Here at Look Natural Hair Restoration, we are obsessive about consistently staying up-to-date on all the latest research and insight into hair loss, hair growth, and hair loss treatments. As such, we’ve established a strong base of knowledge when it comes to hair – from fun facts through to cutting-edge hair loss solutions. In this blog post, we’ll share with you some of the facts that our team finds the most interesting about hair!
If you have any questions about your own hair or hair loss, we’re here to help. Schedule a free consultation here.
1. Hair is mostly made out of Keratin.
The truth is, hair is a lot more complicated than you may think. Your hair grows from follicles, and the average human has about 5 million follicles across their body. These produce hair, which is made of keratin. Keratin is the same substance that your nails are made of. It is also the main protein in your skin!
2. Hair may grow quicker in warm climates.
The rumors are true – the sun and heat both boost hair growth. The sun and warm weather increase the nutrients your body needs to make keratin, which makes your hair grow quicker. Over the course of the year, this means that locks will grow faster in summer and slower in winter.
3. Hair is the second-fastest-growing tissue in the body after bone marrow.
We tend to take it for granted, but your follicles are working hard! Over 35 meters of hair fiber is produced daily on the average adult’s scalp. With over 100,000 hairs on the average scalp, this makes sense! Only bone marrow grows faster than hair, as a tissue in the body.
4. Black is the most common hair color and red is the rarest.
Depending on your location and where you’re from in the world, you may have noticed this already. The most common hair colors are black and brown. These are estimated to be found in 90 percent of all people! While these hair colors can be found all over the world, they are essentially the only colors found in Africa and Asia.
Only 2% of the world’s population has lighter hair colors, like blonde. Many people with blonde hair have European heritage. Interestingly, 5-10% of the population in the Solomon Islands, Melanesia, have blonde hair, due to a genetic mutation.
As you may already know, red hair is the rarest. Only 1-2% of the population has red hair. Many of them are of European descent.
5. There are, officially, more hair colors than you think
The Fischer-Saller Scale is the accepted international standard for assessing hair color. It describes 24 shades of natural human hair color, from light blonde to black hair,and all the various shades and colors in between. These colors are created by the combination and different amounts of only two hair pigments:
- Eumelanin (brown)
- Phaeomelanin (red)
6. Cutting your hair does not influence how fast it will grow.
Your hairdresser, barber, or best friend might have told you before that cutting your hair will make it grow faster. However, this simply isn’t true. In reality, cutting your hair removes unsightly split ends, which make hair look shorter than it actually is. By removing those split ends, you enable the true length of the hair to be seen.
7. Hair can grow anywhere on the human body with the exception of the palms of hands, soles of feet, eyelids, lips, and mucous membranes.
You’ve probably noticed that the skin on your palms feels and looks different from the skin on your arms. This is because the skin in these areas contains a molecule named Dickkopf 2 (DKK2) that inhibits the development of hair follicles.
8. Your Hair is What You Eat
Your hair is directly impacted by what you eat. If you have a healthy diet, you’re likely to have strong and shiny locks. It can also help you keep your hair if you’re worried about losing it! Nutrients like essential fatty acids and omega-3s all contribute to the overall health of your skin, hair, and nails.
9. Hair can tell us more than you think
Hair can be used by scientists to see what is in a person’s bloodstream. This includes medicine, alcohol, drugs, vitamins, and minerals.
10. Different perceptions of hair
There are, of course, different cultural perceptions of different hair colors. A survey was conducted in order to learn about the relationship between hair color and personality perception. They found that people perceived blondes as “flirty and fun”. People perceived those with brown hair as “smart and serious”. Finally, they saw people with red hair as strong.
We hope you enjoyed our team’s favorite fun facts about hair. If you are experiencing hair loss, reach out to the Look Natural Hair Restoration team for a free consultation about your options and the solutions that we can offer you.
