permdamage : Perm hair damage repair

The primary aim is to replenish the oil and the moisture in the hair. That is why the emphasis is on the conditioning aspect of hair care. Strong cleansing routines and dry toning exercises and massaging of the scalp promote dryness and flakiness of the scalp.

Beat an egg in a cup of skimmed milk. When the foam becomes consistent, rub it into the scalp. Leave it on for 5 minutes. Rinse the hair thoroughly with water. Carry out this routine twice a week.

Another dry hair home remedy: The Protein Conditioner Beat one tablespoon of castor oil, one tablespoon of glycerin, a teaspoon of cider vinegar and a teaspoon of protein, plus a tablespoon of mild herbal shampoo. Apply it on scalp and leave it on for 20 minutes. Rinse with clear water.

Other tips on home based treatment of dry hair:

1. First assess whether your scalp and hair are moisture dry or oil-dry.
2. Condition your hair as often as you wash it.
3. Never comb, brush or massage vigorously if the hair is extremely dry.
4. Avoid using the hair dryer.

Choose shampoo and conditioner that is right for you. Hair gets dirty when sebum, an oily substance secreted by the skin's sebaceous glands, coats the shaft. Dead skin cells and airborne dirt stick to the sebum. A "good" shampoo leaves hair manageable, easy-to-comb and glossy. Most modern shampoos are synthetic detergents called surfactant -- replacements for the older types that dulled hair by depositing a scum on its surface. Surfactant molecules surround a tiny glob of oil, forming a package called a "micelle." Rinse water (if your tap water is hard, that is with a lot of minerals, you may want to use bottled water to maintain consistency and taste) carries the micelle away. Coloring, perming, combing, teasing and shampooing can break the cuticle's long protein chains. The cuticle gets shaggy, and hair becomes rough. Static, due to combing, can develop.

Protein shampoos do not penetrate your hhair , but they do coat it, giving your hair more bulk. A protein shampoo acts as a shampoo and conditioner in one. Follow your shampoo with a cream rinse or conditioner. These products lubricate your hair between washings and help minimize damage from brushing or combing. Those containing protein ingredients may also thicken your hair temporarily. use shampoos tailored to your hair (the stuff that grows on the top of your head) type--oily, dry or normal. Permanent - waved, straightened, or dye hair needs low pH shampoos. Excessive flaking may require dandruff shampoos (see treating dandruff).

It is a myth that shampooing increases hair loss. Whether dry or greasy, hair should be washed as often as required to look good, even every day. Most experts recommend at least once a week washing to prevent dandruff from clogging the scalp. If you have an oily scalp, frequent shampooing will keep the hair from lying flat, weighted down by the fats in sebum. Shampoo will also reduce surface sebum, which contains high levels of testosterone and DHT that may re-enter the skin and affect the hair follicle. Very dry hairs may be improved by massaging with a little olive or almond oil, covering and leaving on overnight, washing out next morning. If done gently, daily shampooing will not damage your hair. The amount of washing will depend on the type of your hair, the weather, your physical activity, and perhaps even your occupation.

A proper and thorough brushing should precede every shampooing. For proper washing, wet your hair completely with warm water. The first rinsing acts as a pre-wash to remove dust and water-soluble dirt and hair-care products.

After the first rinsing apply the shampoo with hand to the oiliest part of the scalp and massage the entire scalp gently, using your fingers instead of your nails as you work the lather outward from your scalp. Try not to tangle the hair, and avoid scrubbing the ends, particularly if your hair is long.

Rinse thoroughly with water. Shampoo can leave a residue that can dry the hair, attract dirt, and irritate the scalp. If you shampoo daily, lather only once, even if you have oily hair. Over- cleansing can create a vicious cycle in which you stimulate oil production and then dry out the hair. If you shampoo less frequently, experiment with one or two sudsings.

