DIFFERENT HAIR COLORS AND ORIGINS

Natural hair color can be black, brown, blond, or red, depending on a person's ethnic origins. Hair color is typically genetically associated with certain skin tones and eye colors.

BROWN HAIR

Brown hair is the most common European hair colour. It is characterized by higher levels of eumelanin and lower levels of pheomelanin. Of the two types of eumelanin (black and brown), brown-haired people have brown eumelanin; they also usually have medium-thick strands of hair. Brown-haired people are often known as brunettes/brunets.

BLACK HAIR

Black hair is the darkest hair color and is the most common in the world. It has large amounts of eumelanin and is less dense than other hair colors. It can range from soft black to blue-black or jet-black hair.

BLONDE HAIR

Blond hair ranges from nearly white (platinum blond, tow-haired) to a dark golden blond. Strawberry blond, a mixture of blond and red hair is a much rarer type containing the most amounts of pheomelanin.

Blond hair can have almost any proportion of pheomelanin and eumelanin, but both only in small amounts. More pheomelanin creates a more golden blond color, and more eumelanin creates an ash blond.

Blond hair is most commonly found in Northern and Eastern Europeans and their descendants, but can be found spread around most of Europe.

AUBURN HAIR

Auburn hair ranges along a spectrum of light to dark red-brown shades. The chemicals which cause auburn hair are eumelanin (brown) and pheomelanin (red), with a higher proportion of red-causing pheomelanin than what is found in average brown hair. It is most commonly found in individuals of Northern and Western European descent.

RED HAIR

Red hair ranges from light strawberry blonde shades to titian, vivid oranges, copper, and less commonly "true" red. It is caused by a variation in the Mc1r gene and is recessive. Red hair has the highest amounts of pheomelanin, around 67%, and usually low levels of eumelanin. At 1-2% of the population, it is the least common hair color in the world. It is most prominently found in Scotland and Ireland. Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13 percent of the population has red hair and approximately 40 percent carries the recessive redhead gene.

GREY or WHITE HAIR (hair of the aging person, albinos)



Grey or white hair is not actually a true grey or white pigment. In fact, it is clear due to lack of pigmentation and melanin. The clear hairs appear as grey or white because of the way light reflects from the hairs. Grey hair color typically occurs naturally as people age. For some people this can happen at a very young age (for example, at the age of 10). The same is true for white hair. In some cases, grey hair may be caused by thyroid deficiencies or a deficiency of B12. People with albinism may have white hair due to low amounts of melanin.