Talk:Human hair color/Archive 1

Chestnut hair
One of the categories in the photo gallery is "Chestnut hair". However, there is no discussion of this hair color in the main article. Should the photo be removed, or should a section/explanation be added on this hair color? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.117.18.101 (talk) 08:08, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

Color Change in Children
There is no explanation of the change in color that often occurs during puberty, especially to blonds. Children that have extremely light blond hair at age 10 can have dark blond or even dark brown hair by the time they're 14. I haven't added anything about this because I have no idea why it happens.


 * I don't have the energy right now to add anything to article, but this site explains the phenomenon. --Jugbo 22:48, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Your right in the fact that when I was 10 I had white blond hair and eyebrows but by the time i was about 15-16 my hair was brown and eyebrows dark brown.I also have a wierd patch of white blond hair that never changed at the back of my hair.

[New poster] I vote to add this section to the main article. I was wondering, and I'm glad I thought to look under the Discussion section and found that link!

Question originally at top of page
May not be the best place to ask this but, I'm 18 years old and I've got a couple of white hairs on my head. No gray hair at all.. just 2 solitary strands of really white hair. What could explain that? 210.50.86.5 06:07, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * If you're still around, you might try a site called Understanding Genetics by using their Ask a Geneticist feature . --Jugbo 22:53, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

People changes in hair is related to OCA gene, SNP adn melanin acumuation and production by melanoblastos exposition to sunligth and other enviroment factors /eye color: oca2 for blond or semi-albinism. is same reasson for color changes in eyes. other are poligens o minor ones. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.255.224.138 (talk) 20:50, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Vast majority have black hair
The statement "The vast majority of people have brown hair of varying shades." is incorrect, given that Asia & Africa together constitute around 3/4s of the human population. Add to this vast numbers of black-haired denizens of Southern Europe and Central & South America, brown hair is clearly shown as a small minority.

-Ravenhead


 * I basically agree... AnonMoos 16:08, 12 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't fully agree as to Southern Europe. Most Italians or Spanish people don't have "black" hair, but only a comparatively dark shade of brown hair. One clearly sees the difference when looking at the hair of a person from India or Japan. But I am well aware that the term "black" is relative!
 * 212.227.103.74 19:39, 17 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't really understand, I thought everyone knew the largest hair colour majority is brown? Most Indian, Oriental and Afro hair can be seen to be the darkest shade of brown when clear light is shone on it! I actually thought that people with TRULY black hair were reasonably rare (almost as rare as natural blondes ;D lol!). JJ


 * Most Africans and Asians have BLACK hair..

JJ or someone else says that most africans have brown hair... um... most africans have black hair.... and so do most of the world popluation.... and the reasoning of most indian oriental and afircan hair when light is shone on it is brown.... the only time when hair is truly black is when it is dyed... there is such thing as truly BLACK hair colour... you either have black hair or not...Australian Jezza 07:27, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Southern Europeans, Iranians (majority of European descent) are also beautiful dark brunnette. Eastern Asians and Africans are the only people that have true black hair. Its blue-black when you look closely.
 * Read this: Eumelanin is black, and pheomelanin is red. All humans have pheomelanin in their hair. Bleach dark hair and it will be rud/orange.  But it's still black otherwise.  Hair is generally ugly, so you're wrong even more. -lysdexia 08:18, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

_____

What is the evolutionary purpose for differences in hair color and texture?--65.1.80.92 14:58, 17 June 2006 (UTC) _____

Also, the supposed "facts" on the red haired portion is, on more accounts than not, incorrect. Naturally blonde hair may make up 1.7-2% of the world's population, but on the majority of websites, .org or .com, the percentage of the world's population that has red hair is 4%. This would make naturally blonde hair the rarest color in the world. Feel free to check this all for yourself.

albinism...
I think the part in albinism that says-"(Like the skin-tone that white people usually have)." should be removed. I myself am "white" and I don't know about any other people but my skin is definitely not pale pink. Everyone has pink lips and palms, but I have yet to meet anyone with pink skin. White people have a peach-ish color skin.-Liz 7/11/06
 * I do have to disagree. Many people we call "ginger" here in Britain have pale, pale skin with a flushed, pinkish complexion. Check out Bradley from Eastenders lol! JJ

Ellen Rocche has naturally blond hair
What is your source? - .Aiko 08:32, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Emphasize Black hair

 * Black hair is most common in the world and it is found in peoples of Asian, African, South Asian, Native American, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Balkan and Pacific Islander heritage. It also forms a noticable element amongst the Irish, Welsh, Cornish and Highland Scots populations.


