Physiology of the skin

A bit of interest and trivia that some of you may find interesting.

• What's in a strand of hair
• Hair growth cycle
• How waxing interacts with the hair growth cycle
• 2.5 square cm piece of skin
• Cross-section of skin, hair and glands

A strand of hair

A strand of hair is an outgrowth of dead cells and the protein keratin that grows up from the hair follicle.

Each hair shaft grows about 6mm per month, depending on what stage of growth -- active or resting -- the hair is in.

Genetics determine how many hair follicles we have since no new follicles are formed after birth. A woman's legs and arms, for example, contain an average of 13,500 hair follicles. Though the products and techniques to remove hair have changed since 1915 when the first safety razor for women was designed, the desire for smooth, hairless skin has not.

Hair growth cycle

Hair growth occurs in cycles throughout an individual's lifetime.

1. . ANAGEN (GROWING) STAGE
   1. This is the name for the growing period of a hair follicle. The anagen stage for the hair follicles in the scalp typically lasts about 3 to 5 years.
2. CATAGEN (INTERMEDIATE) STAGE
   1. At the end of the growth period, hair follicles prepare themselves for the resting phase. This transition period of a hair follicle from growth to rest is called the catagen stage. This stage of the hair growth cycle usually lasts about 1 to 2 weeks or so. During the catagen phase the deeper portions of the hair follicles start to collapse.
3. TELOGEN (RESTING or SHEDDING) STAGE
   1. This is the resting period of a hair follicle. It is usually 3 to 4 months in length and at the end of this period older hairs that have finished their life will fall out and newer hairs will begin to grow. The growing (anagen) phase constitutes about 90% (1000 days or more) of the growth cycle of a hair follicle, while intermediate (catagen phase; 10 days) and shedding (telogen phase; 100 days) phases constitute only 10% of it. That is, at a given time, about 10% of hair follicles are in the intermediate and shedding phases; thus, not growing. These hair follicles, however, are randomly distributed over the scalp, so that no bald spots are seen.

How waxing interacts with the hair growth cycle

Often clients who are unaccustomed to waxing may have a temporary increase in hair growth following the first two or three treatments as the body is reacting to the waxing by resetting the anagen phase of dormant papilla cells.

The waxing has synchronised more hair follicles to enter the anagen phase at the same time resulting in the appearance of more hair growth. However this is only temporary and in fact if you are coming in for the Enhanced Enzyme System treatment it will allow for increased efficacy during the subsequent treatments, and more visible results as more follicles in the anagen phase, means more hair is targeted and affected during the subsequent treatments.

What is in a 2.5 square cm of skin

( that's 1 inch for those that still haven't got with the 21st century )

Cross-section of skin, hair and glands