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Hair Types

Straight, Wavy, Curly, Kinky Or Frizzy

Other Than Different Hair Types, Hair Is Also Described By The Texture (Shaft Diameter) Or General Thickness (Density). Other than different hair types, hair is also described by the texture (shaft diameter) or general thickness (density).

Hair can, and does, change over time. Many times. Right through your lifetime. A child's hair shaft is fine and an old person's wiry.

Only Mammals Have Hair

Different types of hair have been genetically programmed into every living mammal. Each according to its own type. Many poems have been written to sing the praises of beautiful hair. Like Shakespeare said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Straight To Afro

Hair types are determined by the shape of the follicle itself, as well as by the direction in which each strand grows out of its follicle. Curly and/or coiled hair grows at a sharp angle to the scalp.

Blondes have the most hair, while redheads have the least. On average between 60-100 scalp hair are lost daily. If daily loss exceed replacement, you will eventually become bald.

Cross-Section Of Different Hair Types

Straight - looks very similar to a circle.
Wavy - shows slightly flattened shaft.
Curly - shows more flattened, elliptical shaft.
Tightly Coiled - shows very elliptical shaft.

Straight hair is strongest and shinier than curly hair. The reason is because sebum from the sebaceous gland can travel down the hair shaft more easily because the hair is straight.

The kinkier the hair, the more difficulty the sebum has traveling down the hair, therefore the hair looks (and in fact is) dry, dull and frizzy.

You may notice you loose more hair in the colder months than in the hotter months. The hair growth cycle is fastest from the age of sixteen to the late twenties.

Hair Texture

The texture and amount of the hair totally depends on the diameter of the hair itself, as well as on the body part it is growing on.

As a rough guide, the follicle depth of the growing hair determines the diameter of the hair shaft. Exceptions are eyelashes, pubic hair, whiskers and beard, because they are remarkably thick, but with shallow follicles.

Hair texture can be very fine, fine, medium, coarse, very coarse, extra coarse and super coarse. Texture is very closely linked to the skin type and ethnic grouping. This is measured with the Fitzpatrick classification questionnaire.

Very fine long vellous hair can start to grow on the body in cases of malnutrition or extreme anorexia nervosa, because the starved body attempts to insulate itself against cold.

Thickness Or Density

Whether terminal hair will be described as thin, medium or thick is totally dependent upon follicle density. The body area with the most follicles per square cm is without a doubt the male cheeks, chin and upper lip.

The body area with the least follicles per square cm are the legs. Hirsutism describes females with androgen-dependent terminal hair growth in a male sexual pattern. These women have a lot of male hormones. Their bodies produce hair in the typical male androgenic pattern.

The skin sites involved in hirsutism are the upper lip, chin, central chest, back, abdomen and pubic thigh areas. These areas are also the best indicators of an elevated androgenic hormone level in females. A man doesn't have hirsutism, because it is a female condition.

Hypertrichosis or hairyness (not hyperhidrosis, which means excessive sweating) occurs in both men and women on any body area where excess hair is inappropriate for that area, age or sex.

Condition Of Hair

The condition of the hair is dependent on various factors. Chemotherapy for cancer causes hair to fall out because it kills all rapidly dividing cells in the follicle, not just the cancerous ones.

Other diseases and traumas also leave their mark on the hair. Hairdressers experience this fact daily. Harsh chemicals (bleach, colour, hair removal, perms etc) have profound impact on hair.

Hair suffers when heat producing instruments are used too often. Avoid handling or brushing wet hair roughly, because hair are very elastic when wet. The hair might break off or the ends might split.

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