Use a Conditioner that is right for you

Most modern conditioners contain cationic quaternary ammonium compounds that provide a positive charge which reduces static and makes hair less "fly-away" and more manageable. Some products, particularly those containing benzalkonium chloride as the active ingredient, are good conditioners. Those with added polymers, collagen, balsam, silicones or resins that bond with and coat the hair shaft, may provide a protective film, smooth out the cuticle, reducing snarls and tangles. Conditioners that give "extra body" may contain waxes that, when dry, make it look fuller, some contain oil/fats (e.g., lanolin, mineral) to smooth hair, and a few have humectants that supposedly hold in water content. Price and exotic ingredients bear little or no relation to efficacy. Most conditioning products that claim to nourish hair do nothing of the sort as the ingredients cannot enter the hair unless they contain transformants -- molecules small enough to pass into the cortex.

Quaternary ammonium compounds in conditioners have a tadpole-shaped molecule that is attracted to a damaged site on the cuticle. When many such molecules attach to hair, they make it slippery and easy to comb. Shampoo molecules and conditioner molecules normally counteract one another when combined. But several new shampoo/conditioners contain conditioning agents that stay suspended until the hair is rinsed. Diluting the lather releases these agents, so they can coat the hair.

Choosing the right conditioner or shampoo for your hair can be a matter of trial and error. Some products may make your hair limp, while others may even dull it with a film. Choose two different brands of shampoo and conditioner that are right for you, alternate use will give the best result.

Handle With Care After washing, towel dry by patting gently. Since heat from curling irons and blow-dryers are notorious hair destroyers, to prevent damage, the hair should be dried naturally. If a blower is necessary, use it on a lowest setting and leave your hair slightly damp. If you brush or comb your hair while it is wet, you pull out much more hair than you would by gently untangling it with your fingers and waiting until it is damp or dry before you carefully brush or comb it. An occasional massage with the fingertips will enhance blood flow to the scalp.

Your hair requires gentle handling. Wet hair is especially fragile because it might become stretched. A natural bristle brush is preferred over a synthetic one because the synthetic material may create static and cut the hair. Brush the hair gently from the scalp to disperse scalp oil over the hair. Brushing is especially important for long hair because the natural oils do not normally reach the ends, but it's equally beneficial for short hair. It increases circulation to the scalp and stimulates hair growth. If you prefer a comb, use a wide-toothed comb to avoid injury to your hair.

Begin to brush the hair at the ends and remove large tangles gently with your fingers. Continue to brush, picking up more hair and working along the length of the shaft until you reach the scalp. Then brush thoroughly from the scalp to the ends with long continuous strokes. Bend at the waist and brush the hair down toward the floor to stimulate the scalp by increasing blood flow to that area.

Hair damage

In this section we look at some real-life cases of hair that is obviously not in good condition.

This person's hair looks dull and lifeless. It doesn't shine, and it is obviously difficult to manage. Examining a few hairs under the microscope would reveal what has happened to it, and suggest what might be done.

It is all too easy to fall into the trap of blaming the last product put on to the hair as the single cause of a problem. Much more often, hair condition is lost as a result of a combination of mis-treatments over a long period.

Damage from hair cutting and styling

Cutting hair with blunt scissors results in a cut with a long, jagged edge, at which the cuticle scales will be especially vulnerable to further damage. This is why stylists use good-quality steel scissors, which are very sharp indeed and cut cleanly. It is even possible to tell whether a stylist chose to use scissors or a razor by looking at the record of the hair: razor cutting produces long, tapering sections of cuticle which weather quickly, and even peel back.

Some stylists prefer to cut hair when it is dry, in the belief that this will save the hair from heavy brushing when it is damp and therefore vulnerable to damage. A circular or semicircular brush is probably the least damaging to hair.

Damage from excessive hair treatments Shampooing should not in itself damage the hair, since modern shampoos do not lift the cuticle. In the past, when harsh shampoos were often used, acute and irreversible tangling or matting sometimes followed shampooing. The culprits were usually antiseptic shampoos, and they could turn hair into a mass that looked more like sheep's wool than human hair.

