Ginger Beards: Why Your Beard is Red When Your Hair Isn't
If you start growing your beard today, you may be in for a big surprise: it's ginger! For some, it's not overly noticeable, blending into their brown hair. However, for others, it's a striking difference – something of a follicular phenomenon.
What's going on?!
Discovering your beard is more reddish than the rest of your hair isn't a novel realization – it's more common than you'd think. While we tend to think our hair color is set, it's a little more varied genetically.
Below we're delving into the science behind ginger beards (not ginger beers!), finding out why they can be so different from the rest of our hair.
Why your beard is red
According to the experts, the genes that determine hair color are known as "incomplete dominant hereditary traits." Picking apart this term, it essentially means that no single gene is dominant over all the rest; they influence each other.
Red hair is caused by a single mutation called the MC1R gene. In most cases, ginger hair acts recessively – meaning two MC1R genes are needed to produce a ginger beard.
If you think back to school, you might remember that recessive genes can also have effects even if only one gene is present. For example, sickle cell anemia is caused by two recessive genes. However, having only a single sickle cell gene still changes the shape of your red blood cells (conveying protection against malaria).
In the case of the ginger gene, a single MC1R gene can lead to red hair cropping up in unexpected places. You may, therefore, have brown hair all your life – but the red hair gene springs to life when it comes to your facial fuzz or other body areas (yep, even your pubic hair).
It's in your roots
Not your hair roots, but your ancestry. Your ginger genes are passed down through the generations to you – and they tend to mean you come from a very specific part of the world.
Western Europe – including northern France, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, and the British Isles – is the most common area you'll find ginger people. There are a couple of really common spots, however.
The Celtic nations of the British Isles – Scotland, Wales, and Ireland – have a particularly high concentration of red-headed folk. In fact, 13% of Scottish people are read-headed. Elsewhere, you'll find a random high concentration of ginger people in the middle of Russia, where approximately 10% of people have the ginger gene.
Final thoughts
Count your ginger beard as a blessing. With only 1% to 2% of the world being redheads, you're in the minority. But, if you're not a fan of the color clash, you'll want to blame your distant relatives – it's all their fault!
