Hair Colour

Human beings have many variations in hair color and hair texture. more...

Home
Bath & Body
Dental Care
Dieting/ Slimming
Fragrances
Hair Care
Braiders
Brushes/ Combs
Conditioner
Curling Tongs
Gel/ Mousse/ Spray
Hair Clips
Hair Colour
Hair Dryers
Hair Extensions
Hair Loss
Hair Straighteners
Medicated Treatments
Mixed Items
Other Hair Care
Rollers/ Curlers
Salon Equipment
Shampoo
Travel/ Sample Sizes
Hair Removal
Health Care
Make-Up/ Cosmetics
Massage
Mobility, Disability &...
Nails/ Manicure/ Pedicure
Natural/ Alternative...
Other Health & Beauty
Over-the-Counter Medicine
Skin/ Face Care
Tanning/ Sun Care
Tattoos/ Body Art
Vision/ Glasses/ Lenses
Vitamins/ Supplements

Hair color is the result of pigmentation due to the presence of the chemicals of melanin. In general, the more melanin, the darker the hair color.

Usually, the color of children's and adults' hair varies from pale yellow (blonde) to deep black. The ethnic distribution of colors has historically varied by geographic area. For example, deep brown and black prevail in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe, and even darker shades occur in East Asia, South Asia, as well as tropical (Sub-saharan) Africa and The Americas; lighter brown is more common in western, central and eastern Europe, yellow/blond in northern Europe, and reddish in the British Isles.

However, considerable differences in hair color and texture exist between individuals of similar ethnicity, and immigration and global travel have greatly increased the diversity of hair characteristics in many countries.

Names for human hair colors include:

brown, brunette, mahogany, chocolate, cinnamon, dark, chestnut; jet black, raven, midnight, dark, sable, ebony, onyx, black, domino; Flaxen, fair, tow-headed, blonde, sandy blonde, dirty blonde, strawberry blonde, honey, golden, platinum blonde; auburn, chestnut, red, fiery, redhead, titian, russet, ginger, scarlet, cinnamon; silver, salt and pepper, white, gray, alabaster, snow, platinum and Arctic blond;

People also change their hair color to colors that do not occur naturally.

Effects of aging on hair color

A change in hair color typically occurs naturally as people age, usually turning their hair from its natural color to gray, then to white. More than 40 percent of Americans have some gray hair by their fortieth birthday, but grey hairs can appear as early as the teens and twenties for some, or even in childhood. The determination of when someone begins graying, whether it comes with aging or prematurely, seems to be almost entirely based on genetics. Sometimes people are born with gray hair because it is passed down genetically.

The change in hair color is caused by the gradual decrease of pigmentation that occurs when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root, and new hairs grow in without pigment. Two genes appear to be responsible for the process of greying, Bcl2 and Mitf. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes hair to begin going grey.

There are no special diets, nutritional supplements, vitamins, nor proteins that have been proven to slow, stop, or in any way affect the graying process, although many have been marketed over the years. This may change in the near future however. French scientists treating leukemia patients with a new cancer drug noted an unexpected side effect: some of the patients' pre-gray hair color had been restored.

Read more at Wikipedia.org