How to Work With Your Hair’s Porosity

What is Hair Porosity?

One of my lovely readers recently asked me how she could manage her low porosity hair. To be honest, I haven’t really paid much attention to low porosity hair because I think my hair is high porosity. I decided to do a little bit more reading on hair porosity.

First up, a brief definition.

Hair porosity is a measure of how easy it is for your hair to absorb and retain moisture. Hair porosity is usually classified into 3 categories: high, medium/normal and low porosities.

1. High porosity hair: This type of hair absorbs moisture easily. However, it doesn’t retain it for a long time. You can develop high porosity hair as a result of some of the following: relaxers, hair dyes, excessive combing or brushing, heat appliances, etc. High porosity hair often feels dry because it cannot retain moisture.
2. Low porosity hair: This type of hair takes a longer time to absorb moisture but retains it easily. This hair type often feels dry because it doesn’t absorb moisture very readily. The good thing is that when it does absorb moisture, it retains it better than other hair types.
3. Normal/medium porosity hair: This category falls somewhere in between high and low porosity hair. It absorbs moisture fairly easily and also tends to retain it well.

You should also note that:

Even though your hair may be predominantly one type of porosity, some strands would be a different porosity. Secondly, one strand may be one porosity at the roots and another at the ends. For example, I think my hair is mostly high porosity but there might be some normal porosity strands. I have also noticed that my roots are normal porosity but my ends are high porosity. Hair care can be so confusing!

Determining Your Hair’s Porosity

You should know your hair porosity because it will really help you understand how to take better care of your hair. What works for high porosity hair will probably not work for low porosity and vice versa.

Today’s topic will center on determining your hair porosity.

Hair porosity can be genetic or acquired.

Genetic: This means that you might be born with low, normal or high porosity hair. It doesn’t matter if you have thick or fine hair strands. Fine hair strands could be low porosity and thick hair strands,  on the other hand, could also be high porosity. 

Acquired: Chemical damage, mechanical damage (e.g excessive brushing), heat damage, etc. might cause changes in your hair porosity.

If your hair is not chemically treated (dyes or relaxers), it is possible your hair is low porosity. This does not mean that people with relaxed hair cannot have low porosity hair though.

1. Strand smoothness test. 

The most basic way is to take a hair strand and run your fingers up the shaft (from the tip to the root). If it feels rough, it is likely you have high porosity hair. On the other hand, if it feels smooth, it is most likely that you have normal to low porosity hair.

2. The float/sink test. 

After thoroughly cleansing your hair (using any method of your choice) and before adding any product, take any of your clean shed hair strands and put them in a glass of room temperature water. Watch what happens over the next 4 minutes to see if the strands float or sink. If the strands sink immediately, then your hair is probably high porosity. If it sinks gradually over the next 4 minutes, then your hair is probably normal porosity. If it stays floating when the time is up, then it is quite likely that your hair is low porosity. It is best to use clean hair because if you use hair that has product on it, it might not sink even though your hair is high porosity.

3. How long it takes for your hair to dry. 

Wash your hair and towel dry it to remove the excess water. Don’t leave the towel for longer than 5 minutes. Add no oils or products afterward and note how long it takes for your hair to air dry. Don’t do any braids or twists. Open up your hair if you know what I mean. If it takes less than 2 hours, then it is likely you have high porosity hair. Normal porosity hair would dry in approximately  3 – 6 hours. Low porosity hair will take longer than 7 – 8 hours to dry or even the whole day.

Take note: I think that although the time it takes your hair to dry is largely dependent on porosity, the thickness of your strands and hair density can also play a significant role. 

Have you ever checked your hair porosity? Do you think it’s high, low or normal? I’ve never really checked mine before but I’m going to do that on my next wash day and give you an update. 

I’ll be continuing this series soon with how to manage low porosity hair. 

How to Work With Your Hair’s Porosity: Low Porosity Hair

What is low porosity hair? 

