Talk:Human hair color

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[edit] Color Change in Children

There is no explanation of the change in color that often occurs during puberty, especially to blonds. Children that have extremely light blond hair at age 10 can have dark blond or even dark brown hair by the time they're 14. I haven't added anything about this because I have no idea why it happens.

I don't have the energy right now to add anything to article, but this site [1] explains the phenomenon. --Jugbo 22:48, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Your right in the fact that when I was 10 I had white blond hair and eyebrows but by the time i was about 15-16 my hair was brown and eyebrows dark brown.I also have a wierd patch of white blond hair that never changed at the back of my hair.

[New poster] I vote to add this section to the main article. I was wondering, and I'm glad I thought to look under the Discussion section and found that link!

[edit] Question originally at top of page

May not be the best place to ask this but, I'm 18 years old and I've got a couple of white hairs on my head. No gray hair at all.. just 2 solitary strands of really white hair. What could explain that? 210.50.86.5 06:07, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

If you're still around, you might try a site called Understanding Genetics by using their Ask a Geneticist feature [2]. --Jugbo 22:53, 7 January 2006 (UTC)


People changes in hair is related to OCA gene, SNP adn melanin acumuation and production by melanoblastos exposition to sunligth and other enviroment factors /eye color: oca2 for blond or semi-albinism. is same reasson for color changes in eyes. other are poligens o minor ones. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.255.224.138 (talk) 20:50, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vast majority have black hair

The statement "The vast majority of people have brown hair of varying shades." is incorrect, given that Asia & Africa together constitute around 3/4s of the human population. Add to this vast numbers of black-haired denizens of Southern Europe and Central & South America, brown hair is clearly shown as a small minority.

-Ravenhead

I basically agree... AnonMoos 16:08, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
I don't fully agree as to Southern Europe. Most Italians or Spanish people don't have "black" hair, but only a comparatively dark shade of brown hair. One clearly sees the difference when looking at the hair of a person from India or Japan. But I am well aware that the term "black" is relative!
212.227.103.74 19:39, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
I don't really understand, I thought everyone knew the largest hair colour majority is brown? Most Indian, Oriental and Afro hair can be seen to be the darkest shade of brown when clear light is shone on it! I actually thought that people with TRULY black hair were reasonably rare (almost as rare as natural blondes ;D lol!). JJ
Most Africans have BROWN hair, truly BLACK hair is as rare as truly black EYES.

JJ or someone else says that most africans have brown hair... um... most africans have black hair.... and so do most of the world popluation.... and the reasoning of most indian oriental and afircan hair when light is shone on it is brown.... the only time when hair is truly black is when it is dyed... there is such thing as truly BLACK hair colour... you either have black hair or not...Australian Jezza 07:27, 17 November 2006 (UTC)


MOST Africans and Asians have DARK brown hair... if you wish to make a separate section for dark brown hair to supplement your point, perhaps that's best, but to continue to call the majority of the world's dark BROWN hair BLACK hair is ridiculous.

Africans have beautiful dark brunette hair that appears black, but actually is not. However the shades are dark but not always black. Southern Europeans, Indians, Arabians are also beautiful dark brunnette. Eastern Asians are the only people that have true black hair. Its blue-black when you look closely.
Read this: Eumelanin is black, and pheomelanin is red. All humans have pheomelanin in their hair. Bleach dark hair and it will be rud/orange. But it's still black otherwise. Hair is generally ugly, so you're wrong even more. -lysdexia 08:18, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I know for a fact that it is not redheaded Europeans, but dark-haired Africans that have the thickest hair.

    • You know correctly, whoever you are. :-)

_____

What is the evolutionary purpose for differences in hair color and texture?--65.1.80.92 14:58, 17 June 2006 (UTC) _____

Also, the supposed "facts" on the red haired portion is, on more accounts than not, incorrect. Naturally blonde hair may make up 1.7-2% of the world's population, but on the majority of websites, .org or .com, the percentage of the world's population that has red hair is 4%. This would make naturally blonde hair the rarest color in the world. Feel free to check this all for yourself.

[edit] albinism...

