What Hair is Made Of: A Comprehensive Look

Hair’s Structural Composition

Hair seems simple, just strands growing from follicles. Its makeup tells a different story. Hair consists of many structural components and compounds. Each plays a role in determining hair’s characteristics.

Hair has a multi-layered structure. The innermost layer is the medulla. It provides hair’s shape and strength. The cortex surrounds the medulla. Cortex makes up most of the hair fiber’s mass. Enclosing the cortex is the cuticle. Flat cuticle cells overlap like roof tiles.

The Components of Hair

Hair’s main components are proteins. Keratin constitutes the majority. Keratin proteins bond together to form long chains. These twisted chains shape hair and give it strength.

Other proteins include matrix proteins. They act as the hair’s “cement.” Keratin associates with matrix proteins to strengthen hair’s structure. Matrix proteins also determine hair’s flexibility and texture.

Small amounts of other compounds exist in hair too. Lipids provide protection, sheen, and hydration. Minerals like iron and zinc donate hardness.

Hair’s Color Origins

Hair’s pigments give hair shades of color. Two forms of melanin determine hair pigment: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin creates brown and black shades. Pheomelanin yields reddish-blonde tones.

Hair’s gets its color from the ratio of pigment types. Levels diminish over time, resulting in graying. Hair also loses pigment from chemical processes. Bleaching removes melanin entirely for a colorless appearance.

Hair’s Growth Process

Hair growth stems from the hair’s follicle. Follicles are tiny pouches lining the skin’s surface. Inside each follicle, stem cells rapidly divide. New cells push older ones outward, forming the visible hair shaft.

The dermal papilla fuels this regeneration cycle. It’s a small oval structure at the follicle’s base. The papilla contains blood vessels that nourish growing hair’s. Active follicles recycle constantly, replacing shed hair.

Different hair’s types grow at varying speeds. Head hair’s grows around half an inch monthly on average. Body hair grows slower. Growth rate depends on follicle size, genetics, and hormones.

Hair’s Physical Traits

Hair’s diameter defines its thickness. Coarser hair’s has a wider diameter than fine hair’s. This radius determines hair’s weight, volume, and manageability.

Cuticle conditions also influence hair’s texture and appearance. Flatter cuticles create sleeker hair’s with more shine. Rougher cuticles catch light differently, generating frizz. Irregular cuticles contribute to hair’s dry, dull look.

Hair’s porosity impacts how hair’s absorbs and retains moisture too. Low porosity hair’s resists moisture absorption. High porosity hair’s takes in too much moisture. The goal is a balanced moisture level.

Hair’s Natural Defense

Hairs provides more than aesthetic value. Hairs offers protection from external elements.

Sebum, the skin’s natural oil, coats hair’s surface. It seals and shields strands from environmental damage. Sebum keeps hair’s supple and hydrated.

Head hair’s specifically shields the skull from UV radiation. Hair’s overlapping cuticle structure blocks up to 90% of UV rays. This shielding effect reduces sun damage, like burns and skin cancer risk.

Unraveling hair’s complex architecture reveals its fascinating functionality. While hair’s seems simple on the surface, its chemistry and processes run deeply beneath. Understanding hair’s composition unlocks more effective care and styling.