why do some people have such dark, course hair?

One more thing: If you’re noticing more and more facial or body hair that looks thicker and coarse, be sure to mention it to your doctor. A hair change of this nature is a common symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which a woman’s sex hormones are out of balance, typically causing many small cysts to grow on the ovaries.

Full Answer

Why do people with black curly hair have black skin?

Of course it has to do with evolution. That is the way they evolved in Africa with black curly hair and a dark complexion. The dark skin protects against the sun and that the hair is curly helps to protect their head. Whether curly hair is better or not, that is the way they evolved.

What is the best description of black hair?

It has large amounts of eumelanin and is more dense than other hair colors. In English, various types of black hair are sometimes described as soft-black, raven black, or jet-black.

Why is black women’s hair such a big deal?

It’s not just fashion or trends: throughout history, black women’s hair has fascinated artists and photographers and has been closely linked to radical political movements such as the Black Panthers and South Africa’s own Black Consciousness Movement.

Why does black hair get dry so fast?

It is when sebum and water can not travel up and down the shaft is what leads to dry hair, and this is exactly what happens to black hair. The tight curl pattern prevents the travel, compared to straighter hair types where it can flow freely. So, it is crucial that black hair maintains the little moisture that the hair does receive.

What causes coarse black hairs?

It could be a harmless gene mutation. At any point, a gene mutation of a single follicle, due to trauma or environmental influences, can result in a longer, darker hair. And, once it has mutated, it will continue to grow that way.”

Why are some hairs thick and dark?

That's because the cluster of pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) that give moles their dark hue stain the hair as well. Hair that's packed with extra pigment also tends to be coarser than light-colored hair, which is more reason the hair growing from your mole is thicker than its neighbors.

Why do I have such dark hair?

Most people have two functioning copies of the MC1R gene, one inherited from each parent. These individuals have black or brown hair, because of the high amount of eumelanin. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of people in the world have brown or black hair.

What ethnicity has thick hair?

More than 90% of Han Chinese, 70% of Japanese and Thai people, and 60% to 90% of Native Americans carry the “thick hair" version of the gene. Meanwhile it's almost nonexistent in people of African and European descent. Both age and sex can also affect your hair shaft thickness.

What is a rogue hair?

Different hairs on our bodies grow at slightly different speeds, and shed at different lengths. Rogue hairs may just grow faster than the hairs we're used to in one spot, and grow longer before shedding naturally, exacerbating any potential general perception factors.

Why is my hair growing in wiry?

“As we age, we start to develop 'older' hair,” says Streicher. It naturally becomes brittle when it turns gray and grows in wiry and unruly. “Often our bodies are aging and we aren't getting the proper nutrients we need. Your hair needs vitamins and a healthy diet too.

Why do I have random thick coarse hairs?

Many people are genetically predisposed to have coarse hair. Coarse hair is simply a natural texture that many ethnicities share, and lots of people love having it. When it comes to hair, stylists and dermatologists typically define coarse hair as having a thicker circumference than other hair types.

What is the rarest hair color?

Red hairRed hair is the rarest natural hair color. Experts estimate that somewhere between 1-2% of the world's population has red hair. Red hair is more common in Scotland than anywhere else in the world, where 13% of the population are redheads. Red hair is known for the variance of its many shades.

What ethnicity has black hair?

Black hair is most common in Asia and Africa. Though this characteristic can also be seen in people of Southern Europe it is less common. People of Celtic heritage in Ireland with such traits are sometimes known as the "Black Irish". Hair is naturally reflective, so black hair is not completely dark in bright light.

What race has the thinnest hair?

Caucasian hair is generally straight or wavy and is the thinnest, while its cross-section is relatively elliptic.

What ethnicity has the finest hair?

Caucasian hair This hair type grows diagonally and at a rate of about 1.2 centimeters per month. Caucasian hair strands are oval in shape. Caucasian hair density is the highest of the three ethnic categories and is therefore the fullest.

Which race has highest hair density?

Caucasians have the highest hair density among the ethnicities studied. Black people have the lowest. Asian people have hair density that falls somewhere in between.

Why do black people have straight hair?

