empowerment!
Whenever QVC hawks Philosophy scents, they never mention the notes, either. IIRC, the notes to all Philosophy fragrances are a “mystery” – even at Sephora.com – and they list notes for most of the fragrances they sell.
Selling scents on the home-shopping channels is very intriguing. The only ones I've ever heard described with their notes are Tova Borgnine's on QVC. BTW, have you heard the uproar over there about the formula changing since QVC acquired TB's company? The hardcore fans are in quite the tizzy. If you go to their online community and search in the Beauty Banter and Q Did What? forums, it's pretty interesting reading. 🙂
Smell, Schmell!! Heck, I just want that bottle.
That clip is hilarious!
You can't just mow down Susan Lucci in your crappy K-car wagon and expect to live!
Oops! I need to correct myself: the notes to some of Philosophy's fragrances are in fact listed at Sephora.com. And, the Tova scent I refer to is Tova Signature. Sorry!
Daisy Fuentes did a nestled bottle for her 'Dianoche' fragrance for Kohls (Dianoche being a made-up word which is combination of the Spanish words for day and night, apparently) . There were actually two bottles, one fit snugly on top of the other. I can't tell if her bottle is like La Lucci's though. Can't view the video.
What award did that fragrance win ?! >''< The bottle is...well....weird....
Susan Lucci does say “FIFI” once, somewhere in the middle of all those “award winning” and “world class” mentions.
LOL — so true, so true!
Perhaps it's a world class trench coat? Since it's buttoned all the way up to her neck, I assumed she was going to take it off at the end of the commercial to get rid of the dang fragrance.
You know, I tempted to see if I can't rent that movie somewheres. Would be perfect on a rainy night w/ a vat of Ben & Jerrys.
Ah yes, forgot about that one! Would swear there is another, older one. It will pop into my head one night at 3 am when I can't sleep.
These two are more wrapped around each other, kind of like 2 worms twisted together, you know?
HA HA HA HA — of course, that's it! It's to keep the Invitation off her day wear.
There ought to be a Mystery Home Shopping Theater show, it would be a blast! I esp. love when they start selling time saving kitchen devices, I could do the voiceovers for those.
But you're so right — I've heard serious complaints at MUA about whatever it is that they did to Tova Signature. And IIRC, although I probably don't, the company swears they didn't change it??
Apparently, QVC claimed a “bad batch” but never in so many words have they admitted to a change in the formula. The hardcore fans swear that the fragrance is so different, it in no way resembles the scent prior to the QVC acquisition.
I've smelled pre-QVC Tova Signature and was never a fan of it; I just know what it's like to have a favorite scent altered, and I can empathize with the masses. And I believe the scent did win a FIFI, although I'm not sure when.
Oh, a MST3K mock shopping network would be sooo great! I love silver jewelry and watch it on QVC sometimes, but I have to have the TV muted. I can do the voiceovers too, though, esp. the run on sentences where the host tries to tie several of the products together. Yep, folks, that's what some of us do for fun, here in smalltown America, lol!
But it is fun! More than that, I find the home shopping channels kind of relaxing, in a weird way. I don't watch them often but whenever I do I get totally sucked in, and then my mind goes completely blank — it's sort of like meditating without trying.
Wow, very surprised they'd admit to a “bad batch”, that sounds even worse.
What is so funny is how no one notices. In the background, people are just walking down the sidewalk, going about their business. They must be New Yorkers.
That little head toss after she fries him was cute, too.
Beauuuuutiful bottle! These snails are so cute! 😉 We have a lot of them here when the humidity is rising! LOL
She put a hex on them all!
Snails, that's just exactly right!
LOL!! I was laughing over that observation too. First off, the 2 women in bikinis just walking down an average suburban street for no reason what so ever! Then a car squeels its brakes, hits a woman on the stret and the people on the sidewalk don't even turn around ROTFLMAO. It's so horribly bad it's positively delicious.
Okay, I'll be over. I'll be wearing my red jumpsuit, a gallon of Susan's award-winning Invitation, and a whole lot of hairspray.
That might be a resort & not a suburban street, but you're still right! Even at resorts people in bikinis aren't usually wandering around in front of the main building, right? I'll have to get the movie to figure it out.
LOL!
it's on Netflix, and on it's way to my house as I type!
Seriously, a 1984 TV movie — they've got it??? Don't you love Netflix? Begging you to come back after you watch it and tell me if it is worth renting.