Melanin #4: Hair Like Lamb’s Wool

Hair grows from your skin. Each hair grows in its own tiny sac, or bag, called a follicle (FAHL lihkul).

At the bottom of the sac is the root of the hair. The cells of the root divide to make more cells. This is what makes your hair grow.

As hair grows, it is pushed away from the blood supply and gets less and less food and oxygen. The hair dies.

A haircut doesn’t hurt because the hair being cut is dead.

Sebum, The Oily Waxy Substance in the Hair Follicle Shaft

For instance, in Africa people tend to have strong textured full hair. This hair is often referred to as, “kinky” or “nappy.”

•Africans have dark textured hair because of the relationship between the sun, temperature and hair.

•In Africa, the sun is so strong that it causes sebum to form in the roots of the hair, causing the texture of the hair to be curled in the roots and frizzy, to protect the hair and scalp from the harmful rays of the sun.

•Sebum is in the sebaceous glands that are microscopic exocrine glands in the skin that secrete an oily or waxy matter, to lubricate and waterproof the skin and hair.