# Different colored hairs in my beard **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004 "2003-09-16T20:45:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/1 "2003-09-16T20:45:58Z")
Why do I have different colored hairs in my beard? I have dark brown hair (practically black) but on my chin and upper lip I have stray blondes here and there(actually the color I’m unsure of, someone called them copper, another said red). They are nowhere else on my body. I’ve noticed this in the beards of my friends too. Does anyone have an explanation for this wacky phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/2 "2003-09-16T21:11:25Z")
I used to have a lot of red in my beard (the rest of the hair on my head is brown). As I got older (mid-30s) most of the red has turned gray, so now my beard is more salt-and-pepper. Actually since the non-gray whiskers are brown, it’s more salt-and-dirt colored. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/3 "2003-09-16T23:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\*Actually since the non-gray whiskers are brown, it’s more salt-and-dirt colored. \*\* I prefer to think of it as “sugar and cinnamon” myself. Mind you, the mixture is getting awfully sugary as time goes by… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/4 "2003-09-16T23:12:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\*I used to have a lot of red in my beard (the rest of the hair on my head is brown). As I got older (mid-30s) most of the red has turned gray, so now my beard is more salt-and-pepper. Actually since the non-gray whiskers are brown, it’s more salt-and-dirt colored. \*\* My beard did that too, it was mostly red with some brown, now its mostly grey with even less brown. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/5 "2003-09-16T23:18:24Z")
Mr. S used to have some hairs in his beard that we both swear were blue and green. Unfortunately that part has gone white now. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/6 "2003-09-16T23:42:15Z")
I have totally dark brown hair except for my beard, which has some reddish brown hair. When I was very young I had totally red hair, but that changed when I was 3. ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/7 "2003-09-16T23:54:37Z")
I have a red beard though I have blonde hair. Still can’t figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/8 "2003-09-17T01:27:07Z")
Also, ever notice that the gray hairs in your beard grow faster than the brown ones? > [@](#): > > I have a red beard though I have blonde hair. Still can’t figure it out. Well, see, it’s because those red pigments are too tired to climb to your scalp, so they choose to just settle into your beard. Which reminds me - if you’re going bald on your head, you shouldn’t grow a beard because the beard will suck hair nutrients away from your scalp. It’s true - I read it in a book called _Old Wive’s Tales_ or some such thing. ---
**Author:** ![bojon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@bojon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bojon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/9 "2003-09-17T02:28:13Z")
The reds come from Iron in your system. Look to your relatives, that will determine your beard’s color ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/10 "2003-09-17T03:10:48Z")
My father is Indian and has jet black hair. My mother has brown hair. It accounts for my hair’s shade, but the blondes in the beard baffle me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/11 "2003-09-17T05:20:39Z")
I’ve got black hair, and my goatee is the same generally, but I do see lighter hairs now and again. Some are almost light enough to border on blond. When the goatee was longer, they were very visible- sometimes it looked like I had streaks. But not so much now. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/12 "2003-09-17T23:55:29Z")
I could’ve sworn I posted this in GQ, not MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/13 "2003-09-18T03:02:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*Mr. S used to have some hairs in his beard that we both swear were blue and green. Unfortunately that part has gone white now. ☹ \*\* That could have been mold. . . ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/14 "2003-09-19T00:02:00Z")
Blond? That’s it? Please. You name it, it’s in my beard. The hair on my head (what there is of it, anyway) is either dark brown or gray. OTOH, My beard is brown, black, gray, blond, auburn, red, strawberry, etc., etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/15 "2003-09-19T00:37:08Z")
I’ve never noticed anything other than dark brown, until the first errant white hair arrived. Since then, it’s been encroacing more and more. Dammit. ☹ I hate having that gray in there, more than in my head hair and temples… It looks like two stripes of white. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/16 "2003-09-19T07:43:30Z")
My own details are exactly the same as the OP. I have dark-brown, practically black hair with only the freak stray grey hair on my head. But my mustache and goatee hairs are a mix of black, brown, red, and blond. (not grey) A while back I had a theory that it was from toothpaste/mouthwash somehow bleaching the hairs randomly. So, for a while I took extra care to not get sloppy while brushing and afterwards I would thoroughly rinse. No change. Maybe I didn’t try it long enough? I dunno. Yeah, no help, I know. But I thought it was a plausible theory… ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/17 "2003-09-19T10:51:28Z")
I wish someone would answer this. I have the same thing on my head. I am mostly blonde, but I have black hairs, and red, and brown. ---
**Author:** ![RedNaxela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@RedNaxela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedNaxela)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/18 "2003-09-19T12:49:10Z")
An attempt at a factual answer, although it’s really little more than a WAG: Given that hair color is determined by the amount of melanin present, perhaps localized concentrations of melanin would produce differently-colored hairs (just as on bare skin such concentrations produce moles, birthmarks, freckles, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/19 "2003-09-19T17:50:52Z")
Hair color, on your head and otherwise, is determined by multiple gene loci, and the mixture isn’t always expressed the same way in every hair follicle, especially if you have a wide variety to choose from. If you have brown hair, some individual hairs will be darker, or lighter, or redder, or browner than other hairs. This variation is normal, and the lack of variation in some dye jobs is what makes them look fake. The different colors in your beard are just natural variation of gene expression. The variations are even more noticeable because the hair is a)shorter b) less dense and c) easier for you to see in the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004/20 "2003-09-19T20:54:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meros \* > \*\*I have a red beard though I have blonde hair. Still can’t figure it out. \*\* It happens sometimes. Lots of blonde folks have red hair “down there.” My wife was just a medium shade of brown but I’m told her sister was red. DD [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-colored-hairs-in-my-beard/202004.md?page=2)