This kind of matting is seldom seen nowadays, fortunately, since most modern shampoos contain conditioning agents and help to protect hair. Small amounts of tangling and occasionally matting are still quite common, however, especially in long weathered hair. It generally affects only small locks of hair or even a few adjacent hairs. It may be the result of wetting and drying hair without shampoo, since friction is higher in wet hair than in dry. It can happen when the hair is piled up on top of the head for shampooing -a recipe for tangling if ever there was one.

Of the common cosmetic procedures, permanent waving, bleaching and dyeing all damage the hair to some extent. Permanent waving, by its nature, disrupts the structure of the hair: indeed, it has to do so for the perm to be successful. In order to change the shape of the hair, permanent waving agents first break the disulphide bonds that give the hair shaft its structure. The hair is then put into its new shape and 'neutralised'. Neutralisation is the name given to the re-forming of the chemical bonds in their new positions, a process that fixes the hair permanently into its new shape. The secrets of satisfactory perming lie in the manufacturer's formulation of the product and the stylist's expertise in applying the neutralising lotion after just the right length of time, so that the perm is fixed but the hair is damaged as little as possible. Permed hair should always look beautiful in spite of this deliberate 'damage'.

Bleaching and dyeing change hair structure too, because the dyes and the bleaches used have to penetrate the cuticle and get into the cortex where they have their effect. Some degree of chemical damage is unavoidable.

Cosmetic procedures do not damage the hair follicle within the scalp, and so do not cause hair loss. Only a serious chemical burn to the skin of the scalp that destroys the follicle cells can do so. Burns like this can follow indiscriminate over-use of permanent waving or relaxing solutions, and therefore these solutions must be handled carefully at all times.

Damage from the sun

The ultraviolet light in direct sunlight affects the cuticle in a similar way to a bleach, and eventually the keratin protein of the hair breaks down. The result is than the hair is gradually weakened and becomes drier. The effect shows up as light streaks in the hairs (sun bleaching). The reason is that sunlight breaks up some of the chemical links within the amino acid groups, in particular those between carbon atoms and sulphur atoms. It does not affect disulphide linkages or hydrogen bonds.

Heat damage We have seen the importance of the moisture content of hair to the hair's condition. Processes like blow drying reduce the moisture content below its normal level and can in themselves be harmful. Hair dryers and other heated appliances first soften the keratin of the hair. If they are too hot, they can actually cause the water in the hair to boil, and tiny bubbles of steam then form inside the softened hair shaft. The hair is thereby weakened, and may break altogether.

Better hair protection from ceramic technology

Ceramic hair tools are becoming very popular in professional beauty industry, especially ceramic hair dryers and ceramic flat irons. Ceramic is believed to generate negative ions during use. When hair becomes entirely charged by static electricity (positive electrical charges produced by dry friction and natural movement of the hair), it tends to spread out and become difficult to style. The hair cuticles open, resulting in dull, unhealthy hair. The negatively charged molecules generated by ceramic products smooth and relax the hair by canceling static electricity. The ceramic flat iron assists in making hair more manageable, by generating a negative ionic field.

The source of all heat lies in the infrared. When introduced to heat, the ceramic products emit far infrared heat waves, which have longer wavelengths. Heat at this level is more easily absorbed by hair, resulting in enhanced vitality, reduced stress, and less damage.

There is no treatment for seriously heat-damaged hair, although trimming the damaged hair can reduce the formation of split ends.

Perm damage

A permanent wave process inexpertly applied is probably the most damaging chemical treatment that hairdressers see. The cuticle scales on the hair have been lifted up and separated from each other. They will never return to normal, and as soon as a comb passes over them they may break off. The cuticle may be completely stripped off, revealing the cortex underneath. This too is now exposed to weathering, and will probably not survive unbroken for long.

When a new client walks into a salon, the hairdresser never knows what problems are going to face them. A quick assessment reveals whether the client is Caucasian, African, or Asian descent: all these different racial types have different hair qualities and different hair structures. Is this client's hair curly or straight? Dry, greasy or normal? or perhaps of a mixed type? Is it long or short? Thick or thin, in terms of its density on the head? Are the fibers coarse, medium or fine? All these characteristics interact with each other.

