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Posted by on Nov 20, 2015 in TellMeWhy |

Where Does My Hair Get Its Color?

Where Does My Hair Get Its Color?

Hair color comes from melanin a coloring matter, some people call it pigment. Your body adds pigment to hair cells as they form in the roots. The more melanin your hair has, the darker its color gets.

The colored part of your hair is located in the cortex which runs along the center of each hair. There are three colors in the cortex — black, red, and yellow. They mix to form the different hair colors — black, brown, red, and blond.

Hair color is determined by heredity; the hair color of your parents and grandparents help determine what color your hair will be. If you are born with light hair, it often gets darker as you get older.

As people grow older, less pigment is added to the hair cells and the hair gradually becomes white. That’s because you make less melanin, so your hair starts losing its color, which makes it look gray.

Content for this question contributed by Kelly Huebner, resident of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA