Stubble hair and skin. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of stubble hair growing from the surface of human skin. The shafts of hair (purple) grow from their individual hair follicles (not seen) below the surface of the skin (orange). The cleanly cut ends of the hair shafts indicate that they have been cut, probably with a razor. Hair is made up of a fibrous protein called keratin. The outermost skin layer, the stratum corneum, also consists of keratinized dead cells that detach from the body. The squamous (flattened) cells that make up the stratum corneum arise from the lower, living layers of skin. Magnification: x40 at 6x7cm size.