By: Casey Harding-brown

I am the only redhead in my entire family. Of my 40 plus aunts, uncles, cousins I was the only "carrot top" at every full family function. My Mom, Dad, and brother all have brown hair. So naturally, I've been curious about why I look different from the rest of the people I am genetically tied to and if those differences go deeper than looks. Well, turns out there are a lot of random, interesting, and just plain weird facts about redheads that make us stand out from the crowd.

1.According to Cosmopolitan (aka the sex bible), redhead women have more sex than blondes and brunettes. This is based on two studies, one done in Germany and one in England.

2. Red hair is the rarest color in the world, making up less than 2% of the world population.

3. Redheads don’t go grey, their strands turn white or blonde.

4. Because red hair and left-handedness are both recessive traits (which tend to come in pairs), redheads are more likely to be left handed. 

5. They change temperatures faster than others which makes them more sensitive to hot/cold weather.

6. It takes more anesthesia to put redheads into the unconscious.

7. Bees are attracted to them. Scientists are still trying to figure this one out, but one theory is that the red looks similar to flowers. Personally, I have lots of experience with bees trying to pollinate me. It’s become a joke in my friend group that I’m the bee whisperer.

8. They tend to have less hair but thicker strands.

9. In ancient Rome, redheaded slaves were often more expensive than those with other hair color.

10. Because they can have a harder time absorbing vitamin d due to their lower melatonin concentration (when speaking about fair skin redheads-the hair color can appear in all ethnicities) redheads can produce their own vitamin d internally, when exposed to low levels of light.

 11. Blue eyes and red hair is the least common combo in the world.

12. “Gingerphobia” is a fear of redheads. “Gingerism” is the bullying or prejudice of redheads.

13. In Egypt, redheads were buried alive as sacrifices to the god Osiris.