Did you think you knew a lot about hair? Well, we can tell you that you don’t know everything by a long shot! In this article, we give you 10 interesting facts about hair. So grab a smoothie or some tea and enjoy reading.
1. Hair is made of keratin
Keratin is the same protein that is on the outside of our skin and in our nails. It is also found in the hooves, claws and feathers of animals. Who would have thought we had so much in common with our animal friends?
2. Your hair grows faster in a warm climate
Heat stimulates the circulation in the body and therefore also in the scalp. As a result, your hair grows faster when you’re in a warm climate. Although, of course, this is not the only thing that plays a role in hair growth. A good diet and genes are also important here.
3. Wet hair is longer
Have you ever noticed that your freshly cut, wet hair seems longer than it actually is? And that once the hairdresser blow-dries it, it suddenly seems a lot shorter again?
Don’t worry, you’re not imagining this. When hair absorbs water it can get up to 30% longer than when it’s dry.
4. Visible hair is dead
The only hair that isn’t dead is the hair that’s still in the epidermis of our scalp. Crazy, huh? This is very surprising because we usually focus on the hair that’s on the outside, while we should be more concerned with our diet. After all, the hair on the outside is already dead.
5. Black hair is the most common and red hair the least…
Only 1% of the world’s population has natural red hair. The second rarest hair color is blond (2% of the world population). Dark hair colors are most common, with black as the absolute front runner. But whatever your hair color, embrace it, because it’s special!
Source: Standard6. Your hair contains a world of information
Your hair contains information about what went on in your bloodstream in the past. That’s why it’s even used in forensics.
Scientists can find out what you’ve eaten and drunk and even what kind of environment you’ve lived in. All that information in one little hair! Who would have thought that?
7. Each hair strand can carry 100 grams
To put this into perspective, we use an example. If each hair strand can carry 100g and people have an average of 100,000 to 150,000 hair strands on their heads, your entire hair bundle could carry the weight of 2 elephants!
8. Hair is the second fastest growing tissue of the body
The fastest growing tissue is the bone marrow.
Source: Shutterstock9. Blow-drying changes the shape of your hair by adjusting the hydrogen compounds
Water and heat adjust the hydrogen compounds in your hair. When your hair gets wet, for example, it becomes stiff and limp. This also explains why some women hate damp weather. The water changes the softness and structure of the hair making it frizzy.
10. Cutting your hair doesn’t make it grow faster
This is very unfortunate, because many of us have heard the opposite and have had our hair cut many times.
However, what does play a role in hair growth are split ends. These cause your hair to grow less quickly. So having your hair cut if you suffer from split ends does work.