 * Blond hair is a relatively rare human phenotype, occurring in 1.7 to 2% of the world population with the majority of natural blondes in Scandinavia, England and other parts of Europe,


 * Red hair is by far the least common hair color in the United States and in the world;


 * The majority of people of European origin have brown hair of varying shades. It is found all over the world, mostly in Europe, and is sometimes seen in those of Mediterranean, Balkan, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern descent.


 * How is this not enough emphasis? Each hair colour has its own article. This one even says most light haired people are of European descent. --Wafulz 03:30, 16 September 2006 (UTC)


 * wrong again.. DARK BROWN hair is what the majority of the world's population has, and dark BROWN hair is an altogether different hair color than BLACK hair. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.7.249.68 (talk • contribs)


 * Sources speak louder than words. --Wafulz 04:35, 1 December 2006 (UTC)


 * is that why the majority of the article calling black hair the majority isn't sourced? :-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.7.249.68 (talk • contribs)


 * Nobody said you couldn't change it :-). Also, sign your posts with four tildes ( ~ )--Wafulz 05:31, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

I've heard that scientists are working on creating genes that make your hair blue, pink or any other unnatural color. Is this true? I hope it is, because there are not enough natural hair colors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.240.234.212 (talk) 11:14, 10 November 2007 (UTC)


 * WOW! That'd be cool! Yeah, the few natural colours are a bit limited. Green, blue, pink would be nice... DaveDodgy (talk) 13:45, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

British Isles
I'm intrigued by the following sentence about black hair:

"It also forms a noticable element amongst the Irish, Welsh, Cornish and Highland Scots populations."

and the following sentence about blond hair:

" but remains common amongst the English and Scots Lowlanders."

Not only are both statements unsourced, but it sounds suspiciously like the editor(s) is (are) pushing some sort of Celtic/Anglo-Saxon agenda. Having visited many parts of Britain (as well as living there), I know that such a division of hair colour does not exist to any notable extent. I would say the ratio of blond to dark-haired people in Britain is pretty similar. I'm removing this unless someone can prove otherwise. Pobbie Rarr 00:11, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Remove it, I think it is BS. As this also seems to be (about red) as well:


 * Many physical anthropologists (British Israeliest fantasist racists no doubt) now believe red hair was not an indigenous Celtic trait; rather, it was introduced into Ireland and Scotland via the Nordic invasions of Vikings, Normans (very few were actually Norman), and later by way of English Protestant planters(most of whom came from areas of Britonic ancestry, according to DNA samples done in the UK). 


 * So the Roman observations of much red headedness in Scots was actually a prediction that their hair would be red some hundreds of years into the future?


 * Some idiots think there was nothing happening before history was written down as well. There was much connection between Ireland and Scandinavia in prehistory and most likely between Albion and Scandinavia as well. Given that there is a larger base for red hair among people of the British (Pretanic, Cruthni) Isles it is quite possible that Scandinavians got it from the early contacts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.163.140.82 (talk • contribs)

