lip gloss

Invented by Max Factor to make lips shiny for films. Like many of Factors inventions (including lipstick, and the mascara wand) it became a common item in purses throughout the world as makeup became a mass-market phenomenon.

The single piece of personal adornment which, when used by a 13-year old, was most likely to drive me out of my mind with 12-year-old lust/panic. It smelled like strawberries and springtime, and the aroma wafted back from two rows ahead in English class, destroying (animating?) whatever interest I previously had in Romeo and Juliet.

A sense memory from (gulp) 20 years ago.