Kayla Young
Most people are naturally born with one hair color. However, it is not uncommon to find someone with varying hair colors. Some individuals have partly colored hair. In this case, their hair is mostly a dark shade like black or brown, but a small streak is white, gray, or yellow.
Is it possible to naturally have two different hair colors? Yes, it can certainly happen!
Other people may have varying hair colors on the head, beards, and even armpits. Or different hair colors on their lashes and eyebrows. Most of the time, this is natural and nothing to worry about.
It can be concerning when an infant is born with two different hair colors when the parents have one hair color or only one family member has this condition. Most of the time, it’s genetic, but sometimes it can be due to other reasons.
Some factors like stress, smoking, and lack of nutrition can change hair color over time. Sometimes it can result from health conditions like anemia, kwashiorkor, or poliosis.
In this article, we are going to discuss some factors that may lead to a person having two colors of hair.
Contents
Is it Possible to Naturally Have Two Different Hair Colors?
It is possible to have two naturally different hair colors at the same time. There are many causes for this, and many different factors that can go into multiple simultaneous hair colors. We’ll look into them below.
1. Hair Heterochromia
Hair heterochromia is a hereditary condition that causes a difference in hair color. The three types of hair heterochromia are patchy, diffuse, or segmental. Patchy heterochromia is when scalp hair is of one color but has a patch of a lighter different color. Most of the scalp can be black or brown, with only one patch being gray or blonde.
In some instances, the sideburns, pubic hair, and other auxiliary hair are darker than scalp hair. This is referred to as diffuse heterochromia. The hair on the eyebrows and eyelashes is also usually darker in this case.
Segmental heterochromia, on the other hand, is when an individual has dark and light hair alternating. It is mostly a result of anemia.
2. Poliosis
Poliosis also referred to as (Poliosis circumscripta), is when some hair parts have less melanin than the rest of the hair. It can occur in head hair, lashes, and eyebrows. The affected hair follicles appear lighter than the rest, resulting in a white or gray streak of hair.
Poliosis can be either genetic or acquired. Genetic poliosis occurs as a result of gene mutation. An acquired mutation is when underlying health issues cause poliosis.
In this scenario, it only occurs as a person grows older. Poliosis can occur in people of any age bracket, but it is not common in infants.
3. Stress
Graying hair is often associated with aging. However, some parts of your hair can grey prematurely due to stress, even at a young age.
Melanocytes, the cells responsible for producing hair color, can be affected when stressed. As a result, one develops grey hair on some of the scalp.
This can be exemplified by former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, who famously developed a grey patch in her hair after serving in the Iraq war.
4. Vitiligo
Vitiligo is a condition where the color-producing pigments in your body are damaged, resulting in white pigments in the affected parts.
If part of your head is affected by vitiligo, then the hair on that area may be naturally white.
5. Genetics
A baby can be born with varying hair colors if one parent or relative has two or more different hair colors. If hair heterochromia runs in your family, your kids might be born with different hair colors.
A baby can be born with varying hair colors if one parent or relative has two or more different hair colors.
Genetic mosaicism (when a person has multiple cells which are genetically different) often occurs due to a problem with mitosis. Mitosis is the cell division process that occurs in the body. Two sets of DNAS responsible for hair coloration can result in distinct hair colors in a person.
6. Heat Exposure
When part of your hair is exposed to a lot of heat from the sun, it may appear lighter than the rest of your hair. This is because too much heat can cause discoloration of hair.
It is commonly known as sun bleaching.
7. Aging
As we grow older, the melanin-producing cells in our bodies also age and get damaged. When this happens, there is little production of melanin which eventually causes graying of the hair. Older people tend to have irregular patches of gray and white hair.
8. Partial Albinism
We’re getting rarer and rarer.
Partial albinism is when melanin is completely absent in one part of the body, which causes a different color in the affected part. Individuals with partial or mild albinism can have fully white or partially white hair. This condition is mostly hereditary and permanent.
Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) may cause mild pigmentation, resulting in different hair colors like brown and white. In some cases, the head hair is fully white, but the eyebrows, eyelashes, and pubic areas have brown hair.
9. Kwashiorkor
Kwashiorkor is a disease of severe malnutrition. It is caused by insufficient levels of protein in the body. The copper content in people with kwashiorkor is present in very small quantities.
This causes the graying and weakening of some hair parts.
Conclusion
It is quite common to have two different hair colors naturally and typically manifest as patches of grey hair.
If a child is not naturally born with varying hair colors but develops it later, it may indicate a health problem.
Manage your stress levels to prevent the permanent graying of some hair parts, and consider your diet and bad habits like smoking.
Having different hair colors is nothing to be ashamed of, and is often striking! You can choose to embrace your uniqueness and rock your brown beard and dark hair. But if you don’t want to do that, there are many dye colors to choose from.
