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Here's Why Your Pubes Are Black Even If Your Hair Isn't

Here's Why Your Pubes Are Black Even If Your Hair Isn't

Information you don't need to know, but want to know.

Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

When it comes to pubes, whether you keep them trimmed or not, you've probably noticed that the carpet rarely matches the drapes.

You've probably never really cared as to why your pubic hair isn't the same colour as the hair on your head, but now, you might be wondering why.

Melanin is the thing responsible for the colour of your skin and hair on your body. The type of melanin responsible for the hair around your genitals is called Eumelanin.

This is sometimes referred to as the black/brown melanin and is stronger around your nether regions, hence why the hair is darker.

The cells produced by melanin, called melanocytes, collect near the surface of the skin where the hairs start. They collect and form bundles of a pigment protein complex called melanosomes. The amount of melanosomes produced differ for each person, and that amount dictates the colour of the hairs.

Phaeomelanin is the lighter melanin, which you'll find further up your body, and is what's partially responsible for a hint of gingerness in your beard.

For gingers, Phaeomelanin is much more prominent, which dictates their lighter pigment of skin and their pubic hair usually matching the hair on their head.

Melanin becomes a lot weaker later in life and is lacking in the body. This why your hair starts to become grey.

Words by Mark McGowan

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