Have you ever wondered, is there such thing as black hair? Yes, there is. Black is a naturally occurring human hair color, although the darkest shades of brown can sometimes look almost identical to black.
Hair gets its natural color from pigments called melanin. The two main types are eumelanin and pheomelanin. Black hair contains a high concentration of eumelanin, particularly the darker type, which gives the hair its deep color.
Brown hair also contains plenty of eumelanin, but generally in different amounts and proportions.
That is why natural black hair can look intensely dark while still showing subtle brown or other tones when viewed in bright light.
READ ALSO: Is Black Hair Natural? Is There Such Thing as Natural Black Hair?
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So, Is There Such Thing as Black Hair?
Yes. Natural black hair can range from a softer black to an extremely deep jet black. Under bright sunlight, even very black hair can appear to have brown, reddish, bluish, or silvery highlights because of the way light interacts with the hair shaft.
These reflections don’t necessarily mean that the person’s natural hair color is brown.
The question is there such thing as black hair sometimes comes up because very dark brown hair can look completely black, particularly indoors or in dim lighting. From a distance, it can be difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Black Hair vs. Very Dark Brown Hair
If you’re asking is there such thing as black hair because you’ve noticed that some supposedly black hair looks brown in sunlight, there is a simple explanation. Hair color exists along a spectrum, and the boundary between the darkest browns and black can be difficult to see with the naked eye.
Naturally black hair can have subtle undertones that become visible when light hits it. Very dark brown hair can also appear black when there isn’t enough light to reveal its warmer tones.
So, while black and very dark brown can sometimes look almost identical, they aren’t necessarily the same hair color.
What Does “Black Hair” Mean?
There is another reason the question is there such thing as black hair can be confusing.
The phrase “Black hair” can mean different things depending on the context.
When talking about hair color, black hair means hair that is naturally very dark because of its high eumelanin content.
When talking about Black hair as a cultural term, however, the phrase can refer to the hair of Black people and the many textures, hairstyles, and styling traditions associated with it.
In this context, “Black hair” isn’t being used simply to describe the color of the hair.
That means a person can have Black hair culturally while their individual strands may be naturally black, dark brown, gray, or another color.
Is Black Hair Real?
So, is there such thing as black hair rather than merely extremely dark brown hair? Yes. Naturally black hair exists.
At the same time, not every head of hair that appears black is necessarily technically black. Lighting, pigmentation, hair condition, and individual variation can all affect how hair color appears.
This is particularly noticeable when black hair is viewed under direct sunlight. What looks like a solid black color indoors may reveal subtle undertones outdoors.
In other words, is there such thing as black hair? Definitely. The fact that some black hair reflects other colors doesn’t make it brown. And the fact that some dark brown hair looks black doesn’t mean that all very dark hair is naturally black.
Black is a genuine natural human hair color, although the distinction between black and the deepest shades of brown isn’t always obvious just by looking at someone’s hair.
How Rare Is Very Black Hair? Howrare Is It to Have Black Hair? Is Black Hair Rare?
Very black hair is not rare at all. In fact, naturally black hair is generally considered the most common natural hair color worldwide. It is particularly common among people of African and Asian ancestry, although naturally black hair also occurs in other populations.
The reason is largely pigmentation. Black hair contains a high amount of eumelanin, the type of melanin responsible for black and brown hair.
The more eumelanin present, the darker the hair tends to be.
But What About Very Black or Jet-Black Hair?
This is where the question gets a little more interesting. Black hair exists on a spectrum. Some people’s natural hair is a softer black, while others have hair that looks exceptionally dark and almost completely black. Terms such as jet black, raven black, and soft black are sometimes used to describe different appearances of black hair.
However, there isn’t a reliable worldwide statistic for how many people have “very black” or “jet-black” hair specifically.
Hair-color studies don’t generally divide natural black hair into sufficiently precise categories to give us a meaningful global percentage.
A large worldwide study of more than 2,000 people found that black and dark-brown hair predominated among the populations studied, but it did not establish a separate prevalence figure for exceptionally black or jet-black hair.
Is Very Black Hair Rarer Than Dark Brown Hair?
That depends heavily on the population being considered.
For example, in some European populations, black hair is much less common than brown hair.
A large Canadian study also found that dark brown and light brown were much more common than black among its participants.
Globally, however, the picture is very different because naturally black or very dark hair is widespread across Africa and Asia, which together account for a substantial portion of the world’s population.
So if you’re wondering whether very black hair is unusual, the answer is generally no. What can be unusual is the particular appearance of someone’s black hair — for example, hair that looks almost solid black with very little visible brown or warm undertone.
One important distinction is that “very black” isn’t a scientifically standardized hair-color category. Someone may describe their hair as jet black, while a color measurement could place it within a broader black or very-dark-brown range. That makes claims such as “only X% of people have jet-black hair” difficult to support.
Photo credits: Curl Centric