Why Beard Hair is a Different Color Than Your Head Hair
Have you ever wondered why there are different colored hairs in your beard that aren’t on top of your head? A lot of guys realize that they’ve got a whole array of different colors in their beards. One of the most common stray hairs is red. It’s not an anomaly either, a majority of guys are going to find this in their beards. It is actually quite common that various parts of your hair and throughout your body are going come with different shades and textures. The scientific reasoning behind the difference in hair describes this interesting phenomenon.
Your hair color is determined by levels of pigmentation. The contributing factor comes from something called melanin. There are two distinct types that determine why one hair follicle color is different than another. The first type contains eumelanin, this constitutes brown or black shades to the hair. The other type is called pheomelanin and contributes for red and yellowish (blonde) hair colors. The difference in combinations will determine what pigment color of hair an individual follicle takes. That’s why people have so many unique varieties of hair throughout their body. There is the possibility of variance in each individual follicle. Genetics from both of your parents determines the transfer of hair color, unless you are out there dying your hair for some reason. Simply put, those with more blonde hair have a high concentration of pheomelanin and those with dark hair have a higher concentration of eumelanin.
Red hair pigmentation is caused by a mutation in a gene researchers call the MC1R. If you have two of these mutated genes then you have all red hair. If you just have one of these genes then you’ll have red hair in random places in your body – including your beard. So even if you have dominant blonde hair for example, the red gene may be lurking about in your genome. This brings us to two different red beardos. Complete Ginger Beard
Science Behind Hair Pigmentation
Red Hair Gene
Red hair pigmentation is caused by a mutation in a gene researchers call the MC1R. If you have two of these mutated genes then you have all red hair. If you just have one of these genes then you’ll have red hair in random places in your body – including your beard. So even if you have dominant blonde hair for example, the red gene may be lurking about in your genome. This brings us to two different red beardos. Complete Ginger Beard
- Has both MC1R genes. Red hair on the head and an equal beard to match!
- Different shades of red are still possible here.
- Contain mutated MC1R genes.
- Hair color on head does not reflect your red beard.
- Only 2% of the population have this makeup.
Often you may find that if you have some red hairs somewhere in your beard is because of both genetics and amount of pigmentation. An excess of pheomelanin can contribute to those random red hairs. Somewhere down the line in your family lineage, these genes were there and resurfaced from some distant ancestor. That is one of the reasons you find these oddly colored hair spread throughout your beard. Digging deeper to why this occurs in the first place, is another scientific question indeed. Something Darwin might have been puzzling over.
