Hair and our Ancestry

[lovelylaura]

I was just thinking about the broad spectrum of different hair types out there and I was wondering how our ancestry could effect how our hair reacts to different things. My father's family is Finnish and I display many more of his physical characteristics than I do of my mother. I am wondering if I spoke with other people of Finnish heritage and discussed their hair woes and sucesses, if maybe these kind of treatments would be more likely to work in my hair. Or if I used products made in Finland. Then potentially Finnish people were used to develop and test the product making it more likely to work on my hair?

What if a person's hair that looks similar to ours and maybe even is the same hair type is less likely to have similar hair and scalp reactions to certain treatment than a person who's hair physically looks different but is from the same family background?

My hair is not similar to anyone (living) in my family at this time except my father who has short hair which seems to be dry. But maybe as a whole if we considered our heritage in the way we treat our hair it could have positive effects. Thoughts?

[pinkbunny]

Interesting theory - there may be something to it. Alas, I am a "mutt" so I must find my own way...

[Thinthondiel]

I'm not sure about this theory... I think that at least when it comes to caucasians, there might be a lot of variety even within one country/area of the world... I live in Norway, and I and almost everyone I know here are completely Norwegian (i.e. we don't have any foreign ancestors that we know of), yet there are huge differences in hair thickness, coarseness, curliness etc.

Of course, there's the so-called "Scandinavian hair" or "Nordic hair", which is fine and blond, but there's really a lot of variety here. :shrug:

[Katze]

I am a mutt too and have my father's (Southern German, Northern English from WAAAY back) waves, and my mom's (Norwegian mother, 'mutt' father) fine 'Scandinavian' hair. I do find that some of the members from the Scandinavian countries tend to have similar hair problems to me, but not exclusively.

My biggest problem in terms of hair ancestry is reconciling my wavy, 'southern european' hair with my fine 'northern european' hair. It gets weighed down very easily.

Interestingly my partner has very similar hair to mine, though ethnically we are rather different. We were both bald, then blonde, as kids, and our daughter was born bald and now has white blonde peach fuzz that is slowly turning into hair. :)

[lovelylaura]

I'm not sure about this theory... I think that at least when it comes to caucasians, there might be a lot of variety even within one country/area of the world... I live in Norway, and I and almost everyone I know here are completely Norwegian (i.e. we don't have any foreign ancestors that we know of), yet there are huge differences in hair thickness, coarseness, curliness etc.

Of course, there's the so-called "Scandinavian hair" or "Nordic hair", which is fine and blond, but there's really a lot of variety here. :shrug:

I agree and I am wondering if the relationship between our ancestry and our reactions to treatments is stronger than the relationship between hair's physical appearance (curly, straight, dark, light, coarse, fine) and our reaction to treatments. I am wondering if our ancestry has a stronger tie than our hair's physical appearance.

In your case, do you find that advice from a Norwegian friend (regardless of hair type) is more beneficial than advice from someone who is not Norwegian and has the same hair type as you?

[lovelylaura]

I'm not sure about this theory... I think that at least when it comes to caucasians, there might be a lot of variety even within one country/area of the world... I live in Norway, and I and almost everyone I know here are completely Norwegian (i.e. we don't have any foreign ancestors that we know of), yet there are huge differences in hair thickness, coarseness, curliness etc.

Of course, there's the so-called "Scandinavian hair" or "Nordic hair", which is fine and blond, but there's really a lot of variety here. :shrug:

Also, by no means did I mean to insinuate a hair stereotype on people from different cultures. I was actually supporting the fact that people from the same ancestry have different hair types. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

[Thinthondiel]

I agree and I am wondering if the relationship between our ancestry and our reactions to treatments is stronger than the relationship between hair's physical appearance (curly, straight, dark, light, coarse, fine) and our reaction to treatments. I am wondering if our ancestry has a stronger tie than our hair's physical appearance.

In your case, do you find that advice from a Norwegian friend (regardless of hair type) is more beneficial than advice from someone who is not Norwegian and has the same hair type as you?


