I once read a woman’s blog became successful by documenting the day by day growth of hair.

Now, any woman knows that there is just something about our hair that we just can’t figure out but ask any woman about the Truth regarding a bad hair day and well, in my opinion that means there is more than meets the eye.

We may think we know everything about hair. It seems to be very much alive, sensitive to our moods or the vagaries of the weather. And yet the part of it we see, the fibre, is a material which is biologically dead. It is under the epidermis, in the root, that the vibrant life is going on, where the hair is made as the result of complex and ceaseless chemical and biological reactions, initiated at the very start of embryonic life.

Evidence shows that Ancient Egyptians paid special attention to the hair because they realized that it didn’t degrade as much as the rest of the body.

No other part of the body seems to hold such a variety of symbolic power as the hair. It is both part of our body, and therefore part of our individual identity, and yet at the same time it is changeable and detachable: it emerges and falls out, it can be altered according to taste and fashion, it can be covered or revealed, given or revered. Growing quicker than any other part of our body, it is our most visibly living organ and in this sense is a manifestation of living. At the same time, hair is composed entirely of dead cells: it is where cells go to die – it is, in a sense, the body’s living graveyard.

Doth not nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her.

In many societies human hair has been and still is highly charged with meaning. Not only can it carry erotic, religious and magical significance, but the way in which it is worn often encodes information about gender, age and social status.  Since in many societies, although, no means by all; the body is usually covered by clothes, it is normally the head hair and the beard that have been and are subject to most attention.

Hair is far more complex than it appears on the surface. We all know that it not only plays a vital role in the appearance of both men and women, but it also helps to transmit sensory information as well as create gender identification.

Even the direction in which hair grows is important. If the follicle points toward the surface, of the skin and the hair shaft is round, the hair is straight. If the follicle is curved and the hair shaft is oval then the hair will be curly. A very curved follicle and a flat shaft result in ‘kinky’ hair.

Within every head of hair, each hair grows, falls and grows again, quite independently from its neighbor. Despite differences in speed of growth, all the hair in the world follows this timeless cycle which seems capable of reproducing itself many times over. However, very often this fine system of constantly regenerated life becomes seized up – so that little by little hair loss increase, the hair becomes rarer and finishes by disappearing altogether.

Once it has been constructed, the hair receives no further help from the tissues that created it. Only its incredible conception and the contribution made by cosmetics cares enable it to resist the the many aggressions it is subject to.

By week 22, a developing fetus has all of its hair follicles formed. At this stage of life there are about 5 million hair follicles on the body. There are a total of one million on the head, with one hundred thousand of those follicles residing on the scalp. This is the largest number of hair follicles a human will ever have, since we do not generate new hair follicles anytime during the course of our lives.

Almost without exception all humans have hair covering the entire surface of their body (except for the palms of our hands, the soles of our feet, and our eyelids and lips).

Hair can also be referred to as “a woman’s pride” as women usually take a ton of care and pride in how their hair looks, and how long it is.  Hair is often thought of as a girl’s life.  For example,  in medieval times hair was sheared during wartime for use in catapult ropes and such.  In later wars, it was used for bomb fuses.  It was very important for a girl to protect and care for her hair for this possible event.  The shearing of a girl’s hair is far more than juts a physical thing; in a way, by cutting a girls hair down to nothing, you are violating her and taking her virginity, symbolically.  Her hair is the very definition of her life as a female.  Removing it means you are removing her femininity.

As has always been the case in every country since history began, hair still possesses powerful symbolic and evocative properties. An object of traditions and beliefs, a sign with hierarchical, religious or mystical significance, it also indicates an established order or a refusal to comply with one. In addition, it is a means of projecting the image we have of ourselves and in fact plays a multiplicity of roles. It is not therefore by chance that hair has taken such an important place in everyday language.

Whereas the hair has always been the focus of all kinds of attention, beliefs and traditions throughout the world, this phenomenon once considered to be ‘a type of plant growing on the head’, remained overlooked by science for far too long.

This cultural profusion gives us the urge to set off on a voyage of discovery.

But culture is such that it is held within each one of us, and we may on occasion hold the last remaining trace of a forgotten path we would like to share with others.

Living the Science is all about pursuing healthy living in all aspects of your life—not just your hair. While we don’t recommend that you “eat for hair,” improving your total body health through nutrition and exercise does have long term trickle down effects for your hair. Our diets affect the quality of the hair we produce.

Live and Learn. We All Do.

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