Is Hair Made of Cells?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Amelia, and I'm here to talk to you about hair structure, and if it's made up of cells. Hair is made up of ninety-one percent protein, something called carotene. The same thing that can be found in your fingernails. It's actually long chains of amino acids, and polypeptides. Really, what you need to know, is more about it's structure. So, it is, it has three layers. And the best way to explain it, is it's sort of like a king crab leg. The inside is soft, the outside is hard. The outside, cause it's also translucent, when the hair's wet, you'll notice sometimes that you're hair looks darker, and hairdressers, we like to say warmer. But, it looks darker when it's wet. That's because that cuticle layer is actually translucent. So, when the hair is wet, you're actually seeing the inside of the hair. And, when you color your hair, what ends up being colored, is the "intac", inside, which is the cortex. That's colored with permanent color, and then the outside, the cuticle layer is just sort of coated with color. So, basically to answer your question. Yes, hair is made up of cells. It's made up of protein, carotene, amino acids, and they're, they're dead. So, that's why, when you cut your hair, it doesn't hurt."