Certain hairstyles and treatments can cause breakage or root damage. Avoid excessively tight braiding, buns, or ponytails. do not roll your hair too tightly in curlers. Teasing and back combing should be done gently or not at all. To much exposure to sun, wind, or swimming-pool chemicals will dry out your hair and cause it to knot.

A styling gel or mousse can give your hair more body or thickness. They do not necessarily damage your hair, but you may experience extra dryness, especially at the hair ends.

Hair bleaches chemically alter the melanin granule in the middle layer of each hair strand. Despite careful treatment, persistent bleaching eventually damages even healthy, strong hair shafts, but it does not injure the roots from which future hair growth takes place.

Hair sprays are generally used on dry hair, to hold and fix a style. A hair spray is a solution of a polymer (plastic) in a liquid.

The hair spray solution in the canister reaches the hair in the form of a fog of tiny droplets. When these strike the hair they join up, coating the hair thinly with the polymer. The spray dries very quickly, since the liquid evaporates almost at the instant it touches the hair. As it dries the polymer forms light welds or bonds between the strands of hair. It is these bonds that hold the newly created style in place.

Different types of hair spray are sold, for use on different types of hair. They differ in the formulation of the holding polymer used, and also in the way the spray is produced. Polymer sprayed on the hair in the form of large droplets gives more hold; it takes longer to dry, however, which leaves the hair feeling sticky for a while. It may also seem stiffer and rougher when it is dry. Smaller droplets give better feel, but a less firm hold. It is important to choose the right balance between hold and feel.

The more heavily the spray is applied, the stronger is the hold. But there is a definite trade-off: the build-up of polymer on the hair both looks and feels unpleasant. Some sprays feel sticky after even a fairly light application. A good spray will give both good 'hold' and good 'feel' without heavy or repeated application, and will be completely removed by shampooing.

Most hair sprays bond the hair strands into long, linear bundles - that is, they 'seam weld' the hair. But this structure is broken down as soon as a comb or fingers are run through it, or even in damp or windy conditions.

A new innovation produces 'spot welds' rather than seam welds see . This reduces the volume of product on the hair. It also gives a softer hold and less damage to the cuticles when the hair is groomed.
Hair dyes work more like paint by covering hair strands with color or by mixing with the melanin granules without altering them. Dyes come in temporary form, which eventually wash out, and semi-permanent and permanent forms, conduct a patch test to check for possible irritation, because a severe allergic reaction to hair dye could cause hair loss. Curling is safest if you twist your hair into pin curls overnight. Use of hot rollers or curling irons gives the best results for coarse hair, but they may damage strands or roots when used to excess. When you use a curling iron always roll in the ends last. For safe curling of fine hair, let it air dry and wind it loosely around sponge rollers.

Permanent waving rearranges the inner hair molecules, breaking and reforming its sulfur bonds, in a step-wise chemical process (that gives off the familiar sulfide odor which wafts off the head being waved). Permanent waving is safe for healthy hair, but you may find it results in increased dryness and splitting. Straightening and permanent waving use the same chemical methods to change the properties of hair strands.

In permanent waving, a gentle shampoo first strips off the sebum, then swelling agents open up the hair shaft -- to allow entry of the bond-rearranging waving solution. Modern waving solutions (mostly ammonium or sodium sulfide) are more flexible than the former types, safer and more controllable. The latest acidic waving lotions, although more expensive, have the gentlest hair-reforming action, and are advised for use on fragile or tinted hair. Wound on rollers of varying sizes, hair gets a permanent curl of the desired type. The final extent of the wave depends on the kind of hair (finer curling faster), the time the solution stays on and the size of roller used. After the hair is arranged in its new, curly configuration. Waving solution is rinsed off and the second solution, the neutralizer which restores the linkage is put on to halt the curling process. The waving action must be stopped at the right time to avoid overprocessing. Modern waving solutions are often self-timed, the hair-altering reaction automatically halted after a designated time. A permanent waving should never be done on hair dyed with metallic products and only with extreme care (using the gentler waving lotions) on hair that's been recently bleached or tinted with permanent, oxidative dyes. Dual processing could disintegrate hair made porous by the tinting procedure. Waving after coloring hair requires great care and use of weaker waving lotions -- a fact known by any trained hairdresser. Done by a reliable stylist, permanent waving today is pretty safe.

The quality of your hair reflects in part the adequacy of your diet: regular, well-rounded meals are best for you and your hair. Consuming extra protein or amino acid preparations will not promote hair growth. In fact, there is evidence that megadoses of some vitamins-particularly A and E may contribute to hair loss. Iron deficiency, due to inadequate consumption of red meat or heavy menstrual bleeding in women, could cause hair shedding. Crash diets and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa can damage hair dramatically.

Various claims are made for the value of analysis of hair samples-- measuring its mineral content -- as a means of assessing nutritional status or detecting nutritional deficiencies, but the process has no validity and can be considered one of the many scams aimed at appealing to people concerned about their health. The chance of getting accurate information from a single hair strand is nil. The results are distorted by contamination from sweat, the shampoos, conditioners, sprays and coloring agents used to groom hair, and by the hair's rate of growth. It's highly questionable whether the metal or mineral content of a hair accurately reflects amounts elsewhere in the body.

The amount of hair and where it grows vary with different mammals. The entire body of the dog, the sheep, the cow, and the horse is covered with a hairy coat. The whale and the hippopotamus have only a few hairs. In humans, hair is not found on palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.

The coloration and pattern of coats in animals serve both as a camouflage for protection against enemies and as an allurement to mates. Fine and transparent, human hair is a vestige of our hairier animal forbears, that probably evolved from the scales of reptiles. The adult human body averages five million hairs, of which 100,000 to 150,000 are on the scalp.

Scalp hair varies tremendously between races, between individuals of same race, and even within an individual. Mongolians have straight hair simply because their scalp hair has the greatest thickness and the roundest cross-section. In Caucasians the hair is more elliptical and slender; in Negroes it is flattened, resulting in kinky curls. Mongolians, both male and female, have much less public, axillary, facial, and body hair than Caucasians. In Caucasians, true blonds typically have more hair (about 140,000 hair) than brunette (about 105,000) or redhead (about 90,000).

Below your skin is the hhair root which is enclosed by a sack-like structure called the hair follicle. Tiny blood vessels at the base of the follicle provide nourishment. A nearby gland secretes a mixture of fats (called sebum) which keep the hair shiny and waterproof to some extent. Secretions from some sweat glands also produce a characteristic odor. A dog can differentiate a human being by the typical scent secreted by these glands. Two sets of glands discharge secretions through the skin. while sebaceous, or oil, glands arise from the walls of hair follicles and produce an oil called sebum that lubricates the skin and hair, Sweat glands, embedded in the subcutaneous layer, are scattered over the body, particularly in the palms and soles. Sweat glands produce moisture called perspiration that reaches the skin's surface through the pores and evaporates to cool the body.

At the base of the follicle is the papilla, which is the "hair manufacturing plant." The papilla is fed by the blood-stream which carries nourishment to produce new hair. Male hormones or androgens regulate hair growth. Pubic and axillary (armpit) hair are particularly androgen-sensitive and grow at lower androgen levels than hair on the chest or legs. In boys, most pubic hair is grown by age 15, followed by the development of armpit hair two to three years later. In girls, too, an increase in androgens at puberty triggers growth of pubic and armpit hair. Scalp hair, not directly androgen-responsive, is influenced by local amounts of a testosterone derivative, dihydrotestosterone.

Hair follicles initially form in utero. No new follicles are created after birth, and none are lost in adult life. The first hair to be produced by the fetal hair follicles is Lanugo hair, which is fine, soft, and unpigmented. This is usually shed in about the eighth month of gestation.