Also, by no means did I mean to insinuate a hair stereotype on people from different cultures. I was actually supporting the fact that people from the same ancestry have different hair types. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Don't worry, I wasn't offended at all! :)

I must admit that I don't think I've ever really received hair advice from any Norwegians, mostly because... well, people around me don't tend to think as much about hair as we LHC-ers do, I guess. So I really wouldn't know.

[Topaz]

What an interesting idea! I am predominently Irish and German, with wavy blonde hair. I have heard that the ancient Irish used to wash their hair in lye soap to dry it out as much as possible, then pull it back in a severe pony tail where it frazzled out like pale dried-out Afros. Thank goodness those good Celts aren't here anymore to give me Irish hair care advice!!! ;)

[Babyfine]

Mom's side of the family is 100% Swedish. Most of the females in that family seem to have more hair than me,though- thicker , heavier.
Dad has ancestry all of the place(Northern, Eastern, southern europe)so I consider my self a "mutt." I was told once by a stylist that I have "Scandanavian-type hair". so that's the type of hair I identify with.

[JamieLeigh]

I don't know a lot about the different characteristics of each of the nationalities in my background, so I don't know that I could really say for sure which genes I've picked up and which are passive in me or my kids. :confused:

My mom's grandparents on her mom's side came over from Ireland when my grandma was small, and her other grandparents were also both Irish but born here in the US. Most of the hair on that side of the family is very fine and either dark red or light brown. Only a few of them have grown very long, that I know of.

My dad's grandparents on his mom's side were Italian and Welsh, respectively, both born here and settled down here. And his dad's parents were Irish and German, the Irish father was born here but the German mother immigrated. (They lived in New York until my grandfather got married to my grandmother, who has lived all her life in Alabama.) The hair that seems to be predominant on that side is very coarse, thick, curly and dark. Almost none of my predecessors have photos with longer than shoulder-length hair.

[frodolaughs]

I'm not sure about this theory. I think that people's ancestry is often more 'mixed' than they recognize, so (for example) if people who are Norwegian have very different looking hair it might be because there is a lot of genetic variety amongst Norwegians--even if they're all '100%' Norwegian. I suspect that finding someone with a similar hairtype, not only in thickness and texture but also in terms of oily/dry protein loving/hating, etc will give most people a better starting point than just looking at what works for people of similar ancestry. I know that everyone in my own family has very different hair, and what works for my sister does not work for me. I've had a lot more success finding my own methods through LHC. (My sister's very aggravating method: Buy the cheapest shampoo and conditioner she can find, wash once or twice a week, and in 6 years grow her 5" circumference ponytail from jaw to knee, trimming just 2 or 3 times to get rid of bleached ends which weren't damaged, just 'looked funny' at a certain point) Grrrr.

[aisling]

There's a bunch of Finns here actually and several of us even have the so called typical Finnish hair, fine and straightish. Funny thing is, I think we all have different favourite methods to clean our hair :D I like shampoo and need a good sulfate shampoo quite often, one uses shampoo bars and so on.

[halo_tightens]

I think that people's ancestry is often more 'mixed' than they recognize...

This is definitely the case in my neck of the woods. I, for example, am one-half German, one-quarter Polish, and one-quarter not-exactly-known-but-includes-Cherokee. What do I have to work with here?! Lol...

Most of the people who are originally from around here are exactly the same way, in different mixes and proportions. There's a lot of German and Polish blood around thanks to the original settlers of the area, and a bit of Native American influence still hanging around, but we're pretty much all mixed up. I don't know who I'd look to for advice on my ancestry!!

[Themyst]

My mom's family came over in 1910 from Uzhorod (now Ukraine). I seem to have inherited the high cheekbones and fine light brown hair.

ETA: But my sister has very dark brown hair, almost black. My dad and his recent family are from North Wales, and his whole family had jet black hair.

[ericthegreat]

You have brought up an interesting theory lovelylaura. I also like you believe it depends on just which particular set of genes you happened to inherit from both sides your family.

If you come from a homogeneous family, then pretty much all your features will be the same as the rest of your family pretty much. But even then, there is often variation between different family members.

However, if your family is mixed, then you can then really have brothers and sisters and cousins who all have different and unique characteristics. One brother could be darker skinned, the sister could be pale skinned, and one could have very thick hair and the other could have fine, thin hair that's even a different color!

