Redheads (men and women) differ chemically from the rest of us in that they can't make melanin (the brown pigment in freckles and tans). Instead, they make pheomelanin, which is reddish. Their sweat doesn't differ in composition from anyone else's, so there is no reason for them to smell different.
There are two types of human melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin ranges from brown to black in colour. Pheomelanin ranges from red to pink. Redheads have much more pheomelanin than eumelanin in their bodies.
Some evidence suggests redheaded adults often appear older than their actual age. For example, one study published in 2016 in Current Biology found that adults who carry two copies of the MC1R gene variant are more likely to look two years older than other people their age.
Some studies indicate that redheads are more prone to illness because they prefer to keep out of the sun and so lack vitamin D, or because their ability to absorb the vitamin is less efficient.
About 1–2% of people of European origin have red hair. Especially female redheads are known to suffer higher pain sensitivity and higher incidence of some disorders, including skin cancer, Parkinson's disease and endometriosis.
A McGill University study found that redheads could handle more electric shocks than those with different coloured hair. Other research discovered that gingers are better at handling stabbing or sharp pain.
Lifespan: up to 20 years in captivity, 5-10 years in the wild.
The conclusions come from a survey of 10,878 white Americans asked about their natural hair colour (Hispanics and African Americans were excluded to eliminate bias). The results showed the average IQ of blonde-haired women was 103.2, 102.7 for brown hair, 101.2 for red hair and 100.5 for black hair.
Whether you love a redhead or you're a redhead yourself, those vibrant tresses can actually translate into a wild bedroom experience. The stereotypical fiery redhead isn't too far from the truth. A sex researcher, from the University of Hamburg, found gingers have more sex than their blonde or brunette counterparts.
The author of The Redhead Encyclopedia, Stephen Douglas, wrote that redheads have a naturally sweet, musk-like scent. We have also read that a redhead's scent can be described as violet and amber. Douglas also makes a claim that a redhead's scent can change with emotions.
They easily detect changes in hot and cold temperatures. They may be less sensitive to electric shock, needle pricks and stinging pain on the skin.
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.
Red hair attracts attention because it's more eye catching and rare. Red hair and porcelain white skin make a gorgeous contrast. So many icons that men drool over have been redheads. Even iconic paintings, made for the male gaze, have featured redheaded women.
Less than 2 percent of the world's population has red hair, making it the rarest hair color in the world. It's the result of the mutated MC1R gene. If both parents carry that gene, their child has a 25% chance of getting lovely, red locks, even if the parents don't have red hair themselves.
They are typified as impulsive, quick-tempered, libidinous, and wild. The personalities of people with red hair are often believed to be imitative of their red hair, and they are seen as fiery, hot-tempered, hot-blooded, passionate, and angry.
Most (natural) redheads will have brown eyes, followed by hazel or green shades.
According to an article by evolutionary biology professor Mark Elgar, PhD, of the University of Melbourne, blue-eyed redheads are the absolute rarest, with 0.17% of the population having that combination of hair and eye color.
Rarest kind of redhead
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.
Ireland has the highest number of red-haired people per capita in the world, with the percentage of those with red hair at around 10%. Great Britain also has a high percentage of people with red hair.
Research has shown that people with red hair perceive pain differently than others. They may be more sensitive to certain types of pain and can require higher doses of some pain-killing medications. However, studies suggest that their general pain tolerance may be higher.
Someone with red hair has two copies of the MC1R gene, receiving one from each parent. The gene also carries a certain mutation in most people who have red hair. It's this variant that has been identified as playing a role in why redheads may respond to pain drugs differently than others.
In a 2006 study published in Anesthesiology, women with red hair required much more anesthesia than women with dark hair, linked to a distinct genetic phenotype that redheads have.