Brilliantine is a perfumed oil used by men to make hair (including facial hair) smooth and shiny.
It was invented by French perfumer Edouard Pinaud, who introduced brilliantine (originally called “brillantine”) at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.
So has anyone in the U.S. ever been named Brilliantine? Yes, I’ve found over a dozen Brilliantines in the U.S. so far, including:
- Brilliantine Davis (née Tidwell), 1907-1989
- Brilliantine V. Barlas (née Melvin), 1922-2007
- Brilliantine “Britt” Satterwhite (née Wilson), 1942-2010
(Brilliantine also happens to be a surname, so the Brilliantines I found weren’t necessarily named with the product in mind…but I think it’s likely that they were.)