[Melisande]

Europe has seen so much genetic exchange between peoples and tribes over the centuries - I can't imagine that there is much unity even in something seemingly small like "German". Germany was invaded by Northern tribes, by Romans, there were all kinds of people from Asia or France living in what is today Germany - and I know that the UK is just as diverse. Viking, Angles and Saxons, Bretons and Normans and who else...

I don't know much about the link between genetic type and appearance (like hair) but from just looking around me, it's not so strong. My brother has strong Italian-looking curls... and we are from the same parents.

On the German boards (where people from all German speaking countries mix, Swiss, Austrian, German, and also people with other ethnic heritage) we have all kinds of hair, troubles and types.

But of course it would be wonderful to have a hairy map and timeline ;-) to be able to see whether I have Celtic or Ostrogoth ancestors....

[Amoretti]

Spain has had so many invasions over the ages that we're a very mixed lot, like most Europeans (except the Finns).

Our ethnic definition is: a mix of Mediterranean and Nordic types. You can find someone with fine, blonde hair and blue eyes with a sibling with dark, curly hair. It's very common. I think Europeans are all mixed so it's no use trying to find a "typical" hair type. :ponder:

[Akiko]

I come from a very homogeneous family. Interestingly our hair type is different from each other. The color is all black except my mom having more grays at this point.

My mom has lots of hair with quite a bit of body to it. Her scalp is not oily at all. My sister has very straight and slippery hair. Hard to braid or tie. Mine is somewhat limp, not much body. It tends to get greasy and needs to be washed more often.

Needless to say, our hair care routine is quite different.

[Teakafrog]

The only thing I've noticed for sure is the color. DH is 1/2 German, half English, I've got a good bit of German in me, but lots of Heinz 57 too. Our kids had the typical German look of being white-blond (once they finally got hair, bald at birth), slowly turning darker until it was no longer blond by puberty. A lot of mostly German people I've talked to have had the same thing happen, born blond but changes over childhood to brown.

[lovelylaura]

I am really enjoying reading everyone's responses. Yes, I agree with and didn't think about all the European invasions that have occurred. My sister and I seem to have similar hair, while my mom's is different. But I have met siblings with drastically different hair such as dark, coarse, and curly for one and fine and straight for the other. In my family the hair differences are not that stark.

Hair is just so strange. Also, I have heard that people's hair will change when it falls out from chemotherapy or possibly lupus. Straight hair will turn curly and vice versa. If that is the case, maybe there are limited ties between our genetics and our hair type. Would that mean that hair type is affected by epigenetic factors which change over time? I don't think my hair has changed much physiologically as treating it differently over time has affected its condition.

I went to school for Biology so I guess I'm kind of on a genetics/ancestry kick right now... sorry everyone!!

[LadyGunn]

The only thing I've noticed for sure is the color. DH is 1/2 German, half English, I've got a good bit of German in me, but lots of Heinz 57 too. Our kids had the typical German look of being white-blond (once they finally got hair, bald at birth), slowly turning darker until it was no longer blond by puberty. A lot of mostly German people I've talked to have had the same thing happen, born blond but changes over childhood to brown.

My niece is like that - her dad is of German ancestry & they both were bald for their first couple months. JuJu now has this straight, baby-fine hair that just floats. Well, when it's not standing straight up. :D Apparently Jer's went through that stage too but his is now a dark, dark blonde or very light brunette. My sister on the other hand, is a darker brunette with some natural wave.

I had a friend from London ask me about my ancestry one time. Upon learning that I'm English, Scottish, & Welsh with a bit of German & maybe a touch of Irish, she said she could tell by my facial features & sense of humor about the English part. She said the Scottish side came out in the hair. :shrug: My mom has English & Welsh in her & her hair is very fine, less wavy & a bit thinner than mine. My dad... well, if he had hair, I imagine it would be closer to mine & my sister's. By the way, he's been pestering me to post his version of a long hair picture on here. I told him back hair doesn't count. :rolleyes:

[LadyGunn]

Hair is just so strange. Also, I have heard that people's hair will change when it falls out from chemotherapy or possibly lupus. Straight hair will turn curly and vice versa. If that is the case, maybe there are limited ties between our genetics and our hair type. Would that mean that hair type is affected by epigenetic factors which change over time? I don't think my hair has changed much physiologically as treating it differently over time has affected its condition.

