Did you all melanin does not make you brown. That’s right, and there is actually melanin that can be a reddish-yellow pigment. So if you are curious, how does skin colorwork the keep reading. In this post, we are breaking down melanin. There are a lot of misconceptions about melanin, and we are going to break them down. Keep reading to learn how does skin color work and have mealnin explained.
What is Melanin?
Melanin is a biopolymer, which means that it is made up of many subunits called amino acids. This biopolymer is produced in cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes live in the epidermal layer of the skin. There are three layers the make up the skin and the epidermis; the outermost layer is the layer that serves in a protective capacity for the rest of your skin and your body. So it only fits that melanocytes are located in the epidermis.
The Role of Melanin in the Body
The melanin biopolymer’s role in the body is to absorb light across a broad spectrum of wavelengths and prevent damage from being done to other layers of the skin. To achieve this, the melanocytes produce melanin and then package a group of them up into a melanosome. This melanosome is then transported to keratinocytes, and they congregate around the cell nuclei because this is where critical cell functions take place, and ultra-violet light waves can damage them
The Colors of Melanin
Like I said previously, all melanin is not brown; there are actually two types of melanin produced in the body. Eumelanin is the brown to black pigment, and pheomelanin is the yellow to red pigment. Eumelanin absorbs the radicals produced due to the UV waves, while Pheomelanin produces radicals as a UV response. These two types of melanin have to work together in the body to keep your skin healthy and keep you looking your best.
How Does Skin Color Work?
Colored tissues in your body, like your skin, eyes, and hair, are all based on the ratio of the two types of melanin. The ratio and concentration of eumelanin to pheomelanin control coloring.
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