The stuff re: red hair in this is utter nonesense and contradicts the much more accurate info in the seperate Wikipedia red hair entry. Red hair is at least twice as common in Ireland and Scotland as it is in England or Scandinavia according to stats I have seen. The Harvard study (author was Hooton) of the physical anthropology of the Irish (an academic statistical study of many thousands of residents of Ireland in the 1940s and 50s) is a vital text in this regard and it put about 10% of the Irish with red or reddish hair. It also noted that red hair was much more common among the Catholic Irish than the Protestant or Presbyterian Irish. It was among the Irish Catholics of the NW of Ireland (maximum in Co. Fermanagh)that the greatest frequency of red hair was found in the study while in the east of Ireland (where most later settlers such as Vikings, Normans, Anglo-Irish and lowland Scots settled), it is considerably more rare. NW Ireland is as far from the Irish Viking areas as you can get and the study found considerably less red hair, fair freckled skin etc in the eastern half of Ireland than the west, contrary to popular myth. The whole thesis of red hair being introduced to Ireland by Vikings or by later British settlers etc is therefore total nonesense that is totally contradicted by the findings of the Harvard survey. The Romans never visited Ireland but they (Tacitus) stated that the inhabitants of genetically (largely AMH haplotype population) similar northern Scotland (Caledonia) were characterised by reddish hair and large limbs in the 1st or 2nd century AD, over 6 centuries before the Vikings arrived in the British Isles and 2 or 3 centuries before any Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived either. So, everything points to the Vikings or other settlers having nothing to do with red hair in Ireland or Scotland. The most likely explanation for its modern distribution is that it was brought to the British Isles by the very earliest (Mesolithic) settlers to Ireland and Scotland who were probably a predominantly fair skinned, light eyed, brown haired population with a notable red haired minority (as today in Ireland and Scotland). The red hair only remained common where this early population was relatively undiluted by later settlers in the most isolated of places like NW Ireland and northern Scotland. The stuff about Vikings and red hair is an old wives tale similar to the stuff about the Armada leaving dark people on the west coast of Ireland and has no place in Wikipidea. It is also worth saying that nobody who has actually travelled Ireland, Scotland, England and Europe including Scandinavia would be in any doubt that the red haired, ultra pale/ freckled skin phenotype is overwhelmingly a British Isles one(particularly Scotland and Ireland). Today, Gemanic and Baltic Europe has far more blondes, often with skin types that much more readily produce a deep golden tan. The Irish Harvard Survey (Hooton) evidence is vital and Wikipedia should consult that source. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Occam's razor blades (talk • contribs) By Jove, paragraphs please! :-) --Wafulz 02:53, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

Hair color and eye color linkage
The article says that red hair is genetically linked with light eye color. But most of the natural redheads that I know have brown eyes, why many people say that red hair and brown eyes are so uncommon?? But blond hair and brown eyes i think is impossible, only in childs. I have never seen an adult with natural blond hair with brown eyes. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lithop (talk • contribs) 03:22, 7 December 2006 (UTC). Twenty years ago, I was working together with a woman, age 18, who had light blond hair and medium brown eyes (not light brown eyes), and she said that this combination was uncommon. Seven years later, her coloring was still the same, so I must say that it exists, and I may have met others that I dont remember. (62.20.115.40 00:10, 13 May 2007 (UTC))

what? I have very dark brown eyes (some people said almost black) and very very blond hair although it has turned a more dark/gold blond colour since about 6 years ago... (I'm now 36). In fact when I grew up, I got teased heaps for being a guy with such long blond hair :D (ZhuLien:ZhuLien 22:48, 14 October 2007 (UTC)) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zhulien (talk • contribs)

Gray hair
An IP posted this in the article:

"earlier in this article it is said that grey color of hair is due to death of stem cells but can a cancer drug rejuvinate a dead cell.so the the stem cell death may not be the cause of grey hair.i think it may be due to switch offing dna in tune with biological timer inside cell." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.7.87 (talk • contribs) --Wafulz 17:08, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

I changed the spelling to the correct 'grey', since the url has 'en' in it for English. On the page for the colour Grey it is spelled the same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:07, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Accuracy of Frost's hair color map
Aren't there any other hair color distribution maps? I find some parts of this map from Peter Frost unrealitsic. For example i find it difficult to believe that most of Britain is blonder than northern Germany. What do yout hink, is it correct? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Common (talk • contribs) 20:01, 13 January 2007 (UTC).

