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Melanin Is Pigment

Produced By Melanocytes

Melanin pigment is produced by melanocytes and then deposited to the matrix cells where various shades of anagen hair is formed in the follicle. Pigment belongs to the amino acid chain of proteins and looks like a string of pearls under a microscope.

Eumelanin (brunette) Pheomelanin (blonde)

Even thought only two pigment shades (see image above) are available, uncountable different hair shades, ranging from (white) yellow, brown, red to black can be produced.

The type and amount of melanin that is present in a skin gives the skin its color. Less melanin means a lighter skin and vise versa.

Hair-dye manufacturers only have these two pigment shades to produce different shades. And just look at all the shades they can produce! It truly is amazing.

What makes this even more fantastic is that a hair never contains more than just 1% (yes, just one percent) of colour pigment. And such glorious results are achieved!

Different shades of dark hair, even on the same head of hair, are due to differences in the overall quantities of pigment they contain. Melanin is also present in the skin and the quantities determine the skin's colour.

How are all the hair shades produced?

Only two pigments give hair its unique color. Different combinations of eumelanin and pheomelanin can produce a surprising diversity of hair shades:

Eumelanin – black to brown pigment; granules looks like rice; predominant in black and brunette hair; differenct shades are due to differences in pigment quantities in the hair.

Pheomelanin - yellow to red pigment; partly oval and partly rod-shaped granules; found in red and blond hair; the more eumelanin in the mixture, the darker the hair.

Light brown hair contains a mixture of eumelanin and pheomelanin; the less eumelanin contained in the hair, the lighter the color of the hair strand.

Grey hair contains only a few pigment granules spread out throughout the length of the hair.

White hair contains no pigment granules at all, but look yellow (the 'color' of keratin) when it first grows, then later turns white.

Where is melanin produced?

All this fantastic mixing takes place inside the follicle of all body hair during the anagen phase. That means all growing hair, it doesn't matter if it is vellus hair or terminal (androgenic) body hair. The color is just more prominent in the terminal hair.

Melanocytes, also called dendrites, are large star shaped cells that produce and transfer the pigment to the hair shaft. The production is generated by an amino acid, tyrosine, and is transformed by an enzyme, tyrosinase.

The melanocytes produce and transfer the pigment grains into the matrix cells that forms the hair fibre in the hair follicle.

Melanocytes can be found between the basal cells of the hair matrix where new cells are laid down to form the growing hair shaft.

The amount and colour of the melanin deposited is responsible for the colour of the hair shaft that is being produced in the follicle.

The specific shade depends upon each person's genetic inheritance. Hair fibre is at the core of any growing anagen hair shaft.

Hair colour and genetic inheritance

Boy With Darkly Pigmented Skin With Blond Hair

Children With Darkly Pigmented Skin With Blond Hair

The combination of the two pigments in the mixture is determined by the individual's genes.

Ethnic differences is apparent in skin, hair and eye color as well as hair types.

Dark haired, dark skinned people are by far the most common in the world.

The reason is because inhabitants of the whole Asia, Middle East, South America, Mediterranean countries are mostly dark haired. These countries are also densely populated areas.

In the northern European countries of Scandinavia, Norway and Sweden blond hair is the most common. People living on the Equator or in warm climates normally have dark hair and olive to dark skin.

The hair becomes fairer in relation to the distance from the equator. Brown hair is more common halfway between the equator and the North and South poles.

But, there are always exceptions to every rule, like blonde Asians. In North Africa, the Middle East and South Pacific, particularly the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, dark skinned people with blond hair and/or blue eyes are quite common.

Melanin and photo-epilation

Photo-epilation devices emit a gentle beam of light that passes through the skin to the hair follicle. The light is attracted by pigment in the hair as well as the pigment in the skin.

The skin colour must be as light as possible. The bigger the contrast between skin and hair colour, the better the hair removal results will be. That is why winter bleached skin is preferred. Melanin Proliferation Or Skin Tanning

That is why darker skinned people will have less benefit from this hair removal method than fair skinned people with dark hair.

The reason is the darker skin's pigment also absorb the light.

The skin can even be burned in the process. Most of these photo epilation methods do not work on white, grey, light blonde or red hair.

Why not? Because those hair have little to no eumelanin (dark pigment). Therefore, bleach your skin out as much as possible before going for laser or intense pulsed light (IPL device) hair removal treatment.

Skin grouping is done according to the Fitzpatrick classification scale.

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Pages related to melanin

Do you now understand why the winter is the best time to do hair removal by means of intense pulsed light (IPL) or laser?
Go to the follicle page to get more information about all the wonderful things that happen during the production of a hair.
You really should visit the anagen phase page, because it when all this wonderful things happen.