Astonishing Science behind the Hair



Hair is the most significant and essential part of human body. It adds an overall beauty.

It describes the overall properties of an individual.
The different behaviour towards different forms of hair may vary upon the type such as Hairstyles or Hair Removal, however it is mostly dependent upon the person’s age, sex or religion.
In different religions, hair has its own importance. For example people of sikh religion leave their hair uncut as they believe it is a symbol of strength. It is their tradition because uncut hair is their way of accepting a simple life.

Hair has two separate structures :hair

1) The hair follicle which is developed beneath the skin and is often pulled from the skin. It is located in the part called Dermis. The follicle not only maintains the stem cells which re-grow the hair after it falls, but also regrows the skin after wound.
2) The filament-like hard part that extends above the skin surface is the shaft whose cross section can be toughly divided into three zones.

Here’s the structure of hair fiber explained, starting from outside:

– The outermost part is cuticle which consist of thin cells that are laid out overlapping one another generally as roof shingles.
-The cortex has keratin bundles intact in form of cell structures.
-The part in the centre is medulla which is a disorganized and open area at fiber’s center.
Every hair strand is made up of medulla, cortex and cuticle. The innermost unstructured region called medulla might or might not always be present.
The only source of mechanical strength and water uptake is the cuticle and highly structured cortex.
The melatin contained in cortex is responsible for the colour of fiber. The shape of cortex is determined by the shape of follicle.
The shape of fiber determines how straight or curly hair is.

Hair growth :

It is initiated in the hair follicle. The  follicle contains the only living part of hair.
The visible hair is the shaft which is considered as dead because it exhibits no biochemical activity.
The cells that produce shaft are present at the base of hair’s roots.
The structure of follicle which is responsible for causing the hair stand up is the arrector pili muscles. Sebaceous Gland is an oil producing gland which lubricates hair.
Hair oils play a significant role behind hair growth.
To explore about the hair oils you can also checkout the Best Hair Oil for Thickness and hair growth.

Natural colour :

Two type of hair pigments are responsible for the natural colour.
Both of these melanin pigments are produced inside follicle and packed into granules of fibers.
Little pigmentation in hair strands result in blond hair.
When melatin production decreases or stops, grey hair starts occuring.
Eumelatin is the pigment dominant in brown hair whereas Pheomelanin is rich in Red hair.

Texture :

The curl pattern, volume and consistency are the three main aspects of texture. There are various derivations of  texture which are not fully understood.
The  follicle size determines the thickness and follicle shape decides the curl pattern.
We will be sharing the top remedies for hairfall and a lot more on this blog , so stay tuned.

Leave a Reply