The map says that there are more people with "light" hair in Britain than in Germany, not blond(e). Light hair presumably includes light brown and red hair. Germany may well have a larger proportion with very blond(e) hair, but may also have more people with dark hair. LeighvsOptimvsMaximvs 18:11, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Likewise here, I find this map odd (it seems to catter to stereotypes rather than my own -perhaps flawed- observations), but I'm willing to be proven wrong. This map also contradicts the Italian map posted below. In addition, the source is a blog and there is no indication of how the map was generated. Although it looks cool, I think we should remove it. Codik (talk) 19:32, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

No. of strands
Brunettes, blonds, and redheads are all listed as having 100 000 strands--but for blonds it says the number of strands is the highest and for red the lowest. AndperseAndy 00:49, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Red hair = thickest??
I notice there's already been some debate on this statement, but it has not been properly addressed. The general consensus on this discussion board (and, from what I know, the "real world") is that dark hair of African origin is the thickest. I also know that I am a natural redhead and my hair is baby-fine. The statement could be altered to be less binding (i.e., say something like "most redheads"), but altering it without a reference won't do much; thus, I have added a "citation needed" template.

Skittleys 18:08, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Common hair colors
I don't like the section name, which is also used in the hair color navbox. It's misleading, implying that blond(e) is common even though it is stated to be rare in the blond hair subsection, as well as implying that there are additional unspecified rare hair colors. Are there any objections to renaming it to natural hair colors? -- Gordon Ecker 03:19, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
 * It's done. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 01:21, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Italy Blondism Map
I have a map of hair blondism in italy by R.Biasutti, the map of Peter Frost is wrong and little detailed ,i don't have a wikipedia account and i can't post images , if someone is interested this is the link : (percentage of pure blond hair, not dark blond or light brown )

http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/38316/2003631590295084685_rs.jpg

(original version)

http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/36136/2004731625103268248_rs.jpg —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.222.222.113 (talk) 10:04, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

So black, red, and blond all have an article, but brown hair does not?
Why was the old brunette article redirected into this? Why is the black hair article around then, if black hair is actually a variant of the brunet color? Was the page not good enough?

I haven't seen a discussion about it here, and the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it... any reason for it? Should someone (me?) start an article about it? 71.196.91.30 (talk) 04:05, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Brown hair does have an article. Brunette is kind of an odd word to use for brown hair, since it really only refers to women with brown hair. I'm not really sure what your trying to say. In the title you wrote "So black, red, and blond all have an article, but brown hair does not?" but then you wrote "and the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it" so you sort of answered your own question...brown hair does have its own article. And what do you mean by "the brown hair article doesn't seem to discuss it" Discuss what? I'm pretty sure brunette is a slang sort of a word when it comes to hair. It's just a word people use to refer to women with brown hair, therefore there is no need to have a page entitled 'Brunette'. If it isn't already mentioned, maybe you should just add a line to the Brown hair page stating something like 'most people refer to women with brown hair as brunettes'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:36, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

When I first looked up Brown Hair, it just redirected to Human Hair Color. It was only after messing with links did I find it. Anyways, I meant brunet as in the male form of brunette, since male terms tend to be universal (I shouldn't have said brunette article then - sorry!). I wondered why 'black' hair had an article if it wasn't really black and just a variant of brown, yet brown hair, which really is brown, had a red link. It has, since then, gotten the article back, but it was a wonder to me.

This is rather random, but the blond and red hair articles are way better than the black and brown hair articles. Conspiracy? I suspect the gov't.67.191.92.129 (talk) 03:27, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

white hair
Why is white hair hardly mentioned? Lots of albinos and elderly have white hair. One of my grandfathers developed a full heard of thick white hair that shown amazingly bright when hit by sunlight. It was beautiful. It seems like a shame that white hard is mostly ignored here. Herorev (talk) 04:10, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

lol...shown? I think you mean shone. Or maybe shines. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.179.238.140 (talk) 13:41, 28 March 2008 (UTC)


 * "white hard" ?  "full heard of thick..." ?
 * Will you please read what you've typed before you click Save page !
 * To answer your simple question, as the article says, white hair is hair that was made without pigmentation added.DaveDodgy (talk) 13:03, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Effects of aging on hair color
The paragraph below (italics mine) is confusing because it seems to cites different causes of grey hair without explicitly linking them:

Two genes appear to be responsible for the process of graying, Bcl2 and Mitf. The change in hair color is caused when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root and new hairs grow in without pigment. The stem cells at the base of hair follicles are responsible for producing melanocytes, the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells causes the onset of graying.

