The hair on our body is an amazing thing. It constantly reproduces itself as the tip is worn, shredded, or cut away. It's able to do this because each hair strand is grown in its own follicle. Special cells manufacture proteins, such as keratin, that make up the hair. One special type of cell, called a melanocyte, is busily manufacturing a protein called melanin.
Melanin is a type of skin pigment that gives our body color.
Depending upon who your parents are, you may produce a lot of melanin and therefore have dark hair. If however, your body produces very little melanin, your hair appears much lighter, and you have naturally blond hair. Pigments, such as melanin, have many uses in our body. They color our eyes and give us suntans in response to solar radiation. Carotene is another type of pigment and it produces an orange color in our skin.