Hair is one of the most defining characteristics of mammals. It grows from follicles (tiny pores) in the skin and scalp. It can be thin or thick, straight or wavy, dark or light, short or long. The follicles also produce other body hair, such as the beard or crotch hairs of some males.
Hair can be a great way to show character. How a person moves or their hairstyle can tell the reader a lot about them. It is important to use descriptive terms when describing a character’s hair because it will help the reader get a better picture of who they are.
When it comes to writing about hair, there are many ways to describe the texture, style, color and length of a character’s tresses. In addition, there are several adjectives that can be used to describe the look and feel of a person’s locks, such as sleek, shiny, coarse or silky.
It may surprise you to know that your hair is actually made of a very strong, structural protein called keratin, which is also found in nails and skin. Keratin gives hair its strength and elasticity. It is a very important part of our body’s protective system and it can have a tensile strength that is comparable to steel!
A hair follicle is like a tiny tube in the skin. It has a round bottom called the hair bulb and it is surrounded by blood vessels that supply it with nutrients. A little gland called the sebaceous (sih-BAH-skee-os) gland makes a natural oil that moisturizes the skin and hair. The follicle has nerves that can make your hair stand up or fall down and it is the follicle that is responsible for growing new hair cells.
Once the hair follicle pushes a new cell out into the skin, it will harden into a new hair shaft. The follicle also contains an oil gland which is where the hair gets its natural shine and suppleness.
As the hair shaft grows longer and larger, it pulls up from the follicle and out through the skin. The follicle continues to grow and the strand of hair gets wider, thicker and darker until it reaches the surface of the skin where it can be seen. The strand of hair isn’t alive once it is at the surface of the skin, but it is still fed by a small blood vessel at the base of the follicle.
The hair shaft consists of three layers: the cuticle, cortex and medulla. The medulla is where the color of the hair is formed, while the cortex and cuticle protect it from sun damage and other harmful agents. The keratin in the medulla is also what gives it its strength and suppleness. There are two important bonds in a hair shaft that make it resilient: the salt bond and the cystine bond. The cystine bond is similar to the sulphide bond in muscles and tendons, and it helps give hair its elastic properties.