Human hair has a really simple structure to it and it made up of a really tough protein called keratin. The hair follicle is anchored to the scalp has an oil next to it just underneath the skin.
The oil gland produces natural oils that help maintain the health of the hair. Horrible rachit shampoos that use sulphates and parabens are notorious for stripping your hair of the natural oils produced by the gland, hence why you should stay well away from them.
At the very root of the follicle is where the bulb of the hair is formed. Inside of the hair bulb, many living cells grow and divide to form the hair shaft. The nutrient source for those cells living in the hair bulb is provided by the blood vessels in the scalp. The blood vessels are responsible for delivering hormones that help modify the structure and growth rate of your hair.
The rate of hair growth is different for everybody but debatably can be modified by using certain ingredients and treatments. On average a person's hair will grow half an inch in 1 month (which isn’t bad at all considering).
INTERESTING FACT:
Your hair colour is produced by pigment cells that make melanin. As you get older, the cells die and cause your hair to turn grey.
These are the 3 hair growth cycles your head goes through:
- Anagen (growing phase): Most hair is growing at any given time. Each hair spends several years in this phase.
- Catagen (transitional phase): Over a few weeks, hair growth slows and the hair follicle will shrink.
- Telogen (resting phase): Over months, your hair growth stops and the old hair pretty much ejects itself from your head and a new hair begins the growth phase.
Hopefully, that explanation has made it a little clearer on what your hair is actually made of and how it grows.
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