Black-haired people of Amerindian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, Far East Russia, South Asian Himalaya have thicker and straighter hair due to the Derived EDAR gene allele that is linked to thicker and straighter hair and shovel-shaped incisors. The derived EDAR gene arose approximately 30,000 years ago in China. One study shows that Paleo-Indians had both variants of the EDAR gene, the derived G-allele and the ancestral A-allele. When they tested ancient DNA remains found in the Americas of the individuals named USR1, Anzick-1 and Laranjal-6700 the results showed that they carried the ancestral A-allele.

What is the darkest hair color?

Black hair is the darkest and most common of all human hair colors globally, due to larger populations with this dominant trait. It is a dominant genetic trait, and it is found in people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is more dense than other hair colors. In English, various types ...

Where is black hair most common?

Black hair is most common in Asia and Africa. This characteristic can also be seen in people of Southern Europe. People of Celtic heritage in Ireland with such traits are sometimes known as the " Black Irish ". Hair is naturally reflective, so black hair is not completely dark in bright light.

Is black hair a light shade?

Hair is naturally reflective, so black hair is not completely dark in bright light. However, the darkest shade will not have a warm, neutral tone but a sheen which can seem almost blue, like the iridescence of a raven's wing; hence, sometimes referred to as raven-black.

Why do white women hack off their slaves' hair?

In slave societies, white women would often hack off the hair of their enslaved female servants because it supposedly “confused white men” .

Who said "If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed"?

In the documentary produced and narrated by Chris Rock called “Good Hair”, the comedian Paul Mooney states it plainly: “If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they are not happy.”. This is not just clever rhyming.

What does Mooney mean by nappy hair?

Mooney is pointing to the fact that nappy hair is inevitably associated with something that is out of reach for “white people”. When you sport your natural hair, you are free; your hair is wild; you have a new “hairstyle” everyday; you are radiant; you are regal. These are out of reach for most people. It is also about conformity.

Where did the Rastas get their hair from?

However, even in this instance, the misconception is that dreadlocks equal Rastafarianism. The reality is that the Rastas got their locks from Africa. To be exact, matted African hair was transported to the Caribbean by images of Ethiopian soldiers who were fighting the Italian invasion which began in 1935.

Why is common sense important for black people?

Because when it comes to black hair, “common sense” is the least reliable tool for decision-making, since even black people are constantly changing their minds about what they want to do with their hair. As an expression of our culture, black hair is as malleable and plastic as our ideas about it.

Do black people need dirt to lock their hair?

So when a black person decides to “dread” or lock their hair, they neither need nor keep “dirt” in it to make it lock. Our hair (as does all hair) locks naturally when it is left uncombed or unbrushed. The association of locks with dirt partly comes from the Caribbean where Rastafarianism emerged as a subculture.

Is black hair malleable?

As an expression of our culture, black hair is as malleable and plastic as our ideas about it. To attempt to fix such expressions in rules and regulations is to deny black people what the Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop called our “Promethean consciousness”.

Why did black people straighten their hair?

Black activists infused straightened hair with political valence; straightening one's hair in an attempt to 'simulate Whiteness', whether chemically or with the use of heat, came to be seen by some as an act of self-hatred and a sign of internalized oppression imposed by White-dominated mainstream media .

Why did African Americans straighten their hair?

After the American Civil War and emancipation, many African-Americans migrated to larger towns or cities, where they were influenced by new styles. The photos below show 19th-century women leaders with a variety of styles with natural hair. Others straightened their hair to conform to White beauty ideals. They wanted to succeed, and to avoid mistreatment including legal and social discrimination. Some women, and a smaller number of men, lightened their hair with household bleach. A variety of caustic products that contained bleaches, including laundry bleach, designed to be applied to afro-textured hair, were developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as African Americans demanded more fashion options. They used creams and lotions, combined with hot irons, to straighten their hair.

What is a natural hair blog?

Natural hair blogs include Black Girl Long Hair (BGLH), Curly Nikki and Afro Hair Club. With the emergence of hip-hop culture and Jamaican influences like reggae music, more non-Black people have begun to wear these hairstyles as well. A new market has developed in such hair products as "Out of Africa" shampoo.

What oil is used to moisturize hair?

Additionally, palm oil and palm kernel oil were popularly used for oiling the scalp. Shea butter has traditionally been used to moisturize and dress the hair . Fijian chieftain ( Tui Namosi) with natural kinky hair worn in an " Afro ", circa 1865.

