Eleven-Year-Old Girl Can 'Switch' From Blonde To Brunette Overnight Thanks To Rare Birthmark
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An 11-year-old girl can switch her hair between blonde or brunette every day by changing her parting, thanks to a rare genetic 'birthmark'.
Bella, 11, from Lincoln, was born with a head of half blonde and half brunette hair, and chooses which she wants based on her outfit.
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Mum Jenny Hill believes that the distinctive trait is caused by poliosis, which creates a lack of pigment in a patch of hair. Poliosis occurs when you have a white streak in your hair and is caused by low amounts of melanin and melanocytes in your hair follicle. It can affect hair on any part of your body, including your eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as the surrounding skin.
Bella also has different coloured eyelashes - her right are a lighter colour while her left are darker.
Jenny said: "It's really different and unique. My mum pointed it out when she was born but at the time I was in too much pain to notice.
"She was saying she's fair and I said she's dark then we noticed her eyelashes were fair on the blonde side and dark on the brunette side.
"I asked about it at her six-week check-up and they kind of just said 'oh yes' and didn't make a big deal out of it.
"As parents it's more noticeable because you stare at your baby but it's more prominent as she's got older.
"In the summer the darker side does go fairer. The blonde is an ice blonde, like it's been bleached and it goes all the way underneath in an unusual pattern.
"If she has it in a certain style, she's blonde but if she changes her parting, she's brunette.
"She prefers her hair lighter when she wears more girly clothes and pastel colours but when she wears her hoodies and joggers, she wears it up so it’s dark."
She continued: "We got a lot of attention when she was little. It would take us hours to get round the supermarket because people would stop and admire Bella's hair or ask if we'd dyed it.
"I was a hairdresser when I was pregnant with Bella so it was a running joke that maybe I'd been around the bleach too much.
"A lot of people don't notice her eyelashes but it's obvious when you look at her. She gets told by everyone that she isn't allowed to touch her hair.
"We've only ever seen similar hair once. We were in the supermarket once and we saw another boy with a patch of hair like Bella's.
"It was really exciting. Bella pointed him out and said 'he's got hair like me' so we went over because we haven't seen anyone else before."
Bella added: "I don't really have a favourite shade, it depends what outfit I'm wearing.
"A lot of school friends do want my hair and some ask if I dye it."
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