Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
Blue eyes and red hair forms the rarest combo on earth. Most (natural) redheads will have brown eyes, followed by hazel or green shades.
And when you meet a red head with blue eyes, you are looking at the rarest colour combination of all for human beings. Around 17 per cent of people have blue eyes, and when combined with 1-2 per cent having red hair, the odds of having both traits are around 0.17 per cent.
“Red hair and blue eyes are both recessive traits which means a person needs to inherit both of the genes for red hair and blue eyes, from both parents. In contrast, brown hair and brown eyes are dominant traits, which is why they are much more prevalent.”
The rarest hair and eye color combination is red hair with blue eyes, occurring in less than 1% of the global population.
When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.
However, redheads are not only Celts or Caucasians. Their distribution is a testament to the global movement of DNA across societies and landscapes. Although most common in Northern Europe, parts of Russia, and among European descendants in Australia, there are redheads from all ethnicities and races.
Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair.
Natural red hair is the rarest hair color in the world. A mere one to two percent of people are born with auburn hair. The prevalence is slightly higher in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially the British Isles (mainly Ireland and Scotland), than in the rest of the world.
The skin of a redhead is thinner compared to others and is derived from the ectoderm. Teeth enamel is also derived from the ectoderm and thus is thinner than usual. Since the enamel coating is thin, the inner layer of tooth-dentin is more visible and offers a yellowish appearance.
Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.
Naturally Produce More Vitamin D
The UVB rays interact with a protein in your skin (7-dehydrocholesterol, or 7-DHC) and activate a process to convert the protein into vitamin D3. Per a study published in 2020 in Experimental Dermatology, redheads are more efficient at synthesizing vitamin D.
Irish immigrants arriving in Australia looking for labour gained a reputation as heavy drinkers and fighters, with 'blue' being local slang for a fight. The term evolved to come to mean a redheaded Irishman.
This can be tricky, since most natural redheads have either very light copper brows and lashes or barely-there blondish-white ones. That coloring poses a problem with too-dark mascara—if it isn't applied all the way to the lash line it's really noticeable.
Experienced artists will know that they shouldn't try to match the brow color to the hair color – redheads don't have red eyebrows. If you have lighter hair, close to strawberry blonde, the artist should go for fair blonde shade. They will probably mix different pigments to find your perfect copper shade.
Eastern Europe
In the late 18th century, ethnographers considered the Udmurt people of the Volga Region in Russia to be "the most red-headed men in the world". The Volga region still has one of the highest percentages of red-headed people. Red hair is also found amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations.
It's estimated that somewhere around 80% of redheads have freckles, but did you know we aren't born with them? That's right! Babies are not born with freckles, even if they will end up with them later in life. Freckles usually start appearing sometime between two and four.
Having red hair isn't the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs. Redheads probably won't go grey.
Red hair is caused by a recessive gene and it's not possible for this gene to simply die out. Even if there were no more redheads, people would still carry the recessive gene and that gene can appear at any time. Redheads may become rarer in the future, but they aren't going anywhere.
But here's the thing. Despite its popularity, strawberry blonde hair only occurs naturally in between 1 and 2 percent of the world's total population — which means it takes hair color and technique to make it happen for the rest of us. In fact, it's a hue that's been rare yet in demand for centuries.
4. While red hair is synonymous with Ireland, it didn't even originate there. Red hair can actually be traced back to Central Asia. So whether you're a redhead with Irish roots or not, your genes probably originated from the same place.
Reds have fewer and thicker strands than blondes and brunettes. On average, redheads have about 90,000 strands, blondes 110,000, and brunettes 140,000. Because each fiery strand is significantly thicker and coarser than its color counterparts, it makes hair look fuller and easier to style.
The largest concentration of green eyed people is in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Europe. In Ireland and Scotland, 86% of people have either blue or green eyes. There have been 16 genes identified that contribute to eye colour.