Why does hair have different textures?

Outside the Body

	Tweet	Pin It

0

by Kate Simmons >> more about the author

Curly, straight, silky, wiry. Is your hair one of these textures? Perhaps your hair is smooth and straight. Or is it coarse and curly? Do you have wavy hair, or can you think of someone who does? Why do different people have different hair textures?

The texture of our hair changes over time. For example, a baby often has soft, fine hair that gets thicker as he or she grows. Some kids may find that their hair changes as they become pre-teens and teens! Straight hair can even become curly!

There are different ideas about why hair texture varies from person to person, or why a person’s hair texture can change throughout life. However, it's the shape of tiny hair follicles, tube-like structures from which your hair grows, that gives us a clue! If the inside of the follicle is round, hair is straight. If it’s oval-shaped, hair is curly.

Some researchers also think that hormones, substances produced by your body, may play a part in determining hair texture. For example, people sometimes experience changes in hair during adolescence or after they have a baby, two times in the life when the body is going through hormonal changes.

It’s fun to look around and notice differences in hair texture. If we all had the same color and texture of hair, the world would be a lot less interesting!

Can you make a texture tally?! Gather a group of friends or family members. On a piece of white paper, draw strands of hair, leaving space below each drawing for tally marks. Can you draw curly hair? Straight hair? Wavy hair?

Now ask each person to draw a tally mark under the type of hair he or she has. Which hair texture did most people in your group tend to have? If you are members of the same family, do you share the same hair texture? Happy tallying!