I think the part in albinism that says-"(Like the skin-tone that white people usually have)." should be removed. I myself am "white" and I don't know about any other people but my skin is definitely not pale pink. Everyone has pink lips and palms, but I have yet to meet anyone with pink skin. White people have a peach-ish color skin.-Liz 7/11/06

I do have to disagree. Many people we call "ginger" here in Britain have pale, pale skin with a flushed, pinkish complexion. Check out Bradley from Eastenders lol! JJ

[edit] Ellen Rocche has naturally blond hair

What is your source? - .Aiko 08:32, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Footnotes

That first footnote that says nobody has naturally black hair..what? Clearly that is incorrect.

[edit] Emphasize Black hair

I think we need to emphasize how pretty much everyone has either black hair or dark borwn hair except for a few (namely white people). We need to clear that annoyingly ethnocentric concept of how hair color is so important. It's really a non-issue except for those few white people. White people aren't the centre of the world

Black hair is most common in the world and it is found in peoples of Asian, African, South Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Balkan and Pacific Islander heritage. It also forms a noticable element amongst the Irish, Welsh, Cornish and Highland Scots populations.
Blond hair is a relatively rare human phenotype, occurring in 1.7 to 2% of the world population with the majority of natural blondes in Scandinavia, England and other parts of Europe,
Red hair is by far the least common hair color in the United States and in the world;
The majority of people of European origin have brown hair of varying shades. It is found all over the world, mostly in Europe, and is sometimes seen in those of Mediterranean, Balkan, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern descent.
How is this not enough emphasis? Each hair colour has its own article. This one even says most light haired people are of European descent. --Wafulz 03:30, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
wrong again.. DARK BROWN hair is what the majority of the world's population has, and dark BROWN hair is an altogether different hair color than BLACK hair.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.7.249.68 (talk • contribs)
Sources speak louder than words. --Wafulz 04:35, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
is that why the majority of the article calling black hair the majority isn't sourced? :-)—Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.7.249.68 (talk • contribs)
Nobody said you couldn't change it :-). Also, sign your posts with four tildes (~~~~)--Wafulz 05:31, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

I've heard that scientists are working on creating genes that make your hair blue, pink or any other unnatural color. Is this true? I hope it is, because there are not enough natural hair colors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.240.234.212 (talk) 11:14, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] British Isles

I'm intrigued by the following sentence about black hair:

"It also forms a noticable element amongst the Irish, Welsh, Cornish and Highland Scots populations."

and the following sentence about blond hair:

" but remains common amongst the English and Scots Lowlanders."

Not only are both statements unsourced, but it sounds suspiciously like the editor(s) is (are) pushing some sort of Celtic/Anglo-Saxon agenda. Having visited many parts of Britain (as well as living there), I know that such a division of hair colour does not exist to any notable extent. I would say the ratio of blond to dark-haired people in Britain is pretty similar. I'm removing this unless someone can prove otherwise. Pobbie Rarr 00:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Remove it, I think it is BS. As this also seems to be (about red) as well:
Many physical anthropologists (British Israeliest fantasist racists no doubt) now believe red hair was not an indigenous Celtic trait; rather, it was introduced into Ireland and Scotland via the Nordic invasions of Vikings, Normans (very few were actually Norman), and later by way of English Protestant planters(most of whom came from areas of Britonic ancestry, according to DNA samples done in the UK).
So the Roman observations of much red headedness in Scots was actually a prediction that their hair would be red some hundreds of years into the future?
Some idiots think there was nothing happening before history was written down as well. There was much connection between Ireland and Scandinavia in prehistory and most likely between Albion and Scandinavia as well. Given that there is a larger base for red hair among people of the British (Pretanic, Cruthni) Isles it is quite possible that Scandinavians got it from the early contacts.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.163.140.82 (talk • contribs)

