• Question: How can the sun make your hair lighter but make your skin darker?

    Asked by humzaa to Daniel, Jon, Louise, Sharon, Zoe on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Louise Dash

      Louise Dash answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Hair is dead, so the ultraviolet light from the sun breaks down the proteins in your hair that give it colour, making it fade. Your skin is an organ which is alive, and has an inbuilt protection system that creates a pigment called melanin when it’s exposed to ultraviolet light. Melanin is dark, and helps filter the UV rays to prevent damage to the skin – this is what tans your skin.

    • Photo: Sharon Sneddon

      Sharon Sneddon answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Sunlight has the property to bleach wood, decompose plastic and lighten your hair because sunlight breaks down the molecular layers that absorbs the light and heat. The skin darkens because it produces melanin when you tan and this is essentially a safety measure to keep the skin from doing the same, breaking down.

    • Photo: Jon Copley

      Jon Copley answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Hi humzaa – I’ve put up an answer to this one here:
      /neonj10-zone/2010/06/why-does-the-sun-lighten-our-hair-but-darken-our-skin

    • Photo: Zoe Duck

      Zoe Duck answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      The light from the sun tends to bleach the colour out of things, you will notice this if you leave a dark t-shirt out in the sun for a few days, or if you have things on your windowsill. This is why your hair goes lighter in the sun.

      Your skin however, contains a pigment called melanin, that is activated by sunlight and darkens in response to sunlight. This protects the skin from the harmful effects of the sun (to some extent, you should still use sun cream!). Some people have more melanin than others meaning they can withstand a greater amount of sunlight without burning.

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