MOST of us spend money on regular haircuts, but happily our brows and lashes are much lower maintenance.
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]They grow a decent length and stay there. But have you ever wondered why our eyelashes and eyebrows don’t just keep on growing until they’re as long as the hair on our head?
There are three phases to a hair follicle’s growth cycle: the anagen (growth) phase, the catagen (transition) phase, and the telogen (resting) phase. Around 85 percent of the hair on your head is in the anagen phase at any one time.
During this time, the follicle grows new cells and the hair strand gets longer at a rate of around 15 centimeters per year.
When it’s in the catagen phase, the hair follicle shrinks to around a sixth of its original length, causing the strand of hair to detach from the blood supply and push up towards the skin’s surface.
Around two weeks later, the telogen phase takes over and the hair lies dormant for several months before the cycle starts again. At this stage, the strand of hair can be very easily pulled out.
Around 10-15 percent of the hairs on your head are in the telogen phase at any given moment, so there’s no need to panic if you lose a fair few strands during brushing or washing. (Though if it starts coming out in handfuls it might be worth a visit to a doctor).
Depending where on your body the hair is located, the anagen phase can vary greatly, from around 30 days for an eyelash to up to an average of six years for a hair on your head.
The longer a hair stays in the anagen phase, the longer it can grow.
As lashes and brows have a much shorter anagen phase than head hair, they don’t get a chance to grow as long before they are shed.
Scalp follicles are different from those on the other parts of your body, as they use recycled proteins or excess proteins your body doesn’t need to produce hair for an extended length of time.
The exact length of each phase in the hair’s growth cycle is slightly different for everyone and varies according to your genetics.
Some particularly hirsute individuals have follicles with a longer anagen phase than the norm, causing them to grow unusually long hairs on various parts of their body.
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