Any geneticists out there wanna take a stab at explaining this better? Thanks. Kinkyturnip (talk) 17:05, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Rejuvenating Hair Color with Small Molecule Telomerase Activators
Hair color may be restored by lengthening the telomeres associated with the stem cells that refresh melanocytes. This was a headline in 2004. This may be done by application of small molecule telomerase activators, such as TA-65 from TA Sciences, or extracts of astragalus prepared with ethanol and water, such as GAIA Astragalus Extract, which is available with 1 mg of astragalosides per 30 drops. In this latter case, 150 drops just before bedtime for 2 weeks out of 4 produces noticible changes after about 9 months of cyclic treatment in a 60-year old man. According to communications from Greta Blackburn of TA Sciences, similar cyclic treatment with TA-65 produces 460 base pairs of telomere growth per year. Since we typically loose 50 bp per year, this amounts to a cumulative rejuvenation rate of about 9 years per year. On the average, 50% of persons have 50% grey hair at age 50, and this about what a 60 year old man can expect to observe with a year of this sort of treatment. While taking TA-65 or astragalus extract to lengthen telomeres by activating telomerase, one should be careful to avoid small molecule telomerase inhibitors including curcumin (turmeric), silymarin (Milk Thistle), resveratrol, quercetin, green tea, garlic, fish oil (EPA), and vitamin E. These may be taken during the subsequent two weeks, if telomerase activation is used during the first two weeks using astragalus extract. This seems to work, according to my file of personal hair clippings, and at about the 9 years/year rate observed with TA-65 using the Patton Protocol, which uses 3 months of telomerase activation with TA-65 followed by 3 months of no telomerase activation. I note that this therapy has cumulative effect if continued, because as the telomeres grow, more and more senescent cells become non-senescent with closed telomere t-loops. Cells become senescent when t-loops become too short and spring open, activating a DNA damage response to a double-strand DNA break leading to the senescent state. At 9 years per year, one can expect to observe a time machine rejuvenation effect. After the first year, 59 looks 50. After the 2nd year, we expect to observe that 60 looks 41, and so on, until all senescent cells vanish along with all grey hair. Many cells in the body are treated, so that skin tone and other aging variables improve. In particular, I note that senescent dermal fibroblasts emit collegenase and stromelysin, two matix metalloproteinases that attack the extracellular matrix. As non-senescent cells, the same fibroblasts emit collagen and elastin, refreshing the extracellular matrix. Thus, this treatment produces a visible rejuvenation effect that applies to the skin and hair, and to other cells in the body. I note that the telomerase activating effect of astragalus extracts and extracts from the extracts was discovered by a team of scientists at Geron Corporation and at Hong Kong University led by Calvin B. Harley of Geron, with patents published in 2005. See the Geron patent COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR INCREASING TELOMERASE ACTIVITY and the Hong Kong University patent FORMULATIONS CONTAINING ASTRAGALUS EXTRACTS AND USES THEREOF. Also, I note that TA-65 from TA Sciences, a smaller and probably more bioavailable molecule than the telomerese activator Astragaloside IV in ordinary astragalus extracts, is presently available together with state-of-the-art measurements of telomere length made by checking blood granulocytes done at two universities on the TA Sciences team. TA-65 may become generally available in health food stores in the future. Bioavailability of Astragaloside IV in astragalus extract may be boosted with chitosan or sodium deoxycholate. For more details associated with rejuvenation and longevity see Anti-Aging Medicine: Longevity & Life Extension in Review. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JamesAGreen (talk • contribs) 16:05, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

