Have you ever left a restaurant only to find that you smell like the main course? Worse yet, have you ever worked in a fast food establishment and, even after you took a shower, your hair and skin still smell like greasy fries? Why is that? What causes food odors to stick to our skin and hair?

The odor of just about anything you touch that has its own distinct smell will linger on your skin. Everything from pleasant aromas like apples, cinnamon and peanut butter to the not-so-pleasant like onions, garlic and fish will cling to porous, absorbent skin surfaces. The hair is not quite as porous as our skin, but will absorb odor with adequate exposure and dependent on the intensity of the odor causing agents in the air. Which odors stick and which stick around the longest depends largely on the oils or fats that are released when the food is prepared.

One simple rule of thumb is this: What comes out of the food goes into the air and/or onto my skin. It works like this: The food that you can squeeze juice out of will absorb into your hair and skin and leave a mild smell. For example, citrus fruits like lemons, oranges or limes leave a mild odor on your hands while you’re squeezing fresh juice. This odor is easily washed off with a mild soap and water. You can’t squeeze much out of a stalk of celery and you won’t find a lingering odor long after you’ve chopped enough to feed an army.

Another rule for steering clear of food odors is this: Foods with oils or high fat content will release a very strong odor that is increasingly difficult to eliminate from skin and hair. To be thorough in deciding which foods fall into this category, you have to go to the source. For example, peanut butter has a strong odor that lingers. That’s because nuts are high in oil. So are onions, hamburger, garlic, sausage and anything deep fried.

Cooking (heat) also releases the odor in foods. Combined with steam that rises and lands right on you, you become a walking testament of what was for dinner.

So how do you get rid of these pesky smells once they’ve latched on to you? There are many effective products on the market that remove food odors from your skin and hair. Many products contain salt, baking soda or citrus based formulas that either adhere to the chemicals in odor producing foods or break those same chemicals down. Another method is to simply rub your hands on anything stainless steel. You can purchase stainless steel bars shaped like a bar of soap to keep at your kitchen sink. Odors are much easier to remove from hair. It’s suggested to rinse with cool water when working to eliminate odors because warm water opens the pores and may push the odor deeper within the hair shaft (or skin.) Use your regular shampoo or try adding the juice from ¼ of an orange to your shampoo for stubborn smell removal.

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