With a self-contained kitchen and an ineffective oven hood that filters the smell of cooking back into the kitchen, I've had to add “dinner hair” to my ever-growing list of Things To Worry About.
Can't imagine Rachel Allen suffering with dinner hair, can you?Eating out all the time is the surest way to negate the risk (and has the added bonus of doing away with the washing up afterwards) but here are a few alternative coping strategies in the event that a Euromillions win hasn't quite materialised yet.
Clean the oven/grill
Lookit, they're chores that no-one in their right mind likes, but there's no denying that the more crusty build-up there is on the inside of your oven or the rack of your grill, the more pungent the cooked/burnt food smell that emanates from them and sticks to your hair and clothes.
To be perfectly honestly, though, I'd rather smell like lasagne than clean our oven. Which is why I mostly adopt the avoidance technique detailed below...
Don't stand in front of the oven when you open it
You know that initial blast of eyebrow-singing, glasses-steaming-upping heat that rushes out when you open the oven door? Well, in addition to endangering your facial hair it carries on it most of the foodie pong. Standing to one side will put you out of its stinky path.
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Simple and sensible, eh?
Ensure adequate ventilation
Not to get all Pippa Tips on you, but y'know: open the windows or crank up the extractor fan, if you have one, to ensure you're not standing in a lingering dinner smell funk and making matters worse.
Protect your barnet
I'm all about the headscarves lately. Sure, wrapping your head up in a scarf while cooking might make you look like your nan before she went out to Mass of a Sunday morning, but it will actually protect your hair from the worst of the dinner smell onslaught. Pull on a hat if a scarf is just too nana-tacular.
Disguise dinner hair
So. The unthinkable has happened and the smell of rashers and fried turnip is firmly wrapped around your follicles. You could wash it, of course, but by the time you realise you're suffering with dinner hair it's usually too let for any water-based intervention.
Handily, dry shampoos aren't only good for mopping up excess oil between washes: if they're scented, they'll also help to hide that telltale dinner hair smell.
Not a fan of those powdery hair fixes? Not to worry: try spritzing some perfume on your hairbrush and brushing that through your hair, instead.
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Bear in mind that you may need to reapply your chosen fix, depending on the smelliness and linger-y-ness dinner being disguised: hiding fry-ups or stews will necessitate repeat applications.
Got any tips of your own to add? Hit me up with a comment and maybe together, we can eradicate the scourge of dinner hair for good.
