Hair is not as uniform and simple as you might think. Many different things happen under the surface of the skin - for example, there are three different growth phases and three different types of hair on our body, and do you know why you have longer hair on your head than on your legs? Learn more about lashes and brows here.
Different hair types
Wool hair
Most of the body is covered with woolly hair (lanugo hair). You can find these hairs almost all over the body, except in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, which are hairless. This hair is thin and soft and usually has a weak pigment and is therefore not the same color as your main hair.
Bristle hair
Eyebrows, eyelashes and pubic hair. These are coarser, stiffer strands which, unlike wool hair, have stronger pigments. Bristle hair has a lifespan of about 6 to 8 weeks before the hair follicle goes dormant and another hair comes up. Beards also belong to bristle hair, but in men have a significantly longer lifespan than eyelashes, eyebrows and pubic hair. Bristles can grow up to 0.4mm per day.
Eyebrows and eyelashes are the hairs on the body that we replace most often of all. This can be compared to a head of hair which usually lasts for 3 years.
Long hair
Head hair, all people are born with hundreds of thousands of hair follicles on their heads, but not everyone is awake at the same time. It is usually said that you have roughly between 80,000-150,000 hair follicles that are awake every day, depending on your hair color.
You lose between 60-100 hairs per day, after you lose a hair a new one either grows or the hair follicle goes dormant for 2-3 years and another hair follicle wakes up. You only lose one hair that has lived a long life. A strand of hair is usually 2-6 years old, but in some cases with good diet and exercise and good genes can be up to 12 years old. Long hair grows about 1 cm per month.
Hair growth phases
Anagen phase – the growth phase of the hair
This is the first phase in the hair growth cycle, that is, when the hair has contact with the protein and the hair's growth cells. It is during this phase that it is decided how long the hair will be on all different parts of your body. Which means that this phase can look very different depending on which part of the body the hair is on. On the body, hair grows for a maximum of three to four weeks, while on the head it can grow for up to seven years. Approximately twenty percent of the body's hair is in this phase at a time and it is precisely in this phase that you can remove the hair during permanent hair removal (laser or IPL) - therefore you need to do more treatments before you are completely hair-free.
Catagen phase – transitional phase
In the catagen phase, the hair moves away from its active growth to slowly but surely become dormant - where the hair releases from its root and all growth cells. This is the phase when the hair is still there (before it falls out completely in the next phase) and just like with the anagen phase, the time span can look different here too, but normally you can expect it to take between a few days to a week or so.
Telogen phase – resting phase where growth has stopped
Here the active growth has stopped and the hair begins to crawl out of its follicle. The hair can be in this phase for anywhere from one to three months, before you finally lose your hair. These hairs usually fall out regularly and without any direct effort. Once the hair is shed, a new hair begins to be produced in the cycle.