Natural Hair Color
One of the most fascinating aspects of hair is how it gets its color. Many people know that a pigment
(coloring matter) called chlorophyll gives plants their green color. Most people don't know that a
pigment called melanin gives skin and hair their color. In the hair, melanin is found mainly in the
cortex, the hair strand's second layer. Here is how the natural coloring process works:
1. Genes in the human body determine the number of melanocytes in the hair and the
type of melanin they produce.
2. Melanin is produced by melanocytes, cells that exist among the dividing cells within the
hair bulb.
3. Melanocytes that rest near the hair bulb's nourishment center, the dermal papilla, collect
together and form bundles of a pigment protein complex called melanosomes.
4. The size, type and distribution of these melanosomes will determine the natural color of the
hair.
In simple terms, melanin is formed by various melanocytes (melanin cells) that bundle together to
create melanosomes (pigment protein complex).
There are two types of melanin that create the large variety of hair
colors, eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumalinin is brown/black in color
and pheomelanin is red in color. It is the amount and distribution of one
or both of these melanins that influence the resulting hair color.
If the amount of pheomelanin is very concentrated and near the cuticle layer, the hair color will
appear more red. People with very dark, black hair may even have melanin in the cuticle layer, while
lighter hair has melanin only in the cortex.
When there is a total lack of pigmentation in the
hair and skin, the resulting condition is called albinism. A person with this condition is
called an albino.
Gray hair is caused by reduced color pigment, melanin, in the cortex layer of the hair. Gray hair is
sometimes referred to as mottled hair, indicating white spots scattered about in the hair shafts. Gray
hair grows from the papilla with the gray color, not as some might believe, turning gray after it has
protruded above the skin. The natural aging process in humans is the cause of graying hair.
However, some serious illnesses or emotional conditions may cause the hair to turn gray. A heredi-
tary condition occurring at birth may cause some to gray prematurely. This is usually a defect in
pigment formation.
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SALON FUNDAMENTALS
MELANOCYTES
MELANOSOMES
MELANIN
EUMELANIN
PHEOMELANIN