The stuff re: red hair in this is utter nonesense and contradicts the much more accurate info in the seperate Wikipedia red hair entry. Red hair is at least twice as common in Ireland and Scotland as it is in England or Scandinavia according to stats I have seen. The Harvard study (author was Hooton) of the physical anthropology of the Irish (an academic statistical study of many thousands of residents of Ireland in the 1940s and 50s) is a vital text in this regard and it put about 10% of the Irish with red or reddish hair. It also noted that red hair was much more common among the Catholic Irish than the Protestant or Presbyterian Irish. It was among the Irish Catholics of the NW of Ireland (maximum in Co. Fermanagh)that the greatest frequency of red hair was found in the study while in the east of Ireland (where most later settlers such as Vikings, Normans, Anglo-Irish and lowland Scots settled), it is considerably more rare. NW Ireland is as far from the Irish Viking areas as you can get and the study found considerably less red hair, fair freckled skin etc in the eastern half of Ireland than the west, contrary to popular myth. The whole thesis of red hair being introduced to Ireland by Vikings or by later British settlers etc is therefore total nonesense that is totally contradicted by the findings of the Harvard survey. The Romans never visited Ireland but they (Tacitus) stated that the inhabitants of genetically (largely AMH haplotype population) similar northern Scotland (Caledonia) were characterised by reddish hair and large limbs in the 1st or 2nd century AD, over 6 centuries before the Vikings arrived in the British Isles and 2 or 3 centuries before any Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived either. So, everything points to the Vikings or other settlers having nothing to do with red hair in Ireland or Scotland. The most likely explanation for its modern distribution is that it was brought to the British Isles by the very earliest (Mesolithic) settlers to Ireland and Scotland who were probably a predominantly fair skinned, light eyed, brown haired population with a notable red haired minority (as today in Ireland and Scotland). The red hair only remained common where this early population was relatively undiluted by later settlers in the most isolated of places like NW Ireland and northern Scotland. The stuff about Vikings and red hair is an old wives tale similar to the stuff about the Armada leaving dark people on the west coast of Ireland and has no place in Wikipidea. It is also worth saying that nobody who has actually travelled Ireland, Scotland, England and Europe including Scandinavia would be in any doubt that the red haired, ultra pale/ freckled skin phenotype is overwhelmingly a British Isles one(particularly Scotland and Ireland). Today, Gemanic and Baltic Europe has far more blondes, often with skin types that much more readily produce a deep golden tan. The Irish Harvard Survey (Hooton) evidence is vital and Wikipedia should consult that source. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Occam's razor blades (talk • contribs) By Jove, paragraphs please! :-) --Wafulz 02:53, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hair color and eye color linkage

The article says that red hair is genetically linked with light eye color. But most of the natural redheads that I know have brown eyes, why many people say that red hair and brown eyes are so uncommon?? But blond hair and brown eyes i think is impossible, only in childs. I have never seen an adult with natural blond hair with brown eyes. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lithop (talk • contribs) 03:22, 7 December 2006 (UTC). Twenty years ago, I was working together with a woman, age 18, who had light blond hair and medium brown eyes (not light brown eyes), and she said that this combination was uncommon. Seven years later, her coloring was still the same, so I must say that it exists, and I may have met others that I dont remember. (62.20.115.40 00:10, 13 May 2007 (UTC))


what? I have very dark brown eyes (some people said almost black) and very very blond hair although it has turned a more dark/gold blond colour since about 6 years ago... (I'm now 36). In fact when I grew up, I got teased heaps for being a guy with such long blond hair :D (ZhuLien:ZhuLien 22:48, 14 October 2007 (UTC)) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zhulien (talk • contribs)

[edit] Gray hair

An IP posted this in the article:

"earlier in this article it is said that grey color of hair is due to death of stem cells but can a cancer drug rejuvinate a dead cell.so the the stem cell death may not be the cause of grey hair.i think it may be due to switch offing dna in tune with biological timer inside cell."—Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.7.87 (talk • contribs) --Wafulz 17:08, 25 December 2006 (UTC)


I changed the spelling to the correct 'grey', since the url has 'en' in it for English. On the page for the colour Grey it is spelled the same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Accuracy of Frost's hair color map

Aren't there any other hair color distribution maps? I find some parts of this map from Peter Frost unrealitsic. For example i find it difficult to believe that most of Britain is blonder than northern Germany. What do yout hink, is it correct? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Common (talk • contribs) 20:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC).

The map says that there are more people with "light" hair in Britain than in Germany, not blond(e). Light hair presumably includes light brown and red hair. Germany may well have a larger proportion with very blond(e) hair, but may also have more people with dark hair. LeighvsOptimvsMaximvs 18:11, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Discrimination?

