article_snippet: Here, one leading expert, Rodney Sinclair, Professor of Dermatology at the Epworth Hospital and University of MelbourneMelbourne, explains the science of hair colour - and why some of us are cursed with more greys than others...
article_snippet: What determines the colour of hair?
article_snippet: Hair colour is produced by cells known as melanocytes, which migrate into the hair bulb as the hair follicles develop in utero.
article_snippet: The melanocytes produce pigment that is incorporated into the growing hair fibres to produce hair in a bewildering array of natural shades.
article_snippet: Hair colour depends on the presence and ratios of two groups of melanins: eumelanins (brown and black pigments) and pheomelanins (red and yellow pigments).
article_snippet: While variations in the ratio of these pigments can produce an large number of colours and tones, siblings often have strikingly similar hair colour.
article_snippet: How hair colour varies according to body site .