Who doesn’t love fun random facts? Found this gem of an article, and found it very interesting!
I always like to learn everything I
can, especially about hair, so I present to you 100 Random Facts About
Hair!
1. The average person has between 100,000 and 150,000 strands of hair on their head.
2. 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.
3. Hair is the fastest growing tissue in the body. The only thing that grows faster is bone marrow.
4. A single hair strand has a thickness of .02 – .04 mm.
5. Everybody sheds between 40-150 strands of hair per day.
6. Crash dieting can cause temporary hair loss.
7. Hair is made up of mostly keratin, which our outer layer of skin and fingernails are made out of.
8. In animals, horns, hooves, claws, feathers, beaks, quills (porcupines), and baleen (whales) are all also made of keratin.
9. On an average adult scalp, 25 meters of hair fiber is produced every day.
10. 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.
11. 40% of women have female pattern hair loss by the time they go through menopause.
12. 50% of men have male pattern hair loss by the age of 50.
13. For it to be apparent that you are balding, you would have to lose 50% of your hair.
14. Most drugs cause hair loss.
15. Thyroid imbalance causes hair loss.
16. Iron deficiency causes hair loss.
17. Humans are born with all of their hair follicles and there is no
possible way to increase the amount of hair follicles you have.
18. 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.
19. Hair is produced in the hair shaft beneath the skin; therefore it takes 13 days to see grey/white hair after it is produced.
20. A single strand of hair can support up to 6.5 pounds of weight.
21. A whole head of hair could support up to 2 tons.
22. On average, hair grows .3 – .5 mm per day.
23. The length of the growing phase of hair shortens as you age.
24. When you are born, you have about 1000 hair follicles per square centimeter. This number drops as you age.
25. Each hair follicle grows a completely new hair about 20 times in a lifetime.
26. Hair structure is the same, no matter whose head it is on.
27. 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.
28. The middle layer of hair is called the cortex, which is made of long proteins twisted together.
29. 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.
30. Keratin is composed mostly of an amino acid called cysteine, which is what gives the hair its shape.
31. Blow-drying your hair works by changing hydrogen bonds to alter
the shape. Water also changes hydrogen bonds; hence the reason women
hate humidity.
32. The only part of hair that is not dead is the hair that is inside your scalp.
33. African hair grows slower and is more fragile than European hair.
34. Asian hair grows the fastest and has the best elasticity.
35. The word “shampoo” comes from the Hindi word “champna” which means “to knead”.
36. Women lose a lot of hair after giving birth. This is due to their hormones regulating back to normal.
37. Most shampoos are slightly acidic to restore the pH of damaged hair and smooth the cuticle.
38. Healthy hair, when wet, can stretch to 30% its original length.
39. It takes about 7 years to grow your hair to your waist, and 3 years to grow to your shoulders.
40. The only way to get rid of “split ends” is to cut them. There is no way to completely repair them.
41. The major cause of dandruff is a fungus called Malassezia
globosa, which pushes dead skin cells to the surface quicker than
normal.
42. 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%.
43. 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.
44. Hair can absorb its weight in water.
45. 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.
46. Africans and Europeans are more prone to balding than Asians.
47. Asian hair is almost always straight and black/dark brown.
48. If you pluck one hair, a new one will start growing from the follicle.
49. Different textures of hair have different cross-section shapes
under a microscope. Straight hair is usually round and curly hair is
usually oval.
50. The first liquid shampoo on the market was called “Dop” and came out in 1952.
51. 90% of right-handed people grow cowlicks in a clockwise direction.
52. Hair is stronger than a copper wire of the same diameter.
53. The size of a hair follicle determines the thickness and length of hair.
54. The hair follicle contains its own muscle, nerve and blood supply.
55. Hair grows the fastest during the summer, sleep, or between the ages of 16 to 24.
56. Dark hair contains higher levels of carbon than light hair.
57. 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.
58. The growing phase of hair lasts between 3-5 years on average.
59. Scientists can tell what you ate or drank, or the environment you live in, by examining a small piece of your hair.
60. 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.
61. Every inch of the human body is covered in hair besides the palms, soles of the feet, and lips.
62. The average life span of a strand of hair is 4-7 years.
63. 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.
64. The average man spends 5 months of his life shaving.
65. Facial hair grows faster than any other type of body hair.
66. The scientific term for grey hair is “canities.”
67. The first hair dye was invented in 1907 by French chemist Eugene Schueller and it was called “Aureole.”
68. If a man never shaved his beard, it would grow to over 30 feet in a lifetime.
69. Many store-bought hair colors 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.
70. The first men’s hair product was called “Brylcreem”, was produced in 1928, and was made of mineral oil, beeswax and water.
71. On average, women’s hair is half the diameter of men’s hair.
72. The process of removing unwanted body hair dates back to the ancient Egyptians.
73. At one time, in Russia, there was a random tax for wearing a beard.
74. Humans have the same amount of hair follicles per square inch as a chimpanzee.
75. The scientific term for split ends is “Trichoptilosis.”
76. The first African-American hair products were created by Madam CJ
Walker, the first American black woman to become a millionaire.
77. Body hair is generally shorter because the growing phase is a lot shorter than the growing phase of hair on the scalp.
78. 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.
79. The growing phase of hair is called anagen, and the resting phase is called telogen.
80. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow in death.
81. Scientists have discovered that people with a higher IQ, have more zinc and copper in their hair.
82. The curling iron was invented in France, by Marcel Grateau, in 1875.
83. The purpose of hair is to act as a thermal protection, since our head lacks the thermal insulation fats layers.
84. Every hair follicle is completely independent of neighboring follicles.
85. Less than 4% of the world’s population has natural red hair.
86. Research shows that hair becomes drier with age.
87. Hair transplantation is the only permanent solution for hair loss.
88. Gender is one thing that cannot be identified by a hair strand.
89. Hair extensions are made from mostly from people of the Chinese and Indian heritage.
90. The anticipation of sex makes hair grow faster.
91. Men grow hair faster than women.
92. Stress can make dandruff worse.
93. A random lock of Elvis’ hair was sold at an auction for 15,000$
94. The average American woman spends between 10-23 thousand dollars in a lifetime on unwanted hair removal.
95. The color of hair depends on how much melanin each strand has.
96. Cutting hair does not influence how fast or slow it will grow.
97. Men without hair on their chests are more likely to get cirrhosis of the liver than men with hair.
98. The human body has approximately 5 million hair follicles.
99. Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss.
100. The longest documented hair was measured in 2004. It belonged to Xie Qiuping from China, and measured 18.5 feet long.
