Abstract

The scattering of light by human hair depends on both the structure of the hair and how the hair has been treated. As hair grows it is naturally subjected to damage by grooming and the environment. A typical hair is a roughly cylindrical structure approximately 70 microns in diameter. It consists of three distinct layers of keratin material: the medulla, cortex and the cuticle (or scale layer). The outer layer (cuticle) is a laminar structure composed of between 5 and 10 elongated cells, which provide a radial mechanical constraint on the cortex. A schematic view of this arrangement is presented in figure 1.

© 1990 Optical Society of America