I went to school for Biology so I guess I'm kind of on a genetics/ancestry kick right now... sorry everyone!!

I completely forgot that Mom had blonde hair through childhood & college. She said that it changed & became very limp after having my older brother. It's now a medium brown that is going gray but she highlights & perms it, to give it body.

[Naava]

Another Finn here... The basic generalization is that the most common Finnish hairtype is fine and thin. Of course there is variety, but I do think that is the stereotypical Finnish hair.

[natorade]

Let's see. My Grandma on my moms side is 1/2 Irish the other half is a mix of Scottish and Cherokee Indian. My Grandpa on my moms side is Welsh and Mohican Indian. My dads side of the family is mostly German. My dad is full German and my mom is more on the muttly side. I know for a fact that my moms side of the family has extremely fast growing and extemely thick hair. Alot of blondes that turned dark later in their years. My dad had thick hair but I don't know the rest of his side as I have never met them.

When I was born I was bald, when my hair grew in it was blonde, same as my brother. My hair is very thick and pretty course. When my hair is healthy is dries somewhat curly so I usually use a flat iron. My hair doesn't seem to grow as fast as my mom and brother. My brother has thick hair but it is stick straight. My mom has thick long hair that is dark and somewhat wavey.

[MAO]

I lived with a couple of Finns for a while and they both had fine light brown hair. Their children were born with blonde hair that eventually turned light brown with age.
Myself, I am predominately Irish and have fine, wavy medium ash brown hair with oddball curls here and there. Hair stylists always like to point out how fine my hair is, but say that I "have a lot of hair" (whatever!) I don't mind saying that I am pissed that I didn't get my grandpa's red hair and my dad's blue eyes!

[hela]

Spain has had so many invasions over the ages that we're a very mixed lot, like most Europeans (except the Finns).

Our ethnic definition is: a mix of Mediterranean and Nordic types. You can find someone with fine, blonde hair and blue eyes with a sibling with dark, curly hair. It's very common. I think Europeans are all mixed so it's no use trying to find a "typical" hair type. :ponder:

I have to agree with that. I look at my mother (a redhead full of freckles) and my father (black hair with very dark skin) and am amazed by how genetics comes into play. Considering ancestry in a broader sense, my only thought is that Spain is a big salad :d

[Katurday]

I am 100% Croatian, but there is a lot of mixing where I come from. My great grandmother was blonde with long hair. My other great grandmother has wiry, wavy long black hair. My grandmother has thin, then-naturally brown hair, my mother has naturally black coarse straight her, my father has naturally black, 3c coarse hair, my sister has naturally black 2b coarse hair, my brother has brown, straight hair, and I have light brown, 1c/2a coarse thick hair.

I've long accepted that my hair and entire body is a genetic grab bag. To enhace the effect,I am dating someone who has naturally black hair, while carrying the ginger gene (father, uncle are redheads). Honestly, I love the idea of potential children being a complete surprise, hair wise or otherwise.

[BritishBraider]

Interesting.......

Mother-dearest is the only dark haired one in a ginger-Scottish family, and had me (auburn-ish) and a very determined blonde........ father-dearest is of the very dark haired variety and goes back to the Irish which explains our skin tone..... but the ginger genes seem to be making a reappearance in myself and sister-dearest (even if she denies being a strawberry blonde) but tis an interesting thought.......

[BranwenWolf]

We have Native (Cree) blood on my mom's side and it really shows up with her- straight hair with this amazing silvering pattern- streaks that come from the crown of her head.
She has incredibly thick hair.
Mine's pretty thick and militant about parting down the middle of my head.
I get ye golden hair from my dad's side, and curls/waves. My aunt and dad's dad were redheads, grandma was blonde/curly-headed with likely German ancestry.

[Fractalsofhair]

I have virtually the same hair as my cousins, except in color. I'm the only blonde in my family, but we all seem to have fine straight hair(with a few curlies), who have delicate but thick hair.

