100 Facts About Your Hair

As you might be aware I am studying to become a hairdresser and I love everything to do with hair. So I compiled some random facts on hair. That should help you understand a little more about your hair.

History

1.     A random lock of Elvis’ hair was sold at an auction for $15,000.

2.     The longest documented hair was measured in 2004. It belonged to Xie Qiuping from China, and measured 18.5 feet long.

3.     At one time, in Russia, there was a random tax for wearing a beard.

4.     The earliest form of chemical hair removal dates back to the ancient Turks, who used a concoction known as “rusma”. Rusma is a combination of yellow sulfide of arsenic, quicklime, and rose-water.

5.     The word “shampoo” comes from the Hindi word “champna” which means “to knead”.

6.     The curling iron was invented in France, by Marcel Grateau, in 1875.

7.     Scientists have discovered that people with a higher IQ, have more zinc and copper in their hair.

8.     The first liquid shampoo on the market was called “Dop” and came out in 1952.

9.     The first men’s hair product was called “Brylcreem” (a cream used on men's hair to give it a smooth, shiny appearance), was produced in 1928, and was made of mineral oil, beeswax and water.

10. The process of removing unwanted body hair dates back to the ancient Egyptians.

11. One sixteenth century doctor claimed you could restore hair by applying a random concoction made of boiled slugs, olive oil, honey, saffron, soap and cumin on the scalp.

12. The first African-American hair products were created by Madam CJ Walker, the first American black woman to become a millionaire.

13. The first hair dye was invented in 1907 by French chemist Eugene Schueller and it was called “Aureole.”

Medical

14. Alopecia (said: Al o pe cia) is the medical term for hair loss.

15. Men without hair on their chests are more likely to get cirrhosis (a chronic disease of the liver marked by degeneration of cells, inflammation, and fibrous thickening of tissue. It is typically a result of alcoholism or hepatitis.) of the liver than men with hair.

16. Stress can make dandruff worse.

17. Hair transplantation is the only permanent solution for hair loss.

18. Gender is one thing that cannot be identified by a hair strand.

19. The scientific term for split ends is “Trichoptilosis.”

20. Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the body. The only thing that grows faster is bone marrow.

21. The major cause of dandruff is a fungus called Malassezia globosa, which pushes dead skin cells to the surface quicker than normal.

22. The scientific term for grey hair is “canities.”

23. Hair is composed of 50.65% carbon, 20.85% oxygen, 17.14% nitrogen, 6.36% hydrogen, and 5.0% sulfur. Hair also contains trace amounts of magnesium, arsenic, iron, chromium and other metals and minerals.

24. Trichotillomania is the name of the disorder where you pull out your hair, eyelashes, and/or eyebrows compulsively. It is more common in women and usually stress related.

25. Scientists can tell what you ate or drank, or the environment you live in, by examining a small piece of your hair.

Lifestyle

26. Most drugs cause hair loss.

27. Asian hair grows the fastest and has the best elasticity.

28. The length of the growing phase of hair shortens as you age.

29. Crash dieting can cause temporary hair loss.

30. Hair turns grey as a result of the pigment cells in the hair follicle not working properly. The hair bulb slows melanin production as a result of age or stress.

31. Iron deficiency causes hair loss.

32. African hair grows slower and is more fragile than European hair.

33. Humans are born with all of their hair follicles and there is no possible way to increase the amount of hair follicles you have.

34. Women lose a lot of hair after giving birth. This is due to their hormones regulating back to normal.

35. Africans and Europeans are more prone to balding than Asians.

36. Thyroid imbalance causes hair loss.

37. Asian hair is almost always straight and black/dark brown in colour.

38. If you pluck one hair, a new one will start growing from the follicle.

39. The anticipation of sex makes hair grow faster.

40. The werewolf legend is believed to have originated from an abnormality called Hirsutism, which causes excess body hair or facial hair to grow in places it is not supposed to.

On average

41. On average, hair grows .3 – .5 mm per day.

42. Dark hair contains higher levels of carbon than light hair.

43. The length of the growing phase of hair shortens as you age.

44. On an average adult scalp, 25 meters of hair fiber is produced every day.

45. 40% of women have female pattern hair loss by the time they go through menopause.

46. The growing phase of hair lasts between 3-5 years on average.

47. Hair is stronger than a copper wire of the same diameter.

48. The strength of your hair is equivalent to an iron wire. It rips after having a force equivalent to 60 kg after stretching it 70%.

