Link Between Hair Color and Type

Orianna2000

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Is there a link between hair color and hair type (e.g.: curly/straight or fine/thick)? For instance, I haven't noticed many blondes with naturally curly hair, but I have seen a lot of people with very curly brown or black hair. Is this a known link or just a coincidence?

Similarly, I know many people with curly hair have thick, sometimes coarse hair. And conversely, people with straight hair often have very thin, fine hair. Can someone have very fine, yet curly hair? And can someone have thick, yet straight hair? I wouldn't need to ask, except Hollywood tends to use a flat-iron on curly-haired actresses and a curling iron on straight-haired actresses, so it's very hard to tell what's natural.

I'm just trying to make sure my MCs' appearances are plausible. Not that someone's going to throw my book across the room, shouting, "Strawberry-blondes don't have curly hair, moron!" But still, I'd like to get the details right. (Plus, I admit, I'm curious about the science behind hair color/type.)
 

Jason

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As a kid I had naturally curly blond hair...drove me bonkers and I would try to flatten it with my sister's curling iron, which really pi**ed her off because she was trying to add what I had, while I was actively trying to take them away!

Now, it's just short and gray :(
 

Silva

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I don't think the general populace is going to be aware of any genetic correlation (or lack thereof) between what kind of melanin you have and what shape your hair shafts are, to the point where they'd throw the book across the room.
 

Orianna2000

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So it's probably just my imagination that dark hair tends to run towards curly, while fair hair tends to run straight. Good to know! (And yes, I know it's being nitpicky, but I did admit that I was awfully curious.)
 

Roxxsmom

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Is there a link between hair color and hair type (e.g.: curly/straight or fine/thick)? For instance, I haven't noticed many blondes with naturally curly hair, but I have seen a lot of people with very curly brown or black hair. Is this a known link or just a coincidence?

My brother had baby fine, curly blond hair when he was young, but it's more of a dishwater blond color now, and it got straighter
(more wavy than curly now, though he also wears it shorter than he did when young), though it's still pretty fine, after he had chemo (in his early 20s) and it grew back in. No idea why. As a rule, all but the palest of blond hair does darken up with maturity.

I've certainly known other people with naturally curly, naturally blond hair of varying textures and curly red hair as well. One of my friends (and his son) both have blond hair that is curly/wavy. As far as I know, hair color and texture are controlled by separate genes (and more than one), I don't know if there's any gene linkage between a gene for curly hair and a brown hair color specifically (with gene linkage, two separate genes are carried on the same chromosome, so they tend to be inherited together). Some human populations that have a high incidence of curly hair also tend to have dark hair, so that might be why we see the two going together fairly often.

It's sort of complicated by the fact that many people (especially women) color/perm/straighten their hair, so it can be hard to know what's natural or common in a population and what reflects current fashion.
 
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Silva

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It is pretty fascinating. I'm no expert when it comes to genetics, but one of my characters is red-headed (well, auburn, more like) and it's a relevant plot point so I had to look into it a bit. It's all about genetics, but it's sort of an odd thing because hair color and texture can change during childhood, at puberty, in adulthood, after undergoing chemotherapy, etc. I never was able to find any connection between melanin production and hair shaft shape, where if the genes dictate one then the other is also dictated, though.
 

Deb Kinnard

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You may want to look at older artwork of people, and see if you can spot portraits of very blond people with curly hair that looks natural. Mind you, women have been artificially doing whatever to their hair (aiming to make it straight if it's curly and curly if it's straight) for centuries now, and then of course there were those horrible horsehair wigs. But I'd be willing to bet you'd find curly-headed blonds whose color/texture you believe.
 

