“Common misconception.” He presses his thumb into a vein running over the back of my hand until it compresses. “But untrue. Deoxygenated blood is still red, although darker. The reason veins are blue is because skin absorbs blue light. The subcutaneous fat will only allow blue light to penetrate to the veins, so this is what you see reflected back by your retina.”

“Common misconception.” He presses his thumb into a vein running over the back of my hand until it compresses. “But untrue. Deoxygenated blood is still red, although darker. The reason veins are blue is because skin absorbs blue light. The subcutaneous fat will only allow blue light to penetrate to the veins, so this is what you see reflected back by your retina.”

— Freida McFadden