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It also means that once moisture does penetrate the surface, the hair retains it for longer. My hair is thick, dry, and super porous it doesn’t hang on to moisture for long. When choosing the right products for high porosity hair like mine, stick to ingredients lists that are packed with nourishing butters and oils that will deeply moisturize your mane. The tightly compacted cuticles prevent moisture and product from entering the hair shaft, causing it to accumulate on the surface of your hair. A sulfate-free clarifying shampoo like Scalp Delight™ Detox Scrub helps open up the cuticles to let moisture in while sloughing away grease, oils, and product.
Low vs High Porosity Hair: The 5 Key Differences & How to Care
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How to Choose the Best High-Porosity Hair Products
Your hair can have a high porosity naturally, but can also be caused by damage from heat styling, over chemically processing or color treating your hair, and the climate or environment you’re in. High porosity hair is characterized by loosely held cuticles/ cuticles with gaps which allow for easy movement of moisture and products in and out of your hair shaft making it prone to dryness. While you cannot completely change your hereditary hair type, it is possible over time to improve your hair’s health by following a few rules. Oils, butters, and silicones are not a good option for low porosity hair, use only light, refreshing sprays and shampoos without moisturizers. While prevention will have biggest impact, you can take steps to improve the appearance of high-porosity hair, says Onuoha. Leave-in conditioners can help smooth out your hair's cuticle, and bond-building treatments temporarily repair damage, she notes.
Cleansing shampoo
This hair type can be easily styled, and products are absorbed at a moderate rate. Low porosity hair has a tightly packed cuticle layer that resists moisture absorption. Water tends to bead up on the surface of low porosity hair, making it difficult to fully saturate the hair with water or hair products. This can result in product buildup and difficulty in getting nutrients and moisture into the hair shaft. You should also add a moisture shampoo and conditioner into your rotation.
High Porosity Hair Care
Over time, this damage can permanently leave holes in your hair cuticle, which will result in higher porosity hair. Different porosities require different care, and making sure they get it is the secret to healthy, beautiful curls. It is possible to have different levels of porosity within your curly hair, especially if you are transitioning to natural hair. "Hair porosity" essentially refers to how well or poorly your hair absorbs and retains moisture. This is important as your hair's porosity is an indicator of its health.
Products with heavy oils and butters will have difficulty penetrating the cuticle and tend to weigh hair down, leaving an unpleasant greasy residue. Before you start overhauling your haircare routine, you’ll need to determine if you have low, medium, or high porosity hair. I’ll outline a simple at-home hair porosity test so you can easily identify your level of hair porosity and select the product lineup that is best for you. We now know that genetics is a key player in determining whether you have low or high hair porosity, so it can’t easily be changed. However, a comprehensive haircare routine tailored to your specific porosity level can help improve the manageability of your hair will making it appear healthy, shiny, and smooth. When dealing with closed-off cuticles, you'll need products that can penetrate stubborn strands to deliver some much-needed moisture.
For people with high porosity hair, the hair cuticle is compromised in some way. The twists in curly or coiled hair can disrupt the layers of cells. The more curly or coiled the hair fibers are, the more disrupted the cuticle may be. Other things that can damage your hair cuticle and lead to porous hair include chemical treatments, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and even basic grooming like brushing and combing your hair. For the rest of your haircare, look for water-based products with lower protein to ensure that the product can be absorbed easily, especially since those with low porosity tend to have product buildup. Furthermore, she recommends applying products in direct heat to open up the hair and allow products to penetrate.
What Type of Hair Porosity Do You Have?
What Is Hair Porosity? - POPSUGAR
What Is Hair Porosity?.
Posted: Mon, 21 Oct 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
If it feels smooth with slight texture, you have medium porosity hair. This may be more difficult to discern if you have a finer hair type, but those with coarser hair may find it another effect test. With medium or normal porosity hair, the cuticles aren’t too close together, but aren’t too open either. This allows moisture to penetrate easily, and it also makes it easier to retain moisture for a longer period of time.
Best Protein Treatments for Damaged Hair
A Guide to Understanding How to Treat Low Porosity Hair - ELLE
A Guide to Understanding How to Treat Low Porosity Hair.
Posted: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]
However, if your hair floats in the glass for a lengthy period of time before sinking, you probably have low porosity hair. High hair porosity may be due to genes or specific hair treatments. Processing your hair or styling your hair like straightening, blow-drying, bleaching or using other chemical applications can all lead to high porosity hair. Hair with “normal” levels of porosity will absorb 75% of the maximum water possible within four minutes.
Chemical damage can result from harsh hair treatments and colorants, such as perms, relaxers, dyes, and bleach. "If you have a straw and put holes in it, you can take in the liquid easily, but you can't retain the liquid. Once you take it out of the liquid, it's all going to run out of the straw." So, to better understand what hair porosity means, how you can determine which type you have, and how to cater to it, we tapped three experts. Below, they break down everything there is to know about porosity so you can achieve your best hair ever. When conditioning your hair, apply gentle heat to help open the cuticle. If you don’t have any of these tools on hand, you can cover your hair with a shower cap once you’ve applied your conditioner to build up some heat.
When the cuticle is lifted, moisture can easily enter the hair shaft. Hair porosity is an excellent indicator of your hair care routine, which you have to consider. If it floats, you have low porosity hair; if it sinks quickly, opt for hair care for high porosity hair. How frizzy your hair is, does not have much to do with whether you have low or high porosity hair.
When this happens, the thread is not moisturized enough, and it will frizz, tangle, and look dry even if you applied nourishing products. Send your Q to for a chance to have it featured in a future installment of Hair Health Hotline. "Oils are the best way to lock moisture into your hair. Argan oil, jojoba oil, and other oil blends help to seal moisture." This goes for products as well which will take long to absorb, increasing the probability of product build-up.
Low porosity hair, with its closed cuticles, is better equipped to resist such frizz. A hydrating or moisturizing product like PATTERN’s Hydration Shampoo will properly cleanse your hair without stripping strands of its natural oils. The other test is the spray bottle test where you spray water on a section of your hair. Genetics is the most significant culprit that causes low porosity of hair. High porosity hair, on the other hand, can also sometimes be hereditary. More often, however, it is developed over time by treating hair with chemicals like bleach, hair color, and other chemicals.
If you're lucky enough to have medium porosity hair, Groover recommends a deep conditioning mask to maintain your hair health. "Incorporating deep conditioners in your regimen to maintain hair health and increase product absorption is key to achieving the best styling results," says Groover. Choosing the right products for low vs high porosity hair is a nuanced process deeply rooted in understanding each hair type’s unique characteristics and needs. With its tightly bound cuticles, low porosity hair requires lightweight shampoo and condtioner, water-based products and light oils that hydrate without causing buildup.
We recommend frequently using a protein conditioner or a protein mask, like once a week or once every two weeks. The high amount of protein found in eggs will give extra love and strength to your strands. Now that we know what each porosity type is, here are a few key differences between low and high porosity hair. As a result, it absorbs a good amount of moisture and can maintain it. On a positive note, this hair easily absorbs products and is less likely to have product build-up.
You might’ve heard the term “hair porosity” used within the natural hair community, but maybe there’s more to learn. Knowing what type of hair porosity you have is going to be a game changer in elevating your hair care routine and maintaining the look and feel of your curl pattern. The slow absorption of products makes it prone to product build up. When dealing with low porosity hair use light weight and liquid based products that will get absorbed quickly. With high porosity hair you’ll need creamy and heavier products especially leave-in conditioners and sealants to keep moisture locked in for longer.
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