How long does cigarette smell last on hair

No one wants to smell like smoke. It gets stuck to your clothing, skin, and hair and is hard to get out. Whether it’s smoke from sitting around a campfire, cigarette smoke, or smoke from outdoor grilling, its clingy nature is undeniable.

Its distinctive smell sticks with you long after the smoke has cleared and is pungent enough that others around you can smell it too.

Today we will look at ways to stay smoke-free and learn how to remove the awful smoke smell from your hair, including in situations when washing your hair with shampoo isn’t an option.

Table of Contents

• 1 How To Get a Smoke Smell Out of Your Hair
  • 1.1 1. Wash Your Hair with Traditional Shampoo
  • 1.2 2. Wash Your Hair with a Dry Shampoo
  • 1.3 3. Use a Dryer Sheet (or Fabric Softener Sheet)
  • 1.4 4. Use Baking Soda
  • 1.5 5. Use a Blow Dryer (Hair Dryer) on the Cool Setting
  • 1.6 6. Perfume
  • 1.7 7. Rosewater
  • 1.8 8. Essential Oils
  • 1.9 9. Lemon Juice
  • 1.10 10. Vodka
  • 1.11 11. Hair Perfume
• 2 How To Keep Your Hair From Smelling Like Cigarette Smoke (or Cigar Smoke)
  • 2.1 Change your sheets and pillowcase regularly
  • 2.2 Wash your hairbrush and comb
  • 2.3 Smoke outside
  • 2.4 Use an air purifier
  • 2.5 Cover your hair
• 3 How To Make Homemade Hair Perfume
  • 3.1 Ingredients:

Here are the top methods for removing smoke from your hair that will leave you feeling fresh and smoke-free in no time.

1. Wash Your Hair with Traditional Shampoo

Washing your hair is the most effective way to eliminate unwanted odors. If you have a shampoo that’s normally a part of your beauty routine, that will be perfectly fine to use in this scenario.

Giving your hair a thorough wash with shampoo and water will remove all traces of smoke and will have your hair smelling clean once again.

Unfortunately, this option may not be possible if you’re away on a weekend camping trip or if you are out at the club and have just walked through a cloud of cigarette smoke.

Also, if you’re a smoker yourself and suffer from the chronic smell of smokey hair, washing your hair daily may end up leaving it dried out and damaged. Luckily, we have some other ideas you can try.

2. Wash Your Hair with a Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo is an amazing product that has skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years. While it can be purchased in an original, unscented version, purchasing a scented version will work best if you are trying to remove the odor of smoke from your hair. 

Simply flip your head upside down and spray the roots of your hair, keeping the nozzle of the bottle approximately six inches away from the scalp.

Take your fingers and fluff the hair, releasing any built-up residue, and then, using your brush, comb out your hair. Note that using a finger-combing technique works well during this step also.

This quick technique will have your hair not only feeling cleaner but smelling cleaner as well. Penny Pincher’s dry shampoo is a popular brand, but we also like Hair Dance. It’s vegan, non-toxic, and cruelty-free. You can purchase Hair Dance using this link.

3. Use a Dryer Sheet (or Fabric Softener Sheet)

Most people have dryer sheets in their laundry room, but there are other uses for dryer sheets. Dryer sheets contain compounds that help reduce static electricity, and they deposit fresh scents.

Therefore they can work wonders at removing the smell of smoke from your hair and leaving behind the fresh scent of clean linen. This approach should work well for most mild smoke smells, including campfire smoke and a lingering cigarette odor.

To use, simply take a dryer sheet and run it down the length of your hair, starting at the roots and working your way down the shaft to the ends of the hair. This will easily and effectively freshen up your hair and will get rid of mild traces of smoke.

Before going on a camping trip, pack some dryer sheets along with your camping gear and use them to freshen up your clothes and your hair after a bonfire.

You could also keep some in your purse to use during a night out when you may come in contact with cigarette smoke. If you smoke yourself, you can use the dryer sheet method immediately after smoking a cigarette.

Keeping some dryer sheets in your pocket or purse and using one after every smoke break will mitigate the cigarette smell.

4. Use Baking Soda

People have been using baking soda as an air freshener and deodorizer for many years. Placing a box in your fridge or pantry can help reduce the smell of food, and likewise, using a small amount in your hair can help to reduce the smell of smoke, no matter what its origin. 

If you find your hair is smelling smokey, take a small amount of baking soda and gently rub it throughout your hair and scalp.

Using a brush or comb, or you can use fingers, disperse the baking soda through your hair and allow it to cover the hair shafts. Most traces of smoke should be gone in no time.

While this method works well, be careful not to use too much baking soda. If baking soda is used excessively, it can turn your hair white and leave a powdery film on your scalp. Note that some ladies substitute baby powder for baking soda.

5. Use a Blow Dryer (Hair Dryer) on the Cool Setting

Depending on the level of smoke exposure, sometimes all your hair needs is a quick blast of air with a blow-dryer.

Make sure that you turn your dryer to the cold air setting (using hot air will bake the smell into your strands) and gently blow cold air through your entire head of hair. 

The cold air will effectively remove many of the smoke particles that are sitting on the strands of hair and will freshen up your locks. If you’re dealing with a strong cigarette smell, campfire smell, or just smelly hair, one of the prior methods will likely work better.

6. Perfume

Sometimes a quick squirt of perfume is enough to freshen up your hair and remove any traces of smoke. Keep in mind that this step is effectively “masking” the smell and not removing it.

