new thread
Hi Elizabeth, and Long Mane Dude. I have measured the diameter of your hair strands.
Elizabeth, yours is 80 microns in diameter. This is medium diameter.
Long Mane Dude, yours is 50 microns in diameter which is fine to very fine.
Check out the images for comparison. The scale on the reticle is 50 microns per division.
Scott
I know this is directed at Elizabeth and Long Mane Dude, but I just had to comment on how fascinating that is. The difference is incredible!
What would the diameter of a coarse hair be, Scott? I'm fine-haired myself, but just curious.
Franny
http://www.pg.com/science/haircare/hair_twh_141.htm
According to this website they say:
<60 microns is fine
60 to 80 microns is medium
>80 microns is coarse
Trolleypup has coarse hair at 105 microns.
Elizabeth Regina has borderline medium hair at 80 microns.
Long Mane Dude has fine to very fine hair at 50 microns.
Check out the photos in this thread. Compare Long Mane Dude and
Elizabeth Regina. There is a huge difference in diameter.
Coarse hair is by far the best to grow super long. A hair that
is 100 microns in diameter has 4 times the cross sectional area
of a hair of 50 microns in diameter, giving it 4 times the
tensile strength as well. Additionally, with twice the diameter
it has only twice the exposed surface area as the 50 micron
hair. This makes it twice as resistant to damage from sun and
other elements. This is why the vast majority of people with
hair over 3 feet in length have coarse hair. Dianyla has hair
5 feet in length and it is VERY coarse averaging 125 microns.
Scott
I'm certainly not surprised - this explains why Elizabeth's hair is so silky and soft (unlike mine!). Long Mane Dude - your hair must be incredibly fine and soft. Like bunny fur! ;)
Dianyla, do you know your hair's diameter? I find this fascinating.
Franny
Don't know exactly, but hers is significantly thicker than mine, and I remember Absalom measuring mine at ~110 microns. I'd guess in the range of 150 microns?
in diameter. Here is a closeup of a strand of your hair. Magnification is about 133x (on a 19 inch screen.) Magnification will vary depending on your screen size. Notice the measuring reticle to the left. It has increments of 50 microns.
Scott
Every time I tell Bill I want hair like yours he reminds me of the difference in our textures and how he likes my hair just as it is though he certainly wouldn't complain if I magically could grow more. Come to think of it, I have the best of it. I get to walk behind you at meets and enjoy the utter wow factor of your hair without having the work of caring for it. No wonder Bill always rejects my offer to trade hair with him.
It is funny, I don't remember what LongManeDude's scalp hair felt like though I remember getting to touch it. I was too busy being drawn to his goatee and sideburn hair which he kindly let me play with.
More like hamster fur - obviously, a long-haired hamster.
this is really quite fascinating, however I do have to ask how are you getting these pictures/measurments as it would be something I would love to try out if its something simple and cheap to do.
I use a lab microscope and a compact digital camera held up close to the eyepiece. The eyepiece has a measuring reticle. I used a drawing program to put the arrow and text in the photo
Scott
Ah I see, thank you much.
*goes to prod Antesse to find out what his lab lets him do if he gets curious about things other then cancer*
Heh, I'd love to know what mine is, probably less than 50 microns. My former hairdresser of 15+ years, used to tell me that she never had a client with hair as fine and soft as mine. I have superfine hair with is prone to flyaways, she likened it to baby hair.
Scott, thank you for doing this for us. I'm not particularly fascinated by my hair but this is interesting to me. I particularly was pleased to get to see my strand close up. May I copy the photo you made and put it in my LHC blog? Never wanted to do a hair journal before but this is fascinating.
Go for it. That hair is at the borderline between medium and
coarse. I hope in the future to analyze the hair of other
menbers as well. Bill Choisser wants his done now too. I will analyze his in the near future.
Scott
Where do you want us to send the samples? How many strands? I have dyed and permed hair, but the roots are growing out, also have gray hairs. It would be interesting to see if the diameter changes with the processing, and if gray hairs are significantly different.
Are you using your own equipment, or are you paying rent that we should help?
Here is a photo of my equipment.
I get samples at local long hair meets. I am in the San Francisco
Bay Area. I do use my own equipment. Generally gray, or more
accurately WHITE hairs, tend to be coarser than your original
hair.
Scott
Width, length, color differ... and, as I understand it, shape (as out of the hair shaft) dictates whether one has more or less straight or curly hair, but does the inner structure of hair differ in terms of how the material (keratin ?) is laid down and, if so, does the pattern influence how the hair responds to environmental stresses??? Just curious...
http://www.pg.com/science/haircare/hair_twh_toc.htm
Here is a link to a site that is devoted to hair and its internal
structure.
I do know one thing. Curly hair is more fragile than straight
hair. It is oval in cross section, making it thinner in one
dimension. This means more surface area which is exposed to sun
and other damaging elements. I know this from my beard hairs.
They are curly and coarse, but break somewhat easily.
Scott
Thank you for your comments and the link - very interesting...
