Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2023 March 13

= March 13 =

I have a question about blue hair
It's says in the Wikipedia article about blue hair: "Some humans are born with bluish-black hair (also known as "blue black" hair), which is black that has a blue hue under the light." Can anyone show me examples of pictures this kind of hair? I've never heard of this and I find it interesting. 2001:569:58BE:D400:AC23:F792:6820:8827 (talk) 05:19, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Anything that is shiny and black will have blue tint due to reflection of the blue sky. Any photo of somebody with shiny black hair outside on a sunny day would show this. One thing that comes to mind is "Blueskin", George Washington's white horse that had shiny black skin that looked blue in the sunlight, which in turn made white hair near exposed skin appear blueish. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 05:32, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Blue-black as a descriptive term for hair colour definitely exists:, , . Here we even find advice for aspiring artists which pigments to use when portraying blue-black hair. Reducing the lightness of any colour while keeping its hue and saturation constant (see HSL and HSV) will make it appear black, but under intense light the underlying colour may become visible.  --Lambiam 09:51, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The hair in this image of Elvis Presley, when the lightness is turned up, is mainly bluish. This one too has a fair share of blue. --Lambiam 10:02, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Whether or not Elvis had "blue-black hair", those images aren't great examples for 2 reasons 1) The second is the same as the first; it's just been flipped along the vertical axis, meaning you have not two different images of Elvis, but rather just one, used twice. 2) The blue tint is there because the image is illuminated by bluish light; this was either done in camera (i.e. with bluish light bulbs) or in post (i.e. where the photographic process maybe granted a bluish hue to everything).  You can tell this because the bluish tint extends to his face (you can see the tint in the bright reflection on his forehead and some on his nose).  -- Jayron 32 12:08, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Or maybe he was part-Na'vi, and the makeup wore off in spots. Clarityfiend (talk) 13:28, 13 March 2023 (UTC)