If for example, anti-semitism is discrimination against someone who is Jewish, and racism is discrimination against someone belonging to a particular race, is there a name for discrimination (eg. name calling) against someone based on the color of their hair? Does such a term exist? JohnathanZX4 20:23, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

I think "stereotyping" is the best word available for that, though I don't think anyone's ever been discriminated against because of hair colour (aside from professional jobs that don't like blue-haired mohawks). --Wafulz
I disagree. What about the whole "dumb-blonde" thing, or "gingers"? JohnathanZX4 23:11, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm arguing that people aren't really hurt in a manner that violates their human rights, which is more of what "discrimination" means in this sense. What you've mentioned are still just stereotypes more than anything else. --Wafulz 03:47, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

I believe the term is 'folliclist'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:12, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] hair dye

i am tring to find how to dye ur hair and see which hair dyr you fade faster and which obe to get so that i know what i shoulkd get \ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.34.120.31 (talk) 17:59, 1 February 2007 (UTC).


.....You idiot. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:13, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No. of strands

Brunettes, blonds, and redheads are all listed as having 100 000 strands--but for blonds it says the number of strands is the highest and for red the lowest. AndperseAndy 00:49, 9 February 2007 (UTC)


[edit] HELP!!!

Sorry I know this is not a forum but i have had White hair not gray i mean WHITE hair since i was 8 i ask around and no one can give me a straight answer does anybody know why? I would appreciate it.Secondandonly 03:09, 16 August 2007 (UTC)


Yeah like your parents never took you to the doctors. Getouttahere! And you're right, this isn't a forum.

[edit] hair color pictures

I really like the pictures of the different people with different hair colors! it's beautiful to see how we all come in such diversity. i never realized the stark difference between black and brown hair before! you can clearly see the differences in all the human hair colors. anyone else agree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jesusfreek1o1 (talk • contribs) 00:25, 13 October 2007 (UTC)


This page isn't for discussion about hair, this is for discussion on improving the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:17, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Red hair = thickest??

I notice there's already been some debate on this statement, but it has not been properly addressed. The general consensus on this discussion board (and, from what I know, the "real world") is that dark hair of African origin is the thickest. I also know that I am a natural redhead and my hair is baby-fine. The statement could be altered to be less binding (i.e., say something like "most redheads"), but altering it without a reference won't do much; thus, I have added a "citation needed" template.

Skittleys 18:08, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Common hair colors

I don't like the section name, which is also used in the hair color navbox. It's misleading, implying that blond(e) is common even though it is stated to be rare in the blond hair subsection, as well as implying that there are additional unspecified rare hair colors. Are there any objections to renaming it to natural hair colors? -- Gordon Ecker 03:19, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

It's done. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 01:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] hydrocephalus and hair coloring

i had my hair colored in may 200 then after that it was colored again now all of a suddin my head itches every day why is it cause im hydro and i was supposed to have this done to my hair? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.163.115.11 (talk) 23:44, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Italy Blondism Map

I have a map of hair blondism in italy by R.Biasutti , the map of Peter Frost is wrong and little detailed ,i don't have a wikipedia account and i can't post images , if someone is interested this is the link : (percentage of pure blond hair, not dark blond or light brown )

http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/38316/2003631590295084685_rs.jpg

(original version)

http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/36136/2004731625103268248_rs.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.222.222.113 (talk) 10:04, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] So black, red, and blond all have an article, but brown hair does not?

Why was the old brunette article redirected into this? Why is the black hair article around then, if black hair is actually a variant of the brunet color? Was the page not good enough?

I haven't seen a discussion about it here, and the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it... any reason for it? Should someone (me?) start an article about it? 71.196.91.30 (talk) 04:05, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Brown hair does have an article. Brunette is kind of an odd word to use for brown hair, since it really only refers to women with brown hair. I'm not really sure what your trying to say. In the title you wrote "So black, red, and blond all have an article, but brown hair does not?" but then you wrote "and the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it" so you sort of answered your own question...brown hair does have its own article. And what do you mean by "the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it" Discuss what? I'm pretty sure brunette is a slang sort of a word when it comes to hair. It's just a word people use to refer to women with brown hair, therefore there is no need to have a page entitled 'Brunette'. If it isn't already mentioned, maybe you should just add a line to the Brown hair page stating something like 'most people refer to women with brown hair as brunettes'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:36, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] white hair

Why is white hair hardly mentioned? Lots of albinos and elderly have white hair. One of my grandfathers developed a full heard of thick white hair that shown amazingly bright when hit by sunlight. It was beautiful. It seems like a shame that white hard is mostly ignored here. Herorev (talk) 04:10, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

lol...shown? I think you mean shone. Or maybe shines. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:41, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Effects of aging on hair color

The paragraph below (italics mine) is confusing because it seems to cites different causes of grey hair without explicitly linking them:

Two genes appear to be responsible for the process of graying, Bcl2 and Mitf. The change in hair color is caused when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root and new hairs grow in without pigment. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes the onset of graying.