For the record, I'm 100% Scottish as far as I know(Well, before the Middle Ages is another story. Then it gets a lot more mixed), but my father's side is from Southern Scotland, and my mother's is from the Highlands.

[Isilme]

the whole european continent is so mixed I think it would be hard to sort out any certain things in certain areas. For example just here in sweden I'm sure some of the vikings took one or two spouses with them from their many travels. And here in Gothenburg we have had people from the Netherlands come and help us dig out all the canals in the city (1600 and forward) we have had people from france and germany from The Hansan and since we are quite close to Denmark we have had people from there too. And they have in their turn had lots of immigration.
Recently (like the last 30 years) we have had people come from the Balkan area, Poland, Somalia, Turkey etc.
I think it's all too diverse to find much. If we had tried this a thousand years ago, maybe.

[Gypsy]

Well, let's see:
My mother is Italian on her father's side- Southern Italian, thick, heavy wavy dark hair and a lot of it; her mother is English but the family originated from Scotland (our Scottish ancestor was a nasty Laird killed by Robert the Bruce), that side of the family has red or brown or blond, kinda medium density and amount with waves. My mother took after the Italians.
My father was Native American (not sure what tribe- I know it was a Warpath tribe in the Shreveport LA vicinity) and Black, that side was descended from slaves so I have no idea where in Africa they originate from (even if they were Jamaican, they still originated in Africa). My dad had the African as opposed to Native American hair with the kind of kinky, dry texture.
Yes, I know Africans have more hair types than kinky hair, but I said "as opposed to Native American", meaning it wasn't straight.
So MY hair has sections of kinky (at the crown), wavy (in the front) and silky barely wavy (at the nape) and appears very dark but is red based.
So, you smarty genetic people can have a heyday figuring out that one, lol!:D

[marikamt]

I am 100% hungarian.... one my paternal side, I can trace my ancestry back to the 1600's , on my maternal side, to the 1800's... that being said, prior to that, the family folklore includes persian and italian on my paternal side and checkoslovakian and romanian on my maternal side....
I do *not* look what is typically hungarian... yet many people assume I am jewish or persian (depending on what city I live in).. I definitely look *ethnic*......

[clairenewcastle]

Thank goodness those good Celts aren't here anymore to give me Irish hair care advice!!! ;)

:happydance:As a good Celt from Ireland on LHC I just wanted to say that I found your post very, very funny :D
Any time you need any haircare advice you know where to find me.....:eyebrows:
Am off to google lye soap. :soapbox:

[Bellona]

This is such a fun and interesting thread...just to hear what everyone's background is and how their hair turned out. I'm not sure how the theory holds up, but if I could find someone with similar heritage and hair type I would definitely try their hair care routine :)

My mum is french with medium thickness dark brown, coarse hair with a reddish tint in the sun that falls in big curls/tight waves .

My father is 1/2 french, 1/2 irish, and used to have lighter golden brown hair but now has dark hair in his older age. It's wavy and really thick but less coarse than mum's, probably medium.

My brother's hair is really, really dark and curly! Almost black, with lots of shiny curls. My dad's mother's hair was exactly like that, but it seems strange that he ended up with it.

I ended up with blonde hair as a child that has turned light golden brown. It's 2c and on the coarse end of medium and iii in thickness. I mostly got my dad's hair with slightly more curl and a bit coarser texture.

It seems that people in France have such varying hairtypes, even among those that are ethnically French. I do notice most have at least a bit of a wave though, it seems rare to find someone with stick straight hair unless they have some other kind of ancestry.

[verene]

Interesting theory. I don't know how well it would hold for those of varying ethnic back-grounds though.

I'm Scotch-Irish, English, Manx, French, German, Swiss, Danish, Norwegian, and Native American in ancestry giving me physical features that apparently look Slavic. :shrug:

My hair seems to be stereotypical german/nordic going from being bald as a baby to white-blond and darkening with age. It hangs fairly straight and is very fine texture, thin both in individual strand and number of strands over-all.

