The shaft grows from the follicle, which is the root of the hair located beneath the skin. There are around 100,000 hair follicles on the scalp alone, and five million hair follicles on the body.
The hair follicle itself is made up of the papilla and the bulb. The papilla contains tiny blood vessels that deliver blood supply to the hair follicle. The papilla nourishes the hair follicle with the necessary nutrients for hair growth. The bulb, which surrounds the papilla, is where the hairs’ cells divide. Cells of the bulb divide much faster than the other cells in the human body.
The hair shaft is the visible part of the hair. The hair shaft is made up of a hard protein called keratin and a scale-like outer protective layer called the cuticle. Hair shafts are actually dead, which is why it doesn’t hurt to get a haircut!