After 19 months of cyclic telomerase activation with 150 drops of GAIA Herbs Astragalus Extract per day (5 mg astragalosides, rated 1 mg astragalosides per 30 drops) for two weeks out of each monthly cycle, my hair is considerably darker, < 50% grey. I judge it to correspond to a model age of about 47 by this time (59 1/2), and suspect the associated rejuvenation rate is 7 to 9 years per year, up to 0.75 years per month. I have just started mixing my astragalus extract in water with the contents of 4 capsules of Natural Balance Chitosan to improve bioavailability of astragaloside IV. - Jim Green Nov 17, 2008 JamesAGreen (talk) 19:29, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

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Modifications to Gallery
I propose that we modify the gallery so that it better displays the variations of blonde, brown, red and black hair. --*Kat* (talk) 06:55, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Please Stop Making Changes to the Gallery
PLEASE LEAVE MONICA BELLUCCI's photo up as an example of DARK BROWN. We need a photo for the Darkest Brown hair to be distinct from Black.

I reverted the gallery to what I previously put as examples, with the exception of Susan Sarandon. Her natural hair color IS auburn, but in that photo, she has dyed it to be more red. The previous pictures that someone else added do not do Hair Colors justice. For instance, there needs to be a better representative of Black Hair. The Japanese man is the perfect example, and there needs to be another man added to the gallery.

There needs to be a distinction between Dark Brown hair and Black Hair. I myself, had reddish-brown hair (kind of medium auburn) as a baby, that became a very dark brown chestnut (like Jennifer Connelly's). She has Dark Brown hair, that like mine, that sometimes comes across as almost black in some photos. In some lighting, you can't tell. Rent Labyrinth or check out some photos of her or videos youtube to see what I'm talking about. I saw two different photos from a photo shoot, and in one, Ms. Connelly's hair looked a Dark Chestnut, in the next (same clothes, different pose), it looked slightly black.

Also, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Courteney Cox, Angie Harmon, Monica Bellucci, Demi Moore, Andrea Corr, Penelope Cruz, and Catherine Bell ALL have Dark Brown hair - NOT Black. This is mentioned in magazine articles (I have a ton of those as well as hair magazines). The only celebrities whose hair looks more Black are Sarah Silverman, Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, etc.

Black hair can be Black Brown (where it looks black in regular light, except for a very slight hint of brown). But because it LOOKS black, it's called Black Brown. Then there's Soft Black, and Blue-Black.

The photo of Monica Bellucci is the BEST example for really Dark Brown hair and should NOT be deleted. There wasn't a good distinction between Black and Dark Brown and many people get confused. There was an old photo of a Greek woman with Dark Brown hair, but it looked Black because it was wet. So that wasn't a good example.

Please don't delete the photo of the Japanese man. His hair is the best example for real Black hair. Photos of almost black hair shouldn't be put up for Black.

Also, the actress/entertainer someone put up as representing Auburn hair has almost red-orange hair. I know there is light, medium and dark auburn, but I still think it's too orangey for auburn. I think Julianne Moore is a great example. I couldn't find a photo of Susan Sarandon with her natural hair that was copyright free, so that is too bad.


 * NOTE: I have some good photos for Light Brown and the variations in Blonde if anyone is interested. I will put some up for discussion.

Also, I will be doing more research on hair color and will be contributing some articles on Hair Color and genes if anyone is interested.--CreativeSoul7981 (talk) 04:36, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Alternative to dominant/recessive theory
The article below gives an alternative to dominant/recessive theory currently mentioned in the wiki page.

Ask a Geneticist - by Dr. Barry Starr, Stanford University

As per the current wiki page,

The genetics of hair colors are not yet firmly established. According to one theory, at least two gene pairs control human hair color.

One gene, (brown/blonde) has a dominant brown allele and a recessive blonde allele. A person with a brown allele will have brown hair; a person with no brown alleles will be blonde. This explains why two brown-haired parents can produce a blonde-haired child.

Even though, the text clearly establishes the dominant/recessive as one theory, it doesn't propose an alternative to the reader. As per this theory, parents with blonde hair cannot give birth to a child with a brown hair, which is wrong.

