this is the “ginger gene”, that gives people red hair, freckles and fair skin and i am one of them and it seems we ginger haired folk are fairly rare these days ~ only 1 % to 2% of the world population!
in Celtic countries the percentage is much higher with Scotland, Ireland and Wales having the highest number of redheads worldwide – up to 10% of the Irish population have ginger, auburn or strawberry blond hair
researchers say the gene could be up to 100,000 years old and say the discovery indicates the gene having originated in neanderthal man living in Europe for 200,000 years before homo sapien's,ancestors of modern man, came about 40,000 years ago from africa.
so i have of course informed swampy as to my special rare status!
like most red heads i went through school being teased but i must have been rather thick skinned to the teasing, i remember no teenage tantrums or traumas and my past explorations into hair dye were to make my hair even redder!
my hair seems to follow its own wheel of the year...spring and summer i am more strawberry blond becoming a darker ginger in the autumn and winter...this year was a henna year so i have been considerably more 'rusty' however my roots have been growing out for a few months now and i seem to be in transition between my summer and winter colour.
and of course when i see the beautiful pre-raphaelite paintings, like the one above i am very proud of my ginger heritage!
8 comments:
I love Waterhouse's paintings, i have three of the five prints you have shown there.
As a child I had 'reddish' hair, a definite tinge towards redness in my dark hair, especially growing up as a child under the Aussie sun. I have very pale skin and blue eyes,and very sensitive to the sun, so i must have a little genetic inheritance in me somewhere too. As I grew into an adult my hair became darker and darker , and is very dark brown now (actually its not, its purple (deep plum tints) but thats another story! Ive never understood why people have been teased over red hair, i thi nk its very striking, and well done you for being proud of your roots (literally!!!)
leanne x
my hair is plain and simple - brown. tending to dark brown... my skin is quite olive I am one of the lucky ones here who don't really 'burn'.. that is because I am sure of, my Cornish ancestors... maybe there is some spanish in me way, way back? My Pa was very olived skinned and photos of him when he was little in England,he is very dark..
that being said.. sometimes in the sun I have an auburn tint... go figure.
my ex is of Irish descent and my eldest daughter has inherited his colour hair but my skin!
if you ever make it down here to visit me.. I will make sure you have plenty of sunscreen and a big floppy hat!
Hi Leanne!
yes my roots! swampy was laughing today as they are so noticable from the henna...but its time to grow out the henna i think and just use some henna shampoo.
my sister was born with black hair and is now a mid brown and the only other ginger folk are my two direct cousins...one on mums side and one on dad's.i have in mind tribes of red heads far back in time!
i went through life thinking of myself as blue eyed until swampy told me they are actually grey...shows how much i look in the mirror doesn't it?!!!!!
i love the sound of your purple hair!
Hey miss*r
sunscreen factor 35+ please!
i just remembered my dads partner is in Australia right now...her son married an Australian girl and now lives somewhere on the west coast. dad has informed me that being home alone he is eating lots of junk, not washing up and playing with his motorbike!
oh Leanne...last night before your comment had come through i was in bed (early night=headache! thats why the picturs are not the right size!) and thinking how a wall of Waterhouse prints would look!
How funny!
my cottage here is small, and i ran out of wall space- I have so many pictures etc! So they arent up here but hopefully once we have moved again (sigh) I'll be able to hang them again. I had the three of them hung together in my bedroom in my previous house.
I'm a proud redhead too! I was teased a lot at school, but now all I get are compliments which is much nicer - though I'm starting to get a lot of white streaks now I'm in my forties. I'm hoping I'll eventually go pure white like my Nanna (another redhead) did. In the meantime Lush's henna shampoo is serving me well.
merry meet and welcome Moonroot...i love your blog!
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