Any geneticists out there wanna take a stab at explaining this better? Thanks. Kinkyturnip (talk) 17:05, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rejuvenating Hair Color with Small Molecule Telomerase Activators

Hair color may be restored by lengthening the telomeres associated with the stem cells that refresh melanocytes. This was a headline in 2004. This may be done by application of small molecule telomerase activators, such as TA-65 from TA Sciences, or extracts of astragalus prepared with ethanol and water, such as GAIA Astragalus Extract, which is available with 1 mg of astragalosides per 30 drops. In this latter case, 150 drops just before bedtime for 2 weeks out of 4 produces noticible changes after about 9 months of cyclic treatment in a 60-year old man. According to communications from Greta Blackburn of TA Sciences, similar cyclic treatment with TA-65 produces 460 base pairs of telomere growth per year. Since we typically loose 50 bp per year, this amounts to a cumulative rejuvenation rate of about 9 years per year. On the average, 50% of persons have 50% grey hair at age 50, and this about what a 60 year old man can expect to observe with a year of this sort of treatment. While taking TA-65 or astragalus extract to lengthen telomeres by activating telomerase, one should be careful to avoid small molecule telomerase inhibitors including curcumin (turmeric), silymarin (Milk Thistle), resveratrol, quercetin, green tea, garlic, fish oil (EPA), and vitamin E. These may be taken during the subsequent two weeks, if telomerase activation is used during the first two weeks using astragalus extract. This seems to work, according to my file of personal hair clippings, and at about the 9 years/year rate observed with TA-65 using the Patton Protocol, which uses 3 months of telomerase activation with TA-65 followed by 3 months of no telomerase activation. I note that this therapy has cumulative effect if continued, because as the telomeres grow, more and more senescent cells become non-senescent with closed telomere t-loops. Cells become senescent when t-loops become too short and spring open, activating a DNA damage response to a double-strand DNA break leading to the senescent state. At 9 years per year, one can expect to observe a time machine rejuvenation effect. After the first year, 59 looks 50. After the 2nd year, we expect to observe that 60 looks 41, and so on, until all senescent cells vanish along with all grey hair. Many cells in the body are treated, so that skin tone and other aging variables improve. In particular, I note that senescent dermal fibroblasts emit collegenase and stromelysin, two matix metalloproteinases that attack the extracellular matrix. As non-senescent cells, the same fibroblasts emit collagen and elastin, refreshing the extracellular matrix. Thus, this treatment produces a visible rejuvenation effect that applies to the skin and hair, and to other cells in the body. I note that the telomerase activating effect of astragalus extracts and extracts from the extracts was discovered by a team of scientists at Geron Corporation and at Hong Kong University led by Calvin B. Harley of Geron, with patents published in 2005. See the Geron patent COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR INCREASING TELOMERASE ACTIVITY and the Hong Kong University patent FORMULATIONS CONTAINING ASTRAGALUS EXTRACTS AND USES THEREOF. Also, I note that TA-65 from TA Sciences, a smaller and probably more bioavailable molecule than the telomerese activator Astragaloside IV in ordinary astragalus extracts, is presently available together with state-of-the-art measurements of telomere length made by checking blood granulocytes done at two universities on the TA Sciences team. TA-65 may become generally available in health food stores in the future. Bioavailability of Astragaloside IV in astragalus extract may be boosted with chitosan or sodium deoxycholate. For more details associated with rejuvenation and longevity see Anti-Aging Medicine: Longevity & Life Extension in Review.—Preceding unsigned comment added by JamesAGreen (talk • contribs) 16:05, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

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[edit] Modifications to Gallery

I propose that we modify the gallery so that it better displays the variations of blonde, brown, red and black hair. --*Kat* (talk) 06:55, 6 June 2008 (UTC)