I Smell Burnt Hair!

Women and their hair have been at odds for centuries. If we have straight hair, we want curly. And if we have curly hair, we want straight. If we have dark, we want light, and vice versa. We pour through fashion magazines looking for the perfect hairstyle. A cut that will make our chubby cheeks look less prominent or our "drowned rat" thin hair look like Farrah. For a pretty penny we get it razored & styled, dyed & high-lighted. We get this pomade for the smooth look, this wax that makes our clean hair look dirty, this root boost for body, & this hair spray for "manageable hold without stickiness." And then we blow dry our hair with a hair dryer we bought a decade ago that cost $5.99!

On Sunday night, before church, as I was drying my hair......my hair dryer caught on fire!!!! Luckily it started making weird noises first so I pulled it away from my hair and as I put the dryer at arms length flames started shooting out of the bottom where the cord comes out. I didn't get hurt. Dave being the engineer tore it apart and said he didn't see any reason why it should have spontaneously caught on fire.

According to NFPA Fire Analysis & Research, between 2002-2005 there were 334 houses fires directly caused by faulty hair dryers. 13 people were injured with an estimated $8 million in damage.

So go check out your hair dryer and see if it's safe. Take care to remove built up lint and hair. Never wrap the cords around the appliance. This is where most fires start, right where the cord enters the appliance. Years of bending the cord back and forth make it weak and susceptible to electrical fires. Our electrical inspector told us to always unplug appliances that aren't in use. Sounds like good advice too.

And if your dryer was as old as mine....probably 9 years old, the girls were toddlers when we bought it.....maybe you should just toss it and go get another one. Costco has them for $19.99 which is a small price to pay so you don't lose your "expensive" hair!