What comes to mind when you hear the words, “hair porosity”?
If you’re thinking about pores in your face or perhaps the porous nature of a sponge, you’d be correct.
SO, WHAT IS HAIR POROSITY?
Hair porosity is a fairly simple concept. It refers to your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture.
This is determined by the condition of your cuticle, the protective outer layer of your hair that’s made up of overlapping cells.
As you can see above, the cells of your cuticle may lay flat, be spread far apart or fall somewhere in the middle.
Hence, we have three categories: low porosity, medium porosity and high porosity.
WHAT AFFECTS HAIR POROSITY?
Thick or thin, curly or straight, your hair type is not necessarily indicative of your hair’s porosity.
Things that do affect hair porosity include genetics and external factors like: chemical processing, heat damage and UV exposure.
HOW TO DETERMINE YOUR HAIR POROSITY
To test for porosity, simply grab a clear glass and fill with water.
You’ll want to do this with clean hair, as product buildup can affect your results.
Brush your hair first to retrieve any shedding hairs, then take one and place it in the cup of water.
Low porosity hair will float at the top, medium porosity hair will initially float and then slowly sink and high porosity hair will immediately sink to the bottom of the glass.
It’s really important to understand your hair’s porosity to ensure you are using products that will most benefit your hair.
Let’s delve into each of the three hair porosity categories and their specific needs:
Low Porosity Hair
Despite being healthy, this type of hair has a very closed cuticle which means it’s difficult for your hair to take on and retain moisture.
When you use products, they have a tendency to sit on the surface and weigh your hair down.
You also may notice that when you wash your hair, it takes longer than normal to become fully saturated with water.
Things to Avoid: Heavy oils and keratin protein which can contribute to excess buildup on the hair.
To test for porosity, simply grab a clear glass and fill with water.
You’ll want to do this with clean hair, as product buildup can affect your results.
Brush your hair first to retrieve any shedding hairs, then take one and place it in the cup of water.
Low porosity hair will float at the top, medium porosity hair will initially float and then slowly sink and high porosity hair will immediately sink to the bottom of the glass.
It’s really important to understand your hair’s porosity to ensure you are using products that will most benefit your hair.
Let’s delve into each of the three hair porosity categories and their specific needs:
Low Porosity Hair
Despite being healthy, this type of hair has a very closed cuticle which means it’s difficult for your hair to take on and retain moisture.
When you use products, they have a tendency to sit on the surface and weigh your hair down.
You also may notice that when you wash your hair, it takes longer than normal to become fully saturated with water.
Things to Avoid: Heavy oils and keratin protein which can contribute to excess buildup on the hair.
High Porosity Hair
You’ll most likely notice that with this hair type, your strands are rough, dry and prone to frizz or breakage.
High porosity hair has a significantly raised cuticle which makes it easy to attract moisture, but difficult to keep it.
To help combat the dryness and breakage, you’ll want to select products that hydrate and help fortify your hair.
Things to Avoid: Anything drying that zaps moisture from your strands.
TO SUM IT UP
Hair porosity is something that affects all of us. Knowing your hair’s porosity will enable you to make the best decisions when it comes to caring for your hair.
We hope these tips will help you achieve your hair goals!
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