Hairstyle World Article for Women

Hair Basics

June 28th, 2006

Our hair is made of a type of protein called keratin. A single hair consists of a hair shaft, the part that shows, a root below the skin, and a follicle, from which the hair root grows. At the lower end of the follicle is the hair bulb, where the hair’s color pigment, or melanin, is produced.


The chemical composition of hair is : Carbon 45%, Oxygen 27%, Nitrogen15%, Hydrogen 6%, Sulphur 5%.

The average human scalp measures approximately 120 sq. inches (770 sq.cm). The hair covering varies numerically according to hair colour and ethnicity.

Scalp hair grows at an average rate of 0.4 mm/day (approximately 0.5 in/month).

Each person’s head has an average of 100,000 hair follicles. Each follicle can grow about 20 individual hairs in a person’s lifetime.

Hairs grow in cycles which are not synchronized in human beings; each hair enters phases of the growth cycle at a different time. There are three phases of the hair growth cycle: anagen (when it’s growing, phase lasts for up to six years), catagen, (hair stops growing and folicle shrinks), and telogen (new hair is being formed and if the old hair has not yell fallen out, the new hair will push it out). Each hair passes through the phases differently from that of it’s neighbours.

It is normal to lose 100 hairs per day from the scalp.

Pigments give the hair its color. When we age, hair receives fewer pigments and turns gray or white.

A single strand can support 100 grams in weight.

Your hair can tell if you smoke, drink, or if you take drugs. It can even tell your ethnic origin since different races have different hair structures. It cannot reveal what sex you are.

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