Why does the sun lighten our hair but darken our skin?
Question
#36559. Asked by angel_chick07. (Jul 24 03 1:00 PM)
mibmob
Your skin contains melanin and you hair doesn't.
Jul 24 03, 1:10 PM
gimbo
Because there is melanin in our skin and when the sun hits our skin, the melanin absorbs the UV rays and darkens your skin.
Jul 24 03, 7:34 PM
Yaarbiriah
Exposure to the sun usually causes an increase in the amount of melanin, a dark brown pigment, in the *living* skin. This is quite a complex biochemical and cellular process.
The effect of the sun on the hair is quite different. Melanin is already present in the hair which is not a living tissue and cannot protect or regenerate the melanin already present. Exposure to the sun actually destroys the melanin in the hair, lightening it. More detail at:
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