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The Science Behind Your Hair: What Makes Your Hair Straight or Curly?
Physically, everyone is unique. We’re different heights, have different eye colors, bone structures, freckles, and other individual differences (like that stunted, crooked left pinky or that weird lump on your ankle that your doctor swears is no problem, really). For the most part, we have our genes to thank for these differences, and your hair is no exception – but there are other factors, too. Like most realms of science, the reasons behind why your hair is straight or curly are complicated and varied. So we’ll break it down for you and so you understand why your hair is the way that it is, and give you tips for how to best care for your specific type of hair.
What Makes Your Hair Straight vs Curly
Genetics
Remember those gene charts in high school biology class, where you cross the genes of your parents in a 2×2 grid, to see which one is dominant and recessive? No? That’s ok, here’s the gist of it:
Most physical traits are either dominant or recessive, and the combination of genes from your parents determines what your physical trait will be. A mother and father, both with brown eyes, can both carry the recessive gene for blue eyes, and if the genes match up in just the right way, their son can have shiny blue eyes. Pretty cool!
The same thing works for curly hair and straight hair. And because of the nature of recessive and dominant genes, this means that curly-haired you and your curly-haired wife could very well have a daughter with hair straighter than a spear. It all depends on which genes get passed on, and how they match up.
Studies have shown that around 85% (or sometimes more) of hair type is the result of your genetic makeup. So then what’s the other 15%?
Angle of the Follicles
Most of it has to do with genes, but some of it has to do with angles. Angles of the follicle, in particular.
Hair follicles are organs found in the skin, made up of multiple different types of cells, that produce hair. Think of it like the single root of a tree, that produces the hair and pushes it through the ground (skin) and into the world.
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