In this competitive 21st-century economy, being a one-trick pony is no longer good enough. Multitasking is essential. One must be useful in a variety of ways to earn one’s keep in 2016. That even applies to Cheetos, the cheese-flavored, puffed cornmeal snacks that have been a staple of the American diet since 1948. Sure, Cheetos make a delicious if messy treat for anyone watching a televised sporting event, but shouldn’t these things be doing more to deserve their place in society? Texas beauty blogger Rachel “Bunny” Meyer, known to her 7.6 million YouTube subscribers as Grav3yardgirl, must think so. In a recent video, Meyer put her Cheetos—several bags worth of them, in fact—to work as makeshift hair curlers as part of a bizarre and yet surprisingly successful experiment. Random as it seems, this video is not without historical precedent. Recently, Meyer curled her hair with marshmallows, and her delighted fans demanded that she repeat the stunt with other unlikely foodstuffs. Hence, Cheetos curlers.
For lovers of the bizarre and surreal, the highlight of the video probably arrives at roughly the six-minute mark. By that time, following a merciful time-lapse sequence, the garrulous Meyer has taken strands of her own hair and twisted them around dozens and dozens of DayGlo-orange Cheetos, securing the greasy, dust-covered puffs with bobby pins. It’s an alarming sight, recalling The Bride Of Frankenstein run amok in the snack aisle. But then, Meyer secrets the Cheetos under a bonnet and turns up her hair dryer full blast, just to see what happens. The results are surprisingly positive. Cheetos, Meyer observes, work much better than marshmallows as hair curlers. Plus, they don’t melt into goo. That’s a plus.
The omnipresent Cheetos dust is a problem, however, as Meyer’s clothes become covered with it. The oily snacks also begin to irritate her skin somewhat, and the smell is an issue throughout the three-hour process. “It is pretty cheesy,” she says. But just look at those perfect Cheetos-shaped curls. At the end, Meyer compares her mane to that of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. Maybe that was his secret, too. What price beauty? Try $3.49 a bag.