Types of Melanin: The Ultimate Beginners Guide

Science backed skin knowledge has always been one of our top priorities at CHOLLEY. In one of our previous articles, we talked about what is melanin. We highlighted its importance and how this natural pigment is responsible for giving colour to your hair and eyes. In addition, we also discussed its key role when it comes to preventing the skin from sun damage.

Now we like to take a deeper dive into this topic and explain the different types of melanin in details in the following comprehensive guide. We will look at how the different types of melanin differ biochemically. We will also highlight why it is important to understand them and their significance when it comes to the health of your skin, beauty choices and sun protection strategies. We have written this guide in a comprehensive way to answer a variety of questions. Whether you want to know why red hair is red or how pigmentation function in the cellular level the following guide will be helpful. To better understand how your skin responds to sun exposure, learn more about how melanin affects your skin and why different types of melanin influence tanning, pigmentation, and UV protection.

Before we start discusssing the different types of melanin it is best to recap clearly what it is. Melanocytes are specialezed cells which are responsible to produce the natural pigments we call melanin. These pigments give humans and other organisems their visible colour. Melanin provides the skin, hair and eye their colour. In addition, melanin plays a key role when it comes to providing the skin protection against UV radiation from the sun.

But it is key to understand that melanin is not just a single substance. A specific process called melanogenesis is responsible for forming a family of biomolecules. During this process amino acid tyrosine is converted enzymatically into pigments. Different forms of melanin are produced in this synthesis pathway with each one having specific chemical and biological roles.

There are three distinct types of melanin which are recognized in humans by scientists, and they are:

• Eumelanin
• Pheomelanin
• Neuromelanin

Each of these types of melanin have unique properties, functions, and effects on physiology and pigmentation.

We must start with eumelanin which is the most common form of melanin found in human skin, hair and eyes. It is responsible for forming brown and black pigmentation.

What Does Eumelanin do?

• Skin & hair colour: darker skin tones are due to a higher concentration of eumelanin. These include brown or black hair, darker skin tones and deeper eye colour.
• Sun protection: Eumelanin is particularly effective when it comes to providing protection to the skin cells from DNA damage. This makes it also very effective when it comes to absorbing UV radiation produces by the sun.
• Colour spectrum: You may be surprised but even within the eumelanin you can find black or brown varieties. Those who have blond hair have very low eumelanin. In contrast those with black hair have an abundant amount of eumelanin.

The function of eumelanin when it comes to biological importance can be classified as a natural sunscreen. This natural sunscreen has the unique ability of filtering UV rays before they can harm the underlying skin tissues. But even those who have plenty of eumelanin still need to apply sunscreen!

We can essentially define pheomelanin as the type that stands directly in contrast to eumelanin. It is responsible for producing shades such as red, yellow and lighter ones.Where Can you Find Pheomelanin?

• Red hair & strawberry blond shades: Relative to Eumelanin these hair colours are classic products of higher concertation of pheomelanin.
• Body Areas which are Pinkish: Pigmentation is areas of the body such as nipples and lips are contributed to pheomelanin.

Functional Differences:

Pheomelanin reflects more light and offers less UV protection. This stands in contrast to eumelanin which primarily absorbs UV light. This is the essential cause why those with abundant pheomelanin such as redheads are more sensitive to the sun!

When it comes to neuromelanin there is less familiarity with it. Rather than being responsible for visible skin or hair colour it is found in specific parts of the brain. These specific parts of the brain include the substantia nigra and locus coeruleus.

What Does Neuromelanin Do?

The exact role of neuromelanin is still under investigation by scientists. But from what current research indicates it is responsible for binding harmful metals and molecules within neurons. It’s presence maybe helpful when it comes to support for neural protection. When its levels change it can be linked to neurological conditions. It has no direct links when it comes to skin pigmentation. Essentially neuromelanin highlights how melanin compounds effect more than just colour and they extend to also the brain chemistry.

Your skin tone is the results of:

• The specific amount of melanin produces by melanocytes
• Eumelanin & Pheomelanin balance

The number of melanocytes is roughly the same in all humans. But what is different between them is the ratio and amount of melanin produced. Those who produce more melanin generally have darker skin while those who produce less have lighter skin.

In addition, this balance also effects the skin’s response when it comes to sun exposure. Those who have more melanin are able to tan easier and have a greater natural resistance to UV exposure. In contrast those who produce more pheomelanin tend to have more sun sensitivity and burn faster.

The colour of your hair is directly linked to melanin types:

• Black/Brown hair: Eumelanin domination
• Blond Hair: Very low eumelanin
• Red Hair: Much higher pheomelanin in comparison to eumelanin

Colour changes can be caused even with the slightest changes in the levels of these pigments.

We can apply the same core principals to eye colour as we have done to hair colour. For example, those with hazel eyes tend to have lower melanin while those with higher eumelanin have dark brown eyes.

Melanogenesis is the name of melanin production. It starts deep in the skin tissues in the melanocytes. Tyrosinase which is a key enzyme prompts the conversion of the amino acid tyrosine into pigment precursors. They then become either eumelanin or pheomelanin based on substrates present and biochemical pathways. This then is followed by:

• Melanosomes which package the pigments
• Keratinocytes is the most common skin cell. It received and stores melanin and eventually impacting the skin colour.

UV exposure, genetics and cellular signalling influence this process. This essentially means your pigmentation are jointly shaped by your DNA and environment.

Knowledge about melanin is more than educational it is practical!

You do not eliminate the need to use sunscreen even though melanin provides natural UV defence specifically through eumelanin. Regardless of pigmentation UV radiation still can penetrate the deeper layers of your skin. This can cause sun damage and accelerate the ageing process.

If you know your melanin profile it can help with:

• Selecting the right SPF & antioxidants
• Ability to understands and recognize sun sensitivity patterns
• Customizing anti-ageing regimens in harmony with your pigment biology

When developing and formulating our products at CHOLLEY we always have melanin in mind. We take into consideration how melanin interacts with UV formulation, free radicals and skin response when we formulate our skincare products at CHOLLEY.

We like to iterate again that melanin is much more than just a pigment. It is biological system. This system is composed of diverse functions, forms and effects which have a direct effect on how we look and respond to our surrounding environment. When we gain knowledge about the different types of melanin and how they work we are essentially learning about how our body works at a molecular level!

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