Hair is a key to your character

Press, 18 April 1981, Page 10

Hair is a key to your character

Have you ever read a novel in which the author didn’t describe the heroine's crowning glory? Probably not. ’ ? '

Be it raven, chestnut, red or gold, there’s always something . curiously revealing about the style and texture of hair.

Just knowing that it is “thick as rope,” or “fine as silk,” a “mass of curls” or a “free-flowing mane,” somehow gives us a vivid picture of it.

Not surprisingly, the same is true in life. A man or

womans hair plays a vital role in the total impression created. Why? Partly, of course, because it frames and sets off the face, but also, in some deeper and more basic way, it serves as an. outward symbol of our whole being. A lustrous, well-cared for head of hair can speak as eloquently about a person’s capacity for living as the expression on our face, or the way we carry ourselves. This'does not mean to say that a person balding is lacking in zest for living. We are merely comparing healthy with unhealthy hair.

We all know that healthy hair makes for beautiful' hair. But we sometimes forget that healthy hair is part and parcel of a healthy body. Your hair, like your skin,

is a living, breathing part of the total you. And it’s just as much affected by your ups and downs. The amazing thing is how quickly it will respond to even the slightest bit of extra care. To meet the special needs of your hair, it helps to understand the way it grows

and what affects it. This,' 7 brings us right to the “root” of hair. For it is in its roots. , or follicles, that the secrets of hair lie, .' Each root ,is a miniature. factory, in whick • hair is nourished and kept lubricated through a link-up with the oil glands under the skin. Each hair is made of kera-

tin, a type of protein, and grows out straight or curly depending on the inner structure of its rook If the root is- smooth inside, the hair shaft will come out round and straight. If the root is somewhat uneven, the hair will be ■ mord oval, a little twisted/ and more likely to end in a curl.

Whether- your hair is straight or curly, the average head of hair contains between 90,000 and 140,000 individual hairs. That is about 1000 per square inch. More surprising still — if all the growing. power were put into a single hair, it would grow at the speed of 60 miles an hour. An average hair grows at the rate of about half an inch per month, though this tends to slow as we mature. It also grows faster by day than by

night, and a Tittle : faster during warmer weather. The life span of a single hair can be as much as-a few months, or as long as several years. What makes it fall out? Each hair has its own cycle of growth and decline, a period of vigorous growth being followed by a “resting phase” which ends in its falling out and being replaced by a new hair. Fortunately, nature has been kind iii its balancing. Our hairs don’t fall out all at once.

Why is it that some zomen (or men) can grow heir hair down to their waists or below, while others ind that it simply refuses to qrow beyond their shoulder ilades? It depends on a comlination of quick growth rate vith a relatively long life pan. These people are. probably also fairly - young, in good health, and take good care of their hair. Hair turns grey when the coloured section of the hair shaft stops producing pigment, and fills up with co-

lourless bubbles. This produces white hairs, but because the white hairs are mixed with the coloured ones, the over-all effect is grey. . Whether your hair is thick or thin depends on the number of hair follicles with which you are born. Blondes have the most, then

brunettes, followed by redheads. The health of your hair goes up and down with your general health. The food you eat has everything to do with the well-being of your scalp and hair, which are often the first part of .you to show signs of strain when you have been ill, or arc dieting.