Hair Color

Hair color is the result of pigmentation due to the presence of the chemicals of melanin and phaeomelanin. Coloring your hair is perhaps the quickest and most dramatic way to change your look. It is also an excuse to go out and buy a new wardrobe of clothes, because you'll find that what suited you as a brunette looks rather drab on a new blonde.

Human beings have many variations in hair color and hair texture. In general, the more melanin, the darker the hair color; the more phaeomelanin, the lighter it is. Usually the color of children's and adults' hair varies from pale yellow (blonde) to deep black. Hair may also come in more than one shade of color on one's head. As an example, the shade of one's hair color may change from a light shade to a darker one as time elapses.

The ethnic distribution of colors has historically varied by geographic area. For example, black hair prevails in the Middle East , North Africa , and Southern Europe . Brown, blonde, red and black hair occurs in white Europeans and their descendents.

Considerable differences in hair color and texture exist between individuals of similar ethnicity , and immigration and global travel have greatly increased the diversity of hair characteristics in many countries. People also dye their hair to colors that do not occur naturally.