My family is a mix of hair colors and types thick and thin, straight and wavy/curly, brunettes, blonds, and red-heads. I guess when the genetics get that mixed a little of everything gets expressed. None of the members of my family follow the same hair care routine because all of us have slightly different hair.

[LawyerGirl]

My dad's family is Spanish, French, and Olmec. My mom's is French and Danish. I wouldn't even know where to begin in figuring out what that meant for my hair!!!


ETA: my dad's hair is black and thick and curly, my mom's is fine and blonde-ish... my brother's is dark and curly. Mine is mediumish and only very slightly wavy. My great-aunt, who is Olmec (Mexican-Indian) had long white braids, down to her thighs, and she always wore them in pigtail braids, braided together with a ribbon.

[ritza]

Good Thread!
You don't want to know my hair & ancestry..
Too much going on...:rolleyes:



Happy Hair Growing!:cool:

[LadyGunn]

For the record, I'm 100% Scottish as far as I know(Well, before the Middle Ages is another story. Then it gets a lot more mixed), but my father's side is from Southern Scotland, and my mother's is from the Highlands.


Well, let's see:
My mother is Italian on her father's side- Southern Italian, thick, heavy wavy dark hair and a lot of it; her mother is English but the family originated from Scotland (our Scottish ancestor was a nasty Laird killed by Robert the Bruce), that side of the family has red or brown or blond, kinda medium density and amount with waves. My mother took after the Italians.

Mind if I ask what clans y'all are descended from? I'm from clan Gunn & my great-uncle supposedly traced our line back to Robert the Bruce, so if that's true - sorry, Gypsy! :silly: :laugh:

[Gypsy]

Mind if I ask what clans y'all are descended from? I'm from clan Gunn & my great-uncle supposedly traced our line back to Robert the Bruce, so if that's true - sorry, Gypsy! :silly: :laugh:

I know we have the information- my family is big on our genealogy- I will ask my auntie which one.
And no hard feelings about old Robert's actions, ha ha! All accounts say that our ancestor was a vile person and The Bruce acted accordingly.
At least it happened after he had a family so I could be sitting here typing about it now.:p

[prittykitty]

I am half Mexican. My mother is British/German with straight, kind of thin and fragile hair. My sister also has this kind of hair. On my fathers side, the women all seem to have very dark, thicker looking curly hair, to the point of being frizzy. I seem to have definitely taken after the Mexican side.

[prittykitty]

Also, by no means did I mean to insinuate a hair stereotype on people from different cultures. I was actually supporting the fact that people from the same ancestry have different hair types. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
I agree with you on this. Certain nationalities have different hair types. No one should get offended over this topic.

[Gypsy]

Mind if I ask what clans y'all are descended from? I'm from clan Gunn & my great-uncle supposedly traced our line back to Robert the Bruce, so if that's true - sorry, Gypsy! :silly: :laugh:

Okay, here's what my aunt wrote-
Our clan is the Cumming, Cummin, Comeyn (Spelling?). Our ancestor is John "the red" Cumming, (son of John "the black"), who would have been king of Scotland except for being killed in a church by Robert the Bruce. The Cumming clan fell from power after that.

[Francoise1606]

I was born in Denmark and my mother is, scottish, french, native south american and some other things I'm not sure about. My father is danish and jewish. But my mothers family all have stick straigt black hair, and they look native american, so I'm guessing that it's not just a small part.

[pepperminttea]

I'm a northern European mongrel, too. I'm English, but my dad's been looking into the family tree - there's a good dollop of Scottish, Irish, and even some French in there as well. My mother tells me my hair very much reminds her of her own locks when they were long in her college days; from her description she got to about classic length. Thick, auburn-ish brown, varying a lot in texture. My favourite heirloom. :)

[curlylocks85]

I am a mutt as well. I come from all over. I am a mixture of German, Italian, Irish, English, French, Native American, Dutch, and Indian. (Possibly checkoslovakian, but not sure).

My mother has blonde wavy hair with curls in her underneath layer. She and one of my cousins are the only blonde-haired people in the family.

My dad had light/medium brow hair with red highlights slightly wavy.

The rest of my family has brown, black, wavy, straight, thin, fine, or medium textured hair. My hair is by far the thickest.