Orianna2000

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Deb, thanks for that suggestion. There's a lot of issues with antique portraits, though. Absolutely, women artificially curled their hair, dyed their hair, and/or used wigs and hair extensions. Throughout parts of history, women wore formal headdresses, veils, caps, etc., which obscured their hair. In later centuries where that wasn't required, they often put their hair up in a formal chignon for a portrait. More recently, like the 18th and 19th centuries, full wigs, hairpieces, and extensions were extremely common, so portraits still wouldn't be reliable. Seriously, I'm glad women were able to make themselves feel pretty, but it certainly messes things up for historians, doesn't it? LOL! Then again, who imagined anyone would ask, centuries later, whether a woman's hair was naturally curly or not! These poor women would've been scandalized at the very thought.

Speaking of gray hair, I have dark red (auburn) hair, and as I approach 40, I'm getting more and more white hairs scattered throughout. Except, I noticed a few weeks ago that the white hairs aren't actually white. They're sort of a transparent gold, which I find fascinating. Any other redheads notice something similar?
 

cornflake

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Visit or check the website of a salon for curly hair to see that curly comes in all colours, as does straight, fine, thick, etc.
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I used to have naturally straight black/brown hair. The color is lighter now, but that's okay. Yes, it was and still is thick/coarse.

I knew a guy in high school with a natural blond afro.

Oh, and my mother's carrot-colored hair was wavy/curly.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

frimble3

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Deb, thanks for that suggestion. There's a lot of issues with antique portraits, though. Absolutely, women artificially curled their hair, dyed their hair, and/or used wigs and hair extensions. Throughout parts of history, women wore formal headdresses, veils, caps, etc., which obscured their hair. In later centuries where that wasn't required, they often put their hair up in a formal chignon for a portrait. More recently, like the 18th and 19th centuries, full wigs, hairpieces, and extensions were extremely common, so portraits still wouldn't be reliable. Seriously, I'm glad women were able to make themselves feel pretty, but it certainly messes things up for historians, doesn't it? LOL! Then again, who imagined anyone would ask, centuries later, whether a woman's hair was naturally curly or not! These poor women would've been scandalized at the very thought.
If you're just after hair colour vs. texture/style - try portraits of men. Less likely to do things to their hair.
 

MaryMumsy

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I knew a guy in college with light blond, very curly hair. Wouldn't have called it an afro, he kept it fairly short. I always wanted to pat him on the head when I walked past his desk in class. But I controlled myself. It looked very soft, not wiry.

MM
 

frimble3

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Visit or check the website of a salon for curly hair to see that curly comes in all colours, as does straight, fine, thick, etc.
Good idea! A salon or hairdressing school is likely to have some knowledge of how hair 'works', in general.
 

Los Pollos Hermanos

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My hair is very dark brown and wavy - and the strands are coarse. A DNA test tells me that this trait is likely to be explained by having one copy of the East Asian version of the EDAR gene, despite there being no known East Asian ancestry in the family tree (Google it if you're interested. I also have the shovel incisors, as does my dad who gave me this gene). To my delight, I also have a hidden ginger gene, which explains the big red highlights that appear when the sun shines on it (always wanted red hair, btw).

I used to teach a girl whose grandfather was Nigerian - she had the best naturally light blonde afro you ever did see. She looked amazing.
 
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Orianna2000

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I would love to do a DNA test to see what's going on with all my weird traits, medical and otherwise. I have dark red (auburn) hair, which is extremely thick, and curly. I'm about as white as they come, with ultra-pale skin and grayish-green eyes that used to be blue. (My eyes changed color when I was in my late 20s. Rare, but apparently not unheard of.) My ancestors are from Italy (Sicily), England, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, and according to my grandmother, there are rumors of an ancestor from Egypt. (She may have been making that up, however, to impress my 10-year-old self.) I inherited the red hair from my paternal grandmother, who had somewhat lighter auburn hair. I don't think hers was curly, though. Or if it was, she always brushed it out, because the photos I have of her show thick, but straight, or at the worst, slightly wavy hair. Never curly. Unfortunately, she's been gone for several years, so I can't ask her.

I've never seen a blonde afro, but I bet it's pretty awesome. :)