Doraiashok (talk) 04:37, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

I think the map is labeled wrong.
The map label claims to represent light hair: as BROWN, blonde, and red hair, and dark hair: as black. I think this is a mistake, surely this map considers brown hair to be dark hair. The level of brown hair in places like Italy, Spain, and Greece is surely above 20%. Most southern Euopeans have dark brown hair. Even southern and central Frace is in the 1-19% category. Your not telling me 80% of the people of central France have black hair!!!

Someone please look into this.

71.244.224.128 (talk) 04:14, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Egypt
The mummies of the Ancient Egypt with have red hair are natural. For example, Ramses II was natural redhead, so I think that section must be deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.44.197.11 (talk) 10:17, 2 September 2009 (UTC)
 * This is because the mummification process eliminated the melanin in the hair or something. I know that it has to do with them being in the ground for a few thousand years and the preservation methods used on them.

Blond Hair Picture
Maybe we should have a picture that doesn't look like the person pictured has clearly dyed their hair.

Stress Induced Hair Color Change?
It is known extreme stress can turn hair white. (John McCain for instance, his hair turned white whilst being held as a POW in vietnam), would be worth mentioning in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.33.138.221 (talk) 06:31, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Is this article really about head hair?
A questioner on the Reference Desk asked about hair color elsewhere on the body, and reading this article, I realize a better article title at present is probably Human head hair color, unless someone could add a section about the color of hair elsewhere on the body. (The question was about how often it matches the color of the hair on the head, but the topic could be expanded further.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:22, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

White Hair and Thyroid Disorders
It seems like everyone the world over automatically associates premature white hair with hyperthyroidism (though some say hypothyroidism?). Yet neither this entry nor thyroid, hyperthyroidism, or hypothyroidism mentions this link. I couldn't find even a reference to the idea in sites like webmd or mayo. I don't know where it comes from or whether it is simply obsoleted. I think the white/grey hair section should mention it even if as "myth". (76.126.215.43 (talk) 17:09, 2 February 2010 (UTC))

Mixed colors
Not all types of hair have one color. My hair can be blond, black or a mix of both. If you look some of my hairs under a microscope, you can see that literally half of it, vertically, it's blond, and the other half is black. It's a pretty common kind of hair where I live, so it must be common in all of the western world, since people from where I live emigrated through all of Europe and America. 88.1.245.213 (talk) 01:02, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

lead image
The image given is a very narrow image of hair types and colours. Surely we should use a picture with grey, afro, chinese, red, blonde and latino hair in it - and without people who have dyed their hair. Spanglej (talk) 17:43, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

hair color and sex
"Human females are more likely to have lighter colored hair than males, whereas males are more likely to have black or dark hair. Red and blond hair are relatively more common in women than in men."

there is no accurate source to support this claim... and the source in the article mentions eye color NOT HAIR COLOR:


 * there were no significant differences in eye-color distributions between females and males. There was a very wide range in the number of freckles (nil to severe) and of nevi (2–426); 76% of the sample had some freckling on at least one of the three examined body sites. On average, males had nine more moles than did females, and a similar trend was observed for freckling, which was particularly obvious on the shoulders.* ---> |source --85.185.228.130 (talk) 08:31, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Picture at top
What's with the picture at the top of the article with the one guy surrounded by 9 cheerleaders? Surely someone can get a less cheesy picture that illustrates hair color —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.56.81.63 (talk) 17:29, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree, it is a pretty bad picture. Especially since most of the hair colors aren't natural. 72.92.159.50 (talk) 12:36, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Hair Air
Air gets in gray hair as it grows and makes it stiffer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.30.253.77 (talk) 20:46, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Gallery
I don't know why the gallery photos were changed. Chestnut is a shade of brunette, but can be light, medium or dark. Also, the photo of the woman with brown hair should not have been removed. She has natural brown hair with natural highlights. Brown hair can have highlights as well. Also, the photo of auburn hair looks out of place in this gallery. Susan Sarandon has light to medium auburn hair. Auburn hair comes in various shades - light to dark with various mixtures of brown and red. Susan Sarandon is known for her natural auburn hair. There was no reason to remove the photo of Richard Gere with white hair. The current gallery reflects a wide range of hair colors. CreativeSoul7981 (talk) 09:30, 5 June 2011 (UTC)