So, I’d recommend using a light perfume that isn’t too strong. For the best results, spray either your hands or your brush/comb and brush/comb through your hair.

This process will evenly disburse the perfume throughout your hair and will ensure that too much perfume isn’t applied, which could be overwhelming. 

7. Rosewater

While you may not have rosewater at home, it should be easy enough to find at most pharmacies, and it can be an extremely useful item to keep in your medicine cabinet. 

Rosewater is made from rose petals that have been steeped in purified water, and it makes a great toner and cleanser for the skin and can help reduce redness and inflammation.

It also has a wonderful smell that can help to mask smoke smells. To use, simply spritz rosewater into the hair and comb or brush it through.

8. Essential Oils

Essential oils come in a variety of different scents, although they have many benefits for your hair beyond a pleasant scent.

Lavender oil can promote a good night’s sleep and can help reduce the effects of stress and anxiety, while citrus scents, like lemon oil, can help make you more awake and energetic. 

Combine a few drops of your favorite essential oils with a small amount of purified water and add them to a spray bottle. Apply the oil mixture to your hair using the spray bottle, focusing on the roots of your hair, and then brush or comb the oil mixture throughout your hair.

Not only will your hair smell fresh, but you will also gain all of the amazing benefits of the essential oil(s) that you have chosen.

9. Lemon Juice

There is no cleaner scent than the fresh smell of citrus, specifically that of a lemon. Just a whiff, and it brings to mind spring cleaning and a freshness that is unmatched by any other scent. 

Lemon juice is a great way to freshen up your hair and remove any odors, including smoke. To try this method, simply add the juice of one lemon and a small amount of lemon zest to purified water.

Place this in a spray bottle and let it sit overnight in order for the lemon zest to fully infuse the rest of the solution. In the morning, it will be ready to use, and you can add a few sprays to your hair to freshen it up throughout the day.

10. Vodka

While it may not sound like a particularly good option for removing odor, vodka has amazing deodorizing properties that can remove the traces of smoke and other smells from your hair.

Plus, once it dries, it won’t smell like alcohol, so there is no need to worry that you will smell like you just imbibed in a drink!

Create a mixture of 50:50 water to vodka ratio and spritz on your hair, combing through with your fingertips. Allow the hair to dry and if there is still a smoke residue (or a bad smell) remaining, apply a second treatment.

11. Hair Perfume

While still fairly new to the market, hair perfume is gaining popularity. It comes in many different scents and is specially designed to be applied to your hair without adding an overpowering scent or making your hair feel greasy. 

While this option is fairly expensive, it is great for those who often need to deodorize their hair. Since these perfumes can be expensive, it’s often a preferred solution for those with short hair. If you have long hair, one of the aforementioned solutions might be a preferred solution.

How To Keep Your Hair From Smelling Like Cigarette Smoke (or Cigar Smoke)

The best way to keep your hair from smelling like cigarette smoke, if you are a smoker, is to quit smoking. Although, that is easier said than done for many people.

Luckily, we have some great techniques that you can try to minimize the amount of smoke that gets in your hair. These techniques are only recommended for firsthand and secondhand smoke; they don’t work for thirdhand smoke (e.g., the residue left on hard surfaces or traces of cigarette smoke odor).

Change your sheets and pillowcase regularly

The smell of smoke can become embedded into your sheets and pillowcases and from there can be transferred back into your hair. It is recommended that you change your sheets every two weeks, but for those who want to remain smoke-free, changing them more often will help reduce the smoky odor.

Wash your hairbrush and comb

If your hair smells like smoke, this scent can be transferred to your combs and brushes and then transferred back into your hair after it has been washed. To prevent this from happening, wash your brushes and combs regularly using a small amount of shampoo.

Smoke outside

If you have to smoke, do so outside of your home. The open space and fresh air will minimize the amount of smoke that gets stuck on your clothes and in your hair.

Use an air purifier

If you can’t smoke outside, purchase an air purifier with a HEPA filter and make sure that it is turned on every time that you light up. It will filter the air and minimize the amount of smoke.

While it won’t get rid of all the smoke completely, it will work wonders at limiting how much smoke you are exposed to and, therefore, how much gets stuck on your clothes and in your hair. 

Cover your hair

Try to cover your hair every time that you light up a cigarette. Pull up your hood or use a scarf to protect your hair if you are out or if you are at home; try using a shower cap. If your hair is covered, less smoke will be able to stick to it, and therefore it won’t smell as bad. 

How To Make Homemade Hair Perfume

Moisturizing Hair Fragrance DIY | Sisterlocks

While purchasing hair perfume is a great option, it can also be an expensive one. Luckily there are many different recipes for homemade hair perfume that are quick, easy, and cheap to try.

After making DIY hair perfume, keep it in your purse, your desk drawer at work, or bring it with you on a camping trip. It’s an excellent way to freshen up quickly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rosewater
• Leave-in conditioner
• Essential oil (lavender oil or sweet orange oil works well)
• Aloe vera gel

Add the rosewater to a bowl and add six to ten drops of your preferred essential oil. The more essential oil that you add, the stronger the smell will be.

Next, add half of a teaspoon of leave-in conditioner and one teaspoon of aloe vera gel. Using a spoon, mix well and add the mixture to a small spray bottle. 

Spritz the hair perfume onto your hair any time you are in need of a quick freshening up.

Kenneth Byrd holds a BS in Accounting and Management Information Systems and an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a serial hair blogger that has been writing about hair care since 2008, when he co-founded Curl Centric and Natural Hair Box. Curl Centric is a website operated by a husband and wife team that encourages healthy hair care.