# Is hair REALLY dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128 "2005-03-05T22:09:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4bbf92/32.png) [@neisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neisha)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/1 "2005-03-05T22:09:46Z")
I think, not. :dubious: How about you? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/2 "2005-03-05T22:28:00Z")
> [@neisha](#): > > I think, not. :dubious: How about you? Except for the root, hair is really dead, yes. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/3 "2005-03-05T23:38:51Z")
Really, really dead. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to cut/curl/color/perm/straighten it without a general anaesthetic ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/4 "2005-03-06T00:18:45Z")
It’s really most sincerely dead. However, even hairdressers, who know better, get tired of fighting their customer’s ignorance and some just go with the popular “wisdom.” I had a hairdresser once who told me to think of my long, long hair as a fabric (or as natural fibers) and treat it as gently as you would old silk. Long hair has been exposed to the elements much longer than short hair. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/5 "2005-03-06T00:23:29Z")
If it were alive, it would bleed when you cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/6 "2005-03-06T01:22:35Z")
It could be alive and still not feel pain. It could be alive and still not bleed. **But hair is not alive**. None of the hair outside of the very proximal tip of the hair follicle metabolizes at all. It’s nothing but a long chain of keratinized dead cells. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/7 "2005-03-06T01:48:21Z")
This is why I put vitamins in my body, but ignore “vitamin-enriched” shampoos that “nourish” my hair. It’s dead! It does not need vitamins. Or whatever pseudo-scientific nonsense they put on the labels. I do like it to be clean and shiny, and may it rest in peace. (And do what I want.) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/8 "2005-03-06T05:15:59Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > It’s dead! It does not need vitamins. “But I’m not dead yet!” “Shut up! Yes you are!” “No I’m not!” “Yes you are!” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/9 "2005-03-06T05:18:39Z")
Apparently so. The [web page](http://www.geocities.com/hairpages/) hasn’t been updated in years! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/10 "2005-03-06T05:19:50Z")
“Dead” would suggest that hair was once alive, but passed away. Let’s just say it isn’t living tissue. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/11 "2005-03-06T05:25:59Z")
HAIR METAL RAWKS, DUDE!! It’s not dead, it’s just hibernating…VIVA POISON! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/12 "2005-03-06T05:40:56Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > This is why I put vitamins in my body, but ignore “vitamin-enriched” shampoos that “nourish” my hair. It’s dead! It does not need vitamins. Or whatever pseudo-scientific nonsense they put on the labels. > > I do like it to be clean and shiny, and may it rest in peace. (And do what I want.) Thank you! Those commercials annoy the hell out of me. Every time one of them comes on I have to suppress the urge to yell at the screen, “Putting vitamins ON your hair won’t do anything, you idiots!” And I especially love the graphics, which show how the “vitamins” are settling into the great gaping holes in your hair and “smoothing them out”…even IF vitamins were of any use to already-grown hair, that’s not why they would be. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/13 "2005-03-06T08:02:59Z")
It’s just pining for the fjollicles. ---
**Author:** ![davmilasav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@davmilasav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davmilasav)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/14 "2005-03-06T10:10:09Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It’s just pining for the fjollicles. And the only reason that it stayed on your head is that it had been _nailed_ there! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/15 "2005-03-06T10:53:44Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > “Dead” would suggest that hair was once alive, but passed away. > > Let’s just say it isn’t living tissue. But it _was_ alive at one point, wasn’t it? Anyway, this thread makes me feel good about my buzzcut. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/16 "2005-03-06T20:02:44Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > But it _was_ alive at one point, wasn’t it? No, it wasn’t. Living cells at the base are secreting non-living tissue - hair. Hair itself is just protein. No cellular structure at all. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/17 "2005-03-06T20:10:18Z")
If hair being dead surprises you, then you have to hear this: All the visable skin on anyone’s body is also dead. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/18 "2005-03-06T21:30:55Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > If it were alive, it would bleed when you cut it. If it bleeds, you can kill it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/19 "2005-03-06T23:36:47Z")
Life is essentially a cellular phenomenon. Setting aside viruses, which aren’t relevant here, the cell is the smallest unit of life. Only cells and groups of cells can be said to be alive. Living organisms are composed of cells and sometimes the products of cells. Products of cells include hair, teeth, nails, shells, coral skeletons, etc. But these elements are not, and never were, alive – only the cells that made them are/were. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128/20 "2005-03-07T01:17:36Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > No, it wasn’t. Living cells at the base are secreting non-living tissue - hair. So hair is just cell poop. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hair-really-dead/293128.md?page=2)