What is one thing I wish I knew before going natural? One word. Porosity.
Porosity is your hair’s ability to retain and absorb moisture. If you have low porosity hair that means your hair is moisture resistant. If you have high porosity hair that means your hair allows moisture in easily.
How do I figure out my hair porosity?
You can do the float test using a cup of water and a few strands of hair from your brush when you detangle. Drop the strands into the cup of water and let them sit for about 2-4 minutes. After the hair sits in the water you want to check and see if it is floating or if it sinks. If it sinks you have low porosity hair. If it floats you have high porosity hair!
I do want to warn that there are things that can affect the float test. You will want to test using clean, product-free hair. Gather your sample immediately after washing and allow it to dry before testing.
Another way to test is to run your finger up and down a dry stand of hair. If it feels smooth, you likely have low porosity hair. A rougher, snagged feel indicated highly porous hair.
What does it mean to have low porosity hair?
If you have low porosity hair this means your hair doesn’t easily allow moisture to be absorbed by the hair shaft. If you have low porosity hair you may find that your hair dries quickly. If this is true, you want to make sure you always pre-poo, deep condition, and seal your ends with oil.
Try to avoid all products with protein. Low porosity hair is protein sensitive and naturally contains too much protein within its structure. Adding additional protein to the hair strands will cause breakage. Lastly, you want to make sure you protect your hair with satin, avoiding cotton or other fabrics that will pull moisture from the hair.
What is high porosity hair?
High porosity hair has holes and gaps in the cuticle layer, which allows moisture in easily. You will need to deep condition regularly and use heavier moisturizers and sealant butters.
If you have high porosity hair, your stands do not contain a lot of protein. Therefore, it is ideal to use products that contain protein and aloe vera juice. You also want to make sure you use gentle cleansers and apple cider vinegar rinses to bring your hair PH back to normal.
What if my porosity is somewhere in the middle?
If you are somewhere in the middle then you have medium porosity hair. This means your hair allows the right amount of moisture in and out. Your hair does not suffer from severe dryness and will require very little maintenance in between styles.
What affects hair porosity?
There are lots of things that can alter your hair porosity, making it more porous. Any damage to the cuticle will increase the porosity of your hair.
- Chemicals
- Heat
- Bleaching and coloring
- Exposure to the sun and pollution
- Products
If you have porous hair naturally, you will want to avoid excess heat and chemically altering your hair with relaxers or texturizers. You will also want to avoid lightening your hair and excess exposure to the sun and pollution.
As you can see, it is important to know the porosity of your hair so that you can select the appropriate products, especially when selecting your leave-in and deep conditioners. You want to avoid damage, protect your hair, and use products that work well with the porosity of your hair.
I hope this was helpful. If you would like a product list for each porosity type leave a comment below!