New Mexico Permanent Makeup (PMU) Practice Exam

Eumelanin is the pigment produced by the hair follicle that yields brown to black hair. Melanocytes in the hair bulb synthesize eumelanin and transfer it to the growing hair shaft; the amount and distribution of eumelanin in the cortex determine how dark the hair appears—the more eumelanin, the darker the color. Pheomelanin, in contrast, gives red to yellow tones and contributes to lighter or warmer hues, not the brown-to-black range. If melanin were absent, hair would be very pale or white/blond. Neomelanin isn’t a recognized pigment type in human hair. So the brown-to-black color specifically comes from eumelanin.