Hairstyle natural hairstylist
"Rapunzel, let your hair down!" The tower of the Chinese Xie Qiuping must be high because she has the longest hair in the world at 5,627 meters. She hasn't had her hair cut since 1973. Also in the Guinness Book of Records: the Norwegian Hans N. Langseth had the longest beard ever measured at 5,33 meters. And did you know that Aevin Dugas from the USA holds the afro record? It measures 16 centimeters in height and has a circumference of 1,39 meters! But how does our hair actually work?
How hair grows
In the growth phase, which lasts between 2 and 8 years, depending on the disposition, but usually six years, the hair on the head grows an average of one centimeter per month. Incidentally, leg hair and eyelashes have a much shorter growth phase, which is why they don't grow as long. This is followed by the transition phase, which lasts about two to three weeks and during which the supply to the hair is stopped because the hair follicle is now preparing to produce a new hair. Finally, there is the phase in which the hair falls out. That takes about three months. The new hair is essentially pushed out of the follicle and then out of the skin. Approximately 20 percent of the hair is in the shedding or resting phase, 2-3 percent in the transition phase, and between 80 and 90 percent in the growth phase. By the way, regular pruning does not affect the growth rate. This also applies to leg hair: whether we shave it or not, it grows at the same rate.
By the way: Maybe you should take a few of your cut curls with you the next time you go to the hairdresser and keep them safe: In 2016, a 10cm long strand of John Lennon's hair was auctioned for USD 35.000! It was cut off from him in 1966.
The number of hairs
We have quite a lot of hair on our heads. How many actually depends on the hair color: blond people have up to 150.000 hairs, dark-haired people around 100.000, and redheads have around 90.000 hairs. However, the number says nothing about the fullness of the hair: blond hair is usually much finer than dark or red hair. By the way: The hair color also has medical effects: certain anesthetics have to be dosed higher in redheads, and local anesthetics are also less effective in redheads.
What hair was and is dyed with
Speaking of hair color: people tried their hand at hair coloring as early as ancient Egypt: back then, people used it like we do in ours Hairstyle natural hairstylist Salons henna and indigo leaves! But bizarre remedies were also used: boiled cattle blood, or gold dust for a nice shimmer. The Romans dyed their hair black with a paste made of wine, vinegar and leeches, they tried blonde with soap, quince juice and beech ash, or with pigeon droppings.
In the Middle Ages, the hair was greased and then colored plant powder was applied over it. Over time, of course, this began to smell. Don't worry, in our Haarmonie Naturfrisör salons we work exclusively with natural products and draw on old knowledge, but our plant colors actually only consist of plants! At the beginning of modern times, gold, arsenic and cadmium were used for bleaching, and it continued to be so highly toxic up to the 1950s: the use of metal salts such as copper sulphate was the order of the day when dyeing.
What hair is made of
The visible part of our hair consists of keratins, as do our nails, but also hooves, animal hair and cow horns. The hair follicle is located deep in the scalp. This hair follicle has its own blood supply and muscle. We feel it when our hair stands on end, with the so-called goosebumps (piloerection). There are generally hairless areas of skin, such as the soles of our feet and the palms of our hands, where this phenomenon does not occur. Hair has no nerves or blood vessels, so we don't feel it when it's cut off. They are very stretchy: when dry, healthy hair can be stretched 1,5 times before it breaks. A hair can carry a weight of up to 100g, which theoretically means that our head of hair could carry a weight of 10.000kg.
Curious? We work in all our salons with scalp cameras: so if you would like to see what it looks like on your head – greatly enlarged – then come and visit us. We see so much more than is visible to the naked eye: not only can we explain and show you everything in detail, but we can also analyze the condition of your scalp and hair in detail, and thus help you to find the right products.
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