49. The size of a hair follicle determines the thickness and length of hair.

50. A whole head of hair could support up to 2 tons.

51. When you are born, you have about 1000 hair follicles per square centimeter. This number drops as you age.

52. If a man never shaved his beard, it would grow to over 30 feet in a lifetime.

53. On average, women’s hair is half the diameter of men’s hair.

54. For it to be apparent that you are balding, you would have to lose 50% of your hair.

55. A single hair strand has a thickness of .02 – .04 mm.

56. A single strand of hair can support up to 6.5 pounds of weight.

57. The average person has between 100,000 and 150,000 strands of hair on their head.

58. 50% of men have male pattern hair loss by the age of 50.

59. Body hair is generally shorter because the growing phase is a lot shorter than the growing phase of hair on the scalp.

60.  A single strand of hair can support up to 6.5 pounds of weight.

61. Everybody sheds between 40-150 strands of hair per day.

62. It takes about 7 years to grow your hair to your waist, and 3 years to grow to your shoulders.

63.  Hair grows the fastest during the summer, sleep, or between the ages of 16 to 24.

64. The average life span of a strand of hair is 4-7 years.

65. A natural blonde usually has more hair strands then dark or red hair. Towheads generally have 120,000 strands; brown/black-haired people 100,000 strands, and redheads average about 80,000 strands.

66. Every inch of the human body is covered in hair besides the palms, soles of the feet, and lips.

67. Hair can absorb its weight in water.

68. The hair follicle contains its own muscle, nerve and blood supply.

69. Less than 4% of the world’s population has natural red hair.

70. Each hair follicle grows a completely new hair about 20 times in a lifetime.

71. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow in death.

72. Hair becomes drier with age.

73. Every hair follicle is completely independent of neighboring follicles.

74. Men grow hair faster than women.

75. The human body has approximately 5 million hair follicles.

76. Facial hair grows faster than any other type of body hair.

Hairdressing

77. The average woman spends between 10-23 thousand dollars in a lifetime on unwanted hair removal.

78. The natural part is caused by a condition called a hair stream. It refers to the effect that is created when hair follicles slope in the same direction. When two hair streams slope in opposite directions, a natural part occurs.

79. The middle layer of hair is called the cortex, which is made of long proteins twisted together.

80. The colour of hair depends on how much melanin (a dark brown to black pigment occurring in the hair) each strand has.

81. Different textures of hair have different cross-section shapes under a microscope. Straight hair is usually round and curly hair is usually oval.

82. Cutting hair does not influence how fast or slow it will grow.

83. Hair is produced in the hair shaft beneath the skin; therefore it takes 13 days to see grey/white hair after it is produced.

84. At any random time, 90% of the hair on a head is in a growing phase, while the other 10% is in a resting phase.

85. Hair is made up of mostly keratin, which our outer layer of skin and fingernails are made out of.

86. Most shampoos are slightly acidic to restore the pH of damaged hair and smooth the cuticle.

87. 90% of right-handed people grow cowlicks in a clockwise direction.

88. The outer layer of hair is called the cuticle, and its purpose is to protect the inside layers. In healthy hair, the cuticle lays flat. In damaged hair, they are more open.

89. Many store-bought hair colours contain random metallic salts. These salts accumulate on the hair shaft and can cause breakage or severe discoloration if colored or permed by a professional hairstylist.

90. Hair extensions are made from mostly from people of the Chinese and Indian heritage.

91. Humans have the same amount of hair follicles per square inch as a chimpanzee.

92. Blow-drying your hair works by changing hydrogen bonds to alter the shape. Water also changes hydrogen bonds; hence the reason women hate humidity.

93. The innermost layer of hair is called the medulla. Fine hair usually does not have a medulla. The purpose of the medulla has not yet been determined.

94. Hair structure is the same, no matter whose head it is on.

95. The only part of hair that is not dead is the hair that is inside your scalp.

96. Keratin is composed mostly of an amino acid called cysteine, which is what gives the hair its shape.

97. The purpose of hair is to act as a thermal protection, since our head lacks the thermal protection of the fat layers.

98. Healthy hair, when wet, can stretch to 30% its original length.

99. The only way to get rid of “split ends” is to cut them. There is no way to completely repair them.

100.                Our hair goes through a 7-year (some times varies) growing phase of hair is called Anagen, and the resting phase is called Catagen.  When hair goes into the Telogen phase, it sheds.

I hope you enjoyed this little in-depth facts about Hair.

EBxx