A wise man said to me years ago..….”I bet everyone who wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror while brushing their teeth has asked themselves at least once…What am I doing with this hair today?!” Have we always been obsessed with our hair? According to history, yes we have!

Here are our favorite Top 20 Most Fascinating Hair Facts:

The word “cosmetology” comes from the ancient Roman “cosmetae”, which referred to female servants who applied cosmetics and perfume to wealthy Roman women.

1705: Peter the Great of Russia created a “Beard Tax” to westernize their society.

1860: Approximate year on record that hydrogen peroxide was first used as hair bleach.

Hair by James Gartner

MC1R is the name of the recessive gene that causes red hair.

1907: Synthetic hair dye was invented.

Ancient Roman cosmetologists made black hair dye by feeding leeches, putting them in vinegar, letting it ferment for months, and then applying it as a paste. Women had to let the leech mixture sit in their hair for a full day to achieve the right effect.

According to a survey from Wella, 92% of women have colored their hair at some point.

Hair cannot be used to determine gender in DNA tests.

Hair can be used to clean up oil spills, salon trimmings are donated to make mats.

Hair by Pure Hair

During the Heian Period, the length of her hair judged Japanese woman’s beauty. The ideal length was considered to be nearly two feet longer than her waist.

A single strand of hair can support up to 100 grams, your whole head of hair can hold the weight of 2 elephants.

Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body.

Wet hair can stretch up to 30% it’s length.

All hair follicles are formed when fetus is Five months old.

Hair is 50% carbon, 21% oxygen, 17% nitrogen, 6% hydrogen, and 5% sulfur.

The lifespan of a strand of hair is up to 5 years.

The anticipation of Sex makes hair grow faster. (yes, we know…random fact, and it’s true!)

The only living part of your hair resides inside your scalp.

Hair is the most common form of forensic evidence.

Most humans have 5 million hair follicles.

We hope you enjoyed some of these fascinating, and sometimes odd facts. Long live the hair obsessed!