Why Do Some People Have Curly Hair and Others Have Straight Hair?

Hair is like a rope made of tiny threads called keratin. Some people have hair that's twisted at the bottom, like a spring, and others don't. This happens because of special instructions inside our bodies called genes, which come from our parents.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A child might get curly hair from their mom and straight hair from their dad, or both!
  2. Your brother's naturally curly hair is like a coiled spring, while yours stays straight.
  3. When your hair gets wet in the rain, it curls up more, because of how keratin behaves.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity