GENETICS.... And Hair Color

NATURAL Red Hair.. is very rare, as you might know. Only two out of every one hundred

people have natural red hair. And, while Celtic tribes are famous for having red hair, people

from all corners of the globe are sometimes.... redheads.

A genetic mutation in a person's MC1R gene causes an individual's hair to be red.

We are all familiar with phaeomelanin, the warm, (gold-red) pigment found

in the hair's cortex Usuallly, this warm -colored melanin is mixed with some

amount of eumalanin, the black pigment, also usually present in the hair's

cortex.

In most humans, that MC1R gene converts red color into brown or black... hence,

phaeomelanin into eumelanin. BUT when MC1R is MUTATED, it allows the warm pigment

(phaeomelanin) to flow free....., creating natural red hair.

Strand testing has shown us that when lightener (bleach) is applied to natural red hair,

the warm tone leave the hair VERY SLOWLY.. making it very difficult to transform a natural

redhead into a blonde!... and so it goes.

I've rescheduled our NJ Immersion event until October 30th.. details will be confirmed this

week. AND, I hope you will join me in Bend, Oregon on September 11th and in Pittsburgh,

Pa. on October 16th. I look forward to seeing you in class! B