10 facts you might not know about hair
1: Everyone’s natural coloured hair contains Black, Brown, Red and yellow pigment, and controversially some scientists suggest there is also blue pigment as well. Depending on how much of each determines your own natural colour.
2: White hair is actually colourless; all the natural pigment has stopped being produced. Hair looks white because light doesn’t bounce off it, instead it is absorbed by the hair and the strands all clumped together give off a white appearance.
3: the tensile strength of human hair is incredible. It is stronger, pro rata than the suspension cables that hold the Forth Road Bridge up.
4: One of the many chemical compounds found in human hair is sulphur, which is responsible for creating waves and curls, the more sulphur content the curlier natural hair is.
5: When natural hair colour is lightened, the colour pigments contained naturally are broken down and become exposed. Black is first to go, brown follows, blue (if it is present would be next). Red and yellow are the smallest sized pigments and are more difficult to remove, that’s why hair can look very orange or yellow as it lightens to a blonde shade.
6: Hair is a very strong structure but can be damaged by misuse of chemicals, the weather, central heating, swimming, and by using heated appliances without protection. When damage occurs it affects the outer structure, the cuticle, which makes hair look dull and lifeless. Then, the cortex is altered which means natural and artificial colour can fade quickly and the moisture which keeps hair feeling soft and supple can be washed away leaving hair feeling dry and looking demoisturised.
7: Hair grows at approximately 0.5” a month, that means if your hair is 12” the ends are 2 years old, imagine what has been done to it in that amount of time.
8: 95% of our bodies are covered in hair, that’s a lot of hair!
9: Less than 4% of the entire population of planet Earth has red hair, and we reckon about 90% of that figure live in Scotland!
10: If you placed each hair on your head in a straight line, after a year’s full growth, it would be about 10 miles long.
Naturally, here at Rhona McCallum Hair we pride ourselves on looking after all the different elements of your hair to keep it in tip-top condition at all time. If you have any questions, or want advice on in salon treatments and how to look after your hair at home, ask your stylist, we are more than happy to share our knowledge about the products we stock in the salon.
You can also click here for our online shop: YOUR HOME HAIR CARE