Hair is composed of keratin, the same protein that makes up nails and the outer layer of our skin. The part seen rising out of the skin is called hair shaft or strand. Each strand consist of three layers. The outermost protective layer (cuticle) is thin and colorless. The middle layer, or cortex , is the thickest. It provides strength, determines your hair color and whether your hair is straight or curly.

Three types of hair grow on the human body.

The first postnatal hair is vellus hair, which is fine, soft, usually unpigmented, and seldom more than 2 cm long. Vellus hair remains on the so-called hairless regions of the body, such as the forehead and balding scalp.

At puberty, the vellus hair in some areas is replaced by terminal hairs, which are the long hairs that grow on the head and in many people on the body, arms and legs too. They are produced by follicles with sebaceous glands. In people who have inherited a tendency to baldness the hairs in these follicles gradually become thinner and shorter until they look like vellus hairs.

Axillary hair and male facial hair appear about two years after growth of pubic hair begins. Body hair continues to develop long after puberty, stimulated by male hormones that paradoxically, also cause terminal hair to be replaced by vellus hair when balding begins.

Lanugo hair This is the hair that develops on an unborn baby. It begins to grow about three months after the baby's conception. The hairs are fine and soft, and they grow all over the baby's body. They all grow at the same rate, so the hairs are the same length. Some prematurely born babies are still covered with these downy hairs. Normally they are shed about four weeks before the baby is due to be born. Hair Growth

Scalp hair fibers grow from 100,000 to 350,000 follicles which are reported to occupy the human scalp; however, not all the follicles are productive.[1] In each producing follicle, the duration of the hair's life cycle is influenced by age, pathology and a wide variety of physiological factors. [1,2] The life cycle is divided into the anagen (active), catagen (transitional) and telogen (resting) phases.

The anagen phase is the period of active hair growth where protein synthesis and keratinization are continuously occurring. In normal subjects, this phase lasts for up to five years, although longer durations have been documented.

The cessation of the anagen phase is characterized by a transitory phase known as catagen. This phase lasts for two to three weeks. Following the catagen phase, the hair enters the telogen or "resting" phase. In normal subjects, telogen hair is retained within the scalp for up to 12 weeks before the emerging new hair dislodges it from its follicle.

During the anagen phase, protein s thesis is the main distinction of the hair bulb. In the telogen phase, the dermal papilla undergoes renewal. It is at this time that structural characteristics can be modified. The new hair should be identical to its predecessor, but with advancing age, and in some pathological states, a strict copy is not maintained. In these circumstances, the hair may become finer and shorter, modifying the esthetic profile. Since these effects occur over several hair cycles, years may elapse before the affected individual recognizes the difference.

Like skin cells, hair grows and is shed regularly. Shedding anywhere from 50 to 100 hairs per day is considered normal. The average rate of growth is about 1/2 inch a month. It is now known that hair grows fastest in the summer, slowest in the winter, speeds up under heat and friction, but slows down when exposed to cold. Hair grows the best between the ages of 15 to 30. But, hair growth begins to wind down sometime between the ages of 40 and 50. Progressive hair loss begins naturally in both sex about age 50, accelerating in the 70s. About 40 percent of Caucasian men lose hair to some extent by age 35.

The range of different types of hair is enormous, ranging from tight wiry curls to ruler-straight. The color and shape of hair vary too. What accounts for these differences?

The type of hair you have is inherited from your parents. We may look back further, and say that it is determined by the part of the world in which your ancestors originated. It all depends on the race, or mixture of races, from which they came. In the very earliest days of human evolution, three basic racial groups of people seem to have existed on this planet. These spread out across the world and became mixed together. They are especially well mixed in countries where there has been massive immigration, such as the U.S.A. over the last few hundred years.

Scientists have identified three basic types of hair in today's human population, and have related them to these three early races: Asian, Caucasoid and African.

The three types of hair not only look quite different, but the differences in their responses to physical and chemical damage can be remarkable.

Asian These are people from the Orient, for example from China and Japan. Their hair is very straight, and always black in color.

