Ginger hair is a stereotypical trait of Irish people, but here are the top ten facts about ginger hair that you never knew.
Yes, we all probably know someone with ginger hair, or we probably have the fiery hair ourselves. Still, there are a few lesser-known facts about ginger hair that we are here to unveil.
Ginger hair, also known as red hair, strawberry blonde, or even auburn, is a natural hair colour of many around the world, including many big names such as Maureen O’Hara, Domhnaill Gleeson, Rupert Grint, and, of course, Ed Sheeran.
But that doesn’t stop people from dyeing their hair ginger to be part of the tribe too. Many celebs such as Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, and Amy Poehler have opted to go down the ‘fake’ ginger route, and it looks incredible.
Here at Ireland Before You Die, we are fans of the ginger hair too, and with this in mind, we have gone on a search for the top ten facts about ginger hair that you never knew, and some of these may surprise you.
10. To dye or not to dye
Redheads hold on to pigment more than any other colour, making it hard to dye. It needs to be stripped, bleached, and then dyed, which weakens the hair and damages it. We recommend you save those lovely ginger locks.
9. Expensive taste
In Ancient Rome, redheaded slaves were more expensive than those with other hair colours. Hmm!
8. They have superpowers
Redheads can produce their own Vitamin D in lowlight, considering their fair skin finds it hard to absorb it through the sun and can be rather sensitive. Superpower much?
7. Less hair, don’t care
An interesting fact about redheads is that they have less hair than people with brown, black or blonde hair. It doesn’t mean they have thin hair though, in fact, they may have fewer strands, but each strand is thick, making it look just as full.
6. Vampires and witches
The ancient Greeks used to believe that redheads would become vampires when they died, and in certain parts of Africa, some cultures believe they are witches. Maybe pop a hat on if you’re down there, just in case.
5. Age with grace
Most non-redheads will be jealous of this one, but redheads go grey a lot slower than their counterparts. It tends to go from red to blonde first, before gently changing into grey. How beautiful!
4. Believe it or not
The USA, has the highest population of redheads in the world, yeah who’d have thought so? It follows Scotland with the second-highest and Ireland with the third-highest. That’s between two and six per cent of the US population. How many can we guess have northern-European roots though? No pun intended!
3. Rare hair
Ginger hair occurs naturally in only one to two per cent of the human population, so count yourself lucky to be the chosen one who gets to rock this look. Truly one of the top facts about ginger hair.
2. Redhead festivals
Yes, you heard it here first. There are festivals around the world dedicated to the hair colour, including the Irish Redhead Convention here in Ireland, Redhead Days in the Netherlands, and The Israeli Redhead Festival in Israel. We heard this one ‘Israeli’ good.
1. ‘Redhead’
The term ‘redhead’ has been in use since the year 1510, but now there are many names for the hair colour. It was used before the colour orange was invented. When the orange fruit finally arrived in England, it was already too late for the redheads.
Alas, what we have concluded is that gingers, redheads, strawberry blondes, whatever you call them, are a super rare and celebrated hair colour with superpowers. Who wouldn’t be proud of this?
They say if you have blue eyes paired with ginger hair, you are even rarer, so consider this a unique trait, as most gingers are born with hazel or brown eyes.
Despite the crazy bewitching history of redheads being burned at the stake and all that, in modern times having red hair has become something to be proud of.
We recommend that the next trip you take as a redhead, you keep your eyes peeled for those epic redhead festivals that seem to be extremely popular, so you too can celebrate all things ginger.
