RDP Monday: LUSTRE
early 16th century: from French lustre, from Italian lustro, from the verb lustrare, from Latin lustrare ‘illuminate.’
*****************************
I have a specific use of this word in mind, best illustrated by the first definition I found:
How I wanted to try Lustre-Creme Shampoo! That was back before I understood that commercials were not to be trusted. You have to be borne with nice, thick, glossy hair. If you don’t already have it, no shampoo is going to create it for you. But I didn’t realize that back then, and I just knew Lustre-Creme would give me bouncy, shiny, thick movie-star hair.
Then one day we happened to stay overnight with friends, and on their bath tub shelves was a jar of —–you got it——Lustre-Creme! Our hostess had said we were welcome to use whatever we needed! So I soaped up, and it really did give me a nice, rich lather that took a bit of rinsing–my hair was maybe shoulder-length.
I set my hair as usual, and went to bed with visions of Hollywood hair in my head.
Imagine my shock when my same old hair showed up. Clean, yes. Fairly shiny, yes. But still not bouncy, holding the style perfectly, still not thick.
Alas.
And so I became a cynic where TV commercials were involved, and have remained so ever since. There’s an ad I see now and then in which the model swirls her hair in this glossy fan, not one hair falling out of place. Phooey. No product can create that. You have to be born with that hair.
Still, maybe I should give it a try. . . . .
