We know everyone’s hair is different, and that’s great, because it’s part of what makes us who we are! Whether your hair is thick and wavy, or thin and straight; there’s a reason your hair is how it is and we’re going to find out why in this article.

• What gives hair its colour?

Hair colour is completely dependent on the types of pigment you have in your body. There are two types of pigment: melanin and carotene.

Melanin is dark brown in colour and carotene is a reddish-yellow tint. All hair colour is determined by the amount of each pigment that you have^[1]. So, you can blame your parents if you don’t like your natural hair colour because it’s all part of your genes!

Obviously, the more melanin your hair has, the darker your hair is going to be^[2]. You might have been blonde haired when you were a baby, but as you grow, the amount of melanin your body produces changes. So if you had darker hair after you grew up, it just means that your body produced more melanin through the years.

When you get older and your hair starts going grey, that’s when your body is making much less melanin and it starts losing its colour.

• What makes my hair curly?

How curly or straight your hair is once again down to genetics. But scientists and researchers are still not 100% sure what it is about your body that makes your hair this way.

There are some theories^[3] though, so take a read and cast your vote!

• Shape of the hair follicle.
• Number of twists (during growth).
• Hormones and medication.
• Hair bulb’s position in the follicle.
• What dictates hairs’ thickness?

The thickness of your hair is completely relevant to the size of your individual hair follicles. Larger hair follicles produce thicker strands of hair and those with smaller hair follicles tend to have thinner hair. Now you know why you have thicker hair while your best friend doesn’t.

Hair can also seem thicker if you simply have more hair. If you have more hair follicles on your scalp (or any other body part) then more hair will grow^[4].

Heredity plays a big part in how much or dense your hair grows, and if it is on your body and you want to get rid of it, there are a lot of different options available to you.

Shaving is an option but if you have thick, dark hair, it can come back quicker and thicker each time you shave. This tends not to be as much of a problem for those with thinner and lighter hair, as the appearance and feel tends to be less harsh than with thicker hair.

The same applies for depilatory creams - the reason for this is the root of the hair isn’t as affected as much as when you wax.

The most effective and long-lasting type of hair removal is waxing. It removes all of the hairs from their roots and the results can last for up to 28 days^[5] – again, depending on your hair type and the body part you are focusing on.

Veet Easy Grip Wax Strips features the Easy Grip tab which helps you to develop your own expert technique to remove hair from the roots in one go!

 

[1] http://www.scienceiq.com/facts/whatgiveshairitscolor.cfm

[2] https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/for-kids/about-hair/what-gives-hair-its-color

[3] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102074149

[4] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10594724

[5] http://www.veet.co.uk/how-to-guides-articles/discover-veet-wax-strips/