HAIR POROSITY
Hey guyssss!!
How’s your week going?? It’s been a busy busy week over here in LA but I am loving it. This heat though! I love hot weather but this heat is a little ridiculous. Wearing clothes legit feels like torture. For those of you in cold places, LOL sorry!!! *evil grin*
So I can’t believe I haven’t done a post on this yet lol! But today we’re talking about hair porosity. Hair porosity refers to how well your hair is able to absorb and retain moisture. It is affected by how flexible the hair cuticle (the outer layer) is. So you can have low, medium or high porosity hair. Why does this matter? Well knowing your hair’s porosity can help you determine which type of products to use/avoid as well as which hair practices to carry out and how often you need to moisturise your hair.
How do I check my hair’s porosity?
There are two commonly used methods to check hair porosity: the float test and the slip test.
Float test – take a few strands of clean dry hair (from your comb/brush or just cut it off if you really want to lol) and put them in a bowl/glass/cup of water. Wait about 3-4 minutes. If the hair sinks in that time, you have high porosity hair. If it hovers in the middle, it’s medium porosity. If the hair floats, you guessed it, low porosity.
Slip test – slide your fingers up a strand of hair from tip to root. If it feels kinda bumpy, then the cuticle is lifted so you have high porosity. If it’s smooth, you’ve got low porosity hair.
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| Float test |
Low porosity (like me!)
- The cuticle lays flat so it’s pretty difficult to get moisture in 🙁
- Use moderate heat when deep conditioning! The heat will raise the cuticle allowing the deep conditioner to penetrate the hair shaft
- Try not to use anything too rich in protein regularly, which can leave your hair kinda stiff. Of course, do your protein treatments if you need to but try not to do them too often
- Feel free to use humectants (products that draw moisture in from the air) e.g. glycerin, honey
- You can use products rich in emollients such as coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba oil etc
- Try to go for liquid based, lighter products that won’t just sit on your hair and cause build up
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| Throwback to this summer and my low porosity hair |
Medium porosity
- Y’all are the lucky ones! Your hair requires the least amount of maintenance and stress – basically, your hair cuticle allows in the right amount of moisture and holds the right amount
- Your hair also holds styles pretty well!
- Some people with medium porosity hair don’t feel the need to seal because their hair holds the moisture they need. You have to experiment with this a little bit and see what your hair likes!
- Try not to overload your hair with protein but just carry on with normal, healthy hair practices e.g. deep conditioning, cowashing etc
High porosity
- There are loads of gaps and holes in your hair cuticle so too much moisture gets into your hair and your hair loses moisture very easily
- It could just be how your hair naturally is or it could be a result of using too many chemicals (e.g. relaxers, hair dye) or general damage
- Be sure to use anti-humectants when it’s hot or humid so that your hair doesn’t get overloaded with moisture
- It is definitely very important to seal your moisturisers or leave in conditioners in with an oil and/or a butter. You NEED to keep the moisture in!
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| This is a simple diagram of what the different cuticles look like! |
There we have it, cuties! I think hair porosity is actually a really important. In fact, I would say it’s more important that hair type (but that’s just my opinion!) Find out your hair porosity in order to make sure you’re taking the best care of your hair.
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| P.S. I straightened my hair this week after my heat free year! I will do a post on it soon x |
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Tara xXx
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