How many hairs per square centimeter is afro textured?

Specifically, the average density of afro-textured hair was found to be approximately 190 hairs per square centimeter. This was significantly lower than that of Caucasian hair, which, on average, has approximately 227 hairs per square centimeter.

What was the goal of the Black movement?

One of the ultimate goals of the Black movement was to evolve to a level where Black people "were proud of black skin and kinky or nappy hair. As a result, natural hair became a symbol of that pride.".

What is the most common hair type?

In humans worldwide, East Asiatic-textured hair is the most common, whereas kinky hair is the least common. This is because the former hair texture is typical of the large populations inhabiting the Far East as well as the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Why do black people have short hair?

In Western societies, Black people generally have short hair because white people and those in power think that the ways Black hair acts when it’s long are “unprofessional,” “dirty,” and wrong. Here are some Black people with quite long hair, as long as most Western white people wear theirs.

Why is curly hair white?

You should ask why people have straight hair and why they are white when they need protection against the sun. It is because of a recessive albinism gene. It causes white skin, blue eyes and straight hair.

What is the role of genes in hair?

Mostly genes are said to be responsible for the hair texture. However genes don’t directly cause hair to be curl but are responsible for keratin structure. Thus, they play a significant role in the final shape of an individual’s hair. Curly hair mostly follows the rules of Mendelian genetics.

What is the hair type that depends on the shape of the hair follicle?

Hair type, from pin-straight to kinky, depends on the shape of the hair follicle itself. The shape of our hair follicles and the way the hair emerges from the follicle is a major contributor in the degree of the hair curl pattern, its shape, and ultimately what we describe as texture.

What is hair made of?

Hair is primarily made of cysteine, a sulfur-containing amino acid. In naturally straight hair, the cysteine groups are spread apart so they cannot interact. In wavy and curly hair, they are closer and can easily bond among themselves, creating more tension in the hair fiber and contributing to curling.

What is Kera Rodgers hair texture?

It can be pin straight, wavy straight, wavy, wavy curly, very curly, and kinky. Kinky hair is especially interesting to me.

What is the function of hair?

Hair also has another function, maintaining body temperature. Humans evolved just as animals did, with temperature playing a direct role in how much hair covers the body as well as how dense the hair is in different regions. Another adaptation is that the shape of hair has its own function.

Why does my hair grow on my face?

This happens due to increased production of testosterone in your body, Dr. Goldenberg explains, which stimulates excessive body hair growth. 3. An iron deficiency may be present.

What is the hair that covers your skin called?

The fine fuzz that covers your skin is made up of vellus hairs (from the Latin word for “fleece”). But those long, coarse, pigmented bad boys? They’re called terminal hairs, which make up your eyebrows and eyelashes, and pop up on the scalp, chin, under your arms, and in your pubic area. The amount of thicker hair that you have on your body usually ...

How many hairs are there around a nipple?

More than eight hairs around a single nipple is considered abnormal in women and would meet the definition of hirsutism.”. Much like male-pattern excess hair, male pattern baldness in women is also a sign of shifting male hormone levels.

Does estrogen affect hair growth?

The amount of estrogen in your body can also impact your hair. When estrogen levels are high, hair tends to be thicker than usual; When they’re low, it can cause hair loss, says Joshua Zeichner, M.D., director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Can antidepressants cause hair loss?

Some, including certain antidepressants and anti-coagulants, can cause temporary hair loss, usually through a process called telogen effluvium, a hair shedding condition that can also happen after pregnancy, major surgery, drastic weight loss, or extreme stress. Other meds can cause hair growth, including a boost in body hair.

Can heavy periods cause hair loss?

Vegans and vegetarians or women with heavy periods are at a higher risk, and it may result in hair loss, brittle nails, and odd cravings. If you suspect iron may be an issue, see your doctor for a blood test. 4. An underactive thyroid could be causing problems.

Is it normal to have thick hair?

The amount of thicker hair that you have on your body usually depends on your genes, says Gary Goldenberg, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “There is a variety of normal: Some will notice very little body hair that’s very light in color or texture, ...

Overview

Distribution

Genetics

Gallery

See also

External links