My hair is the curliest of everyone’s hair. My cousin has curly hair but I am not sure if it is natural. My great aunt is the only person I know who has naturally curly hair but mine is so much more so than hers is. Mostly the family sports darker hair with waves or straight hair.

I know I definitely would not ask my family for hair care tips we all have slightly different hair types.

[Beets]

Another mutt here. So far as we can tell, there is Irish, German, Welsh, Prussian, and Dutch. But the records don't go far back, so it's really anybody's guess. And personally, I think that paternity is a wildcard in anybody's heritage, which makes for delightful speculation!!!

[Nae]

My family is so mixed that it is ridculous. English, Irish, French, Hungarian, German, ect. I have black hair and an olive complexion, some of my 1st cousins are blonde haired and blue eyed, some are red haired with grey eyes, some are brown haired with green eyes. I am nearly 6 foot (pretty darn tall for a girl) and my cousin is not quite 5 foot (poor thing still has waitresses giving her crayons at restaurants and she is 20!) We are quite the ecletic bunch so I am not sure if the hair ancestry theory would help much for me, but I am sure there are still vast segements of the world where immigration isn't the norm that it is here in the US. There are small villages the world over where people often live their lives in a very small area and there is not much travel to and fro. It is a fascinating idea though. I wonder what sort of genetic calling card that this era of human history will leave for our future generations. So much mixing of races, cultures and ideas, we live in such an exciting time!

[sapphire-o]

I'm pretty much a "pure blood" sub-tropical Asian. :) My ancestors were from somewhere warm, humid and rainy I think. (Think rice paddies and silk worms.) We all have fair smooth skin and dark shiny hair. Though my hair seems to be lighter colored than everybody else'. They all have jet black hair and mine is dark reddish brown. I suspect it's because I'm chronically low on iron. I heard iron is responsible for the black color. :( I used to think it's just not fair that my brother's got creamy white skin and jet black hair. He doesn't need to be pretty. Now I kinda like my hair color and texture.

I'm glad one of my kids got my hair. It's so easy to take care of. Combing is entirely optional and it always looks perfectly groomed. I don't know how other moms with kids with fine tangly hair deal with it.

[Kirzja]

I am almost 100% Dutch, with a little bit of Swedish blood from a few generations back.
Blond DNA + blond DNA = very blond DNA! :p

[nowxisxforever]

The only thing I've noticed for sure is the color. DH is 1/2 German, half English, I've got a good bit of German in me, but lots of Heinz 57 too. Our kids had the typical German look of being white-blond (once they finally got hair, bald at birth), slowly turning darker until it was no longer blond by puberty. A lot of mostly German people I've talked to have had the same thing happen, born blond but changes over childhood to brown.

I was this way. Blonde as a baby and started turning brown when I was 5, and was finally the color it was in my signature picture (pre-henna) by puberty. I'm mostly German, but also have English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and something Scandinavian...

[RedheadMistress]

- This is a really interesting theory !

It makes complete sense, if you think about the care the generations before you took of their hair . . Myself I have parents from Iran and I got my father curly unruly hair instead of my mother soft shiny and little wavy hair, and I do find I have some similar hair problems with other people from that region. . but then again it could be coincidental and even in Iran there are tonnes of different hair qualities .
Almost like different branches of hair qualities, dependent on how the generations before them have cured for their hair ?

Ah I love this theory you implanted in my head, I'll think about it some more :p

[DanielleRenae]

All of this stuff is so complex. I'm complex when I think about it. My dad is Laotion, but I never knew him so I really don't know what his hair is like. All I can infer about Asian hair is that it's very sleek, shiny, and is usually blackish-bluish. (I say "infer" because I have never known another Asian person). My mom is half Caucasian and half Native American. That Caucasian is a mix of German, Irish, French, and who knows what else. The Native American is a mix of Cherokee, Choctaw, and Osage. There is also a small possibility that I could have a bit of African American in me because Choctaws did have slaves, which later became known as Choctaw Freedmen.

All I know is that my hair is very coarse and thick, but very strong and can take a lot of abuse. I have major frizz issues but at least it's shiny.