Colored From The Start
A developing fetus has all of it's hair follicles formed by week 22. At this time there are 5 million follicles on the body. One million of those are on the head, and 100,000 are on the scalp. This is the largest number of follicles we will ever have - follicles are never added during life.
A developing fetus has all of it's hair follicles formed by week 22. At this time there are 5 million follicles on the body. One million of those are on the head, and 100,000 are on the scalp. This is the largest number of follicles we will ever have - follicles are never added during life. As the size of the body increases as we grow older, the density of the hair follicles on the skin decreases.
Melanin is responsible for the natural colour of hair. Produced deep in the root by the melanocytes, it is then transmitted to the keratinocyte as the hair is formed. Meaning that hair is coloured right from the outset. The immense range of natural hair colour is absolutely astonishing. However, melanin only represents 1% of the total composition of the hair and only exists in the form of two pigments: eumelanin, rather dark, and phaeomelanin, rather lighter.
That is not all
Apart from water which, under normal conditions, accounts for 12% to 15% of the composition of hair, still other elements are also present in small quantities.
Some of these are provided by the environment. Thus its relative porosity allows it to take up water or water vapour in considerable quantities and trap the mineral salts in it. These form an integral part of the hair shaft.
Others come directly from our organism. Since the hair root has a good blood supply, substances from the blood are incorporated into the hair during its formation. Because of this, a hair can supply a great deal of information about its "owner" and, without exaggerating, we really can now say that hair has become a real "informer".