Caucasoid The Caucasoid group is the most 'mongrel' of the three racial groups. Modern Caucasoids are very varied, even though they are descended from the same group of ancestors. They range from the fair-skinned people of north-west Europe to the widely varying peoples of the Indian subcontinent. Their hair may be either wavy or straight, and the diameter varies widely too. The color ranges from black to a pale blond that is almost white, including just about every possible shade in between.

African African people originated in Africa. Their hair is black and tightly curled. It tends to be woolly and dry, and is extremely easily damaged by heat or chemicals.

Hair color

Hair color is determined by melanin from your pigment cells. The more pigment granules there are, and the more tightly packed, the darker the hair.

Two kinds of melanin contribute to hair color. Eumelanin colors hair brown to black, and an iron-rich pigment, pheomelanin colors it yellow-blonde to red. Whether hair is mousy, brown, brunette or black depends on the type and amount of melanin and how densely it's distributed within the hair. For example, deep-black African hair contains closely packed melanin in the cortex, a few in the cuticle. Very dark European hair, quite apart from having more melanin granules than lighter or blonde hair, has more melanin per granule. When pigment-producing cells cease to function, the result is the uncolored white or gray hair.

Looking at a hair through a videomicroscope, we can see that hair is actually translucent. Its various surfaces do not react to light in the same way, nor do they reflect it in precisely the same way. A small proportion (5 to 6%) of available light is reflected by the hair like a mirror. The rest penetrates the hair shaft, where it is absorbed to a greater or lesser extent by melanins.

The melanin is housed inside granules. These melanin-filled granules are scattered through the cortex of the hair. There is no set pattern and so set amount. This is how nature creates so many variations of haircolor from only one natural substance — melanin. All natural hair colors are created from two types of melanin:

When both eumelanin and pheomelanin mix together inside of one melanin granule, it's called mixed melanin.

The natural color of the hair is decided by:

What type of melanin is in the hair

How much melanin is in the hair

How closely packed or scattered the melanin is within the cortex

The type of melanin and the size of the granules determine whether hair will be black, brown, blonde or red.

The amount of melanin and its distribution determine how dark or light the hair color will be.

Gray hair

Gray hair is one of the most familiar signs of aging. The age when greying starts depends on one's genetic inheritance. But in half of all Caucasoid people, half the hairs on the scalp are grey by the age of 50.

The loss of hair color is due to a gradual fall in melanin production in the hair bulb. If you look at the hairs on a greying head you find a full range of color, from the normal shade through to white along each hair, and also from one hair to another. Usually people notice their first gray hairs near their temples. Then the grayness spreads to the crown, and later to the back of the head.

Rapid graying You have probably heard stories about people who are supposed to have 'gone white overnight' following some terrible shock or grief. Treat these tales with caution! A black hair cannot of itself suddenly turn white. Hairs grow for years with pigment inside them, and since they are 'dead' there is no process by which the melanin throughout a hair can be naturally destroyed rapidly (although it may be bleached by sunlight over many years).

Apparent rapid greying may be due to a selective shedding of pigmented hair in a person who has some gray hairs which are retained. Shedding of this kind usually takes several months, but can happen within a few days. If it does take place quickly the effects can be dramatic, since the person's grey hairs may not have been at all obvious until the darker hairs were lost.

Whether stress or shock can cause this kind of hair loss (known as alopecia areata) is unknown.

Premature graying Very rarely, an individual's hair may begin to turn gray at an unexpectedly early age - before the age of 20 in Caucasoids and before 30 in Africans. In some people the cause is a medical condition. More usually it is due to the presence of a particular gene.

Albinism

Albinism is an inherited condition in which there is little or no pigment in the hair. An albino's hair is startlingly pale, either light yellow or nearly white. Albino skin is also pale, even in African people. Where the condition is severe the eyes lack pigment too, and look pink: albino people often have poor vision.

Acquired color defects

Inflammation in the hair follicle, which can occur in shingles, damages the melanocytes and may lead to loss of hair color. So too may exposure to X-rays, though very rarely a deeper color develops. Occasionally white patches form in the beard after dental treatment.

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