Low porosity hair doesn’t absorb water very readily and therefore has a tendency to feel dry. This feeling of dryness might make people with low porosity hair to pile on hair products in an effort to moisturize and soften it. Unfortunately, the product sits on the hair strands instead of being absorbed by the hair, and this can result in product buildup. Low porosity hair is also relatively more resistant to chemical treatments than other hair types.

The good thing about low porosity hair, however, is that when it does absorb water, it is able to retain it for longer than high and normal porosity hair types.

Managing low porosity hair

Now, that we understand what low porosity hair is and how to know if you have it, let’s talk about how to manage it. There are four  principles you need to put it into consideration when dealing with low hair porosity:

1. Avoiding/limiting use of products that increase your hair’s porosity.
2. Using absorbent oils.
3. Getting low porosity hair to absorb moisture (very important).
4. Retaining moisture.
5. Taking into consideration the thickness of your strands: fine, normal or coarse.

Avoiding/limiting use of products that decrease your hair’s porosity

1. You might need to stay away from coconut oil and maybe coconut derivatives like coconut milk. When you use products containing these ingredients, observe how your hair responds.
2. Protein-containing products. These can cause your hair to harden. Use with caution. If/when you do want to do a protein treatment, use products containing hydrolyzed keratin, hydrolyzed wheat protein and/or silk amino acids.
3. Avoid the use of very low pH products like apple cider vinegar which can seal your cuticles and reduce product absorption.

Using absorbent oils

Do a pre-shampoo (pre-poo) treatment using absorbent oils such as olive or avocado oil. Although coconut oil is absorbent, use with caution because it might harden your hair because of its protein-like characteristics.

Getting low porosity hair to absorb moisture 

1. Clarify your hair at least once a month and shampoo your hair thoroughly on each wash day. This helps to remove any product buildup and encourage absorption of any further products to be applied.
2. Water down your deep conditioner to increase absorption.
3. Deep condition with heat. This also helps increase product absorption. If you don’t do this, you might have product just sitting on top of your hair strands. Using steam has a added benefit of moisturizing your hair while providing heat.
4. Home-made deep conditioners using bananas. Bananas are highly moisturizing.  Make sure you blend as smoothly as possible or just use baby food.
5. If your hair is not protein-sensitive, you can use products containing hydrolyzed wheat protein which has a dual function of strengthening and moisturizing you’d hair simultaneously.
6. Use humectants in your deep conditioners and in leave-in products. Humectants attract and preserve moisture. Examples include aloe vera gel, vegetable glycerine, agave nectar, molasses and honey, flaxseed gel (linseed) or okra gel (homemade), pectin, hydroxyethylcellulose, marshmallow root, slippery elm, panthenol, xanthan gum, glycine betaine (beet extract, sugar cane extract), seaweed extract or Irish moss extract. Another not so natural example is propylene glycol. Although egg yolk and egg whites are said to be humectants, use with caution if your hair is low porosity.
7. Use light-weight leave-in conditioners and moisturizers.
8. Apply your leave-in products on damp hair. Just squeeze out the excess water and apply your leave-ins. Don’t apply to hair that has started to dry. Rewet your hair again with water if this has happened.
9. ‘Baggying’ your hair can help increase product absorption. What this means is covering your hair with a plastic cap after applying your leave-in conditioner or hair moisturizer. Leave the cap on for about 30 minutes to 2 hours or more, depending on how quickly your hair absorbs the moisture.

Retaining moisture 

1. Use a hydrating spray to refresh your hair in between wash days. As much as possible, ensure it contains humectants like I mentioned in the preceding section.
2. Seal with light to moderately heavy oils depending on the thickness of your hair strands. If your strands are fine, then seal with light oils like jojoba or grapeseed oils. If you have normal or coarse hair, you can seal with moderately dense oils like sunflower, apricot kernel and sweet almond oils. Argan oil can be used by fine and coarse hair strands. Very dense oils like castor oil might sit on your strands. The same goes for heavy butters like shea butter. Use them lightly because they might end up sitting on your strands. The only time you should use heavy oils or butters is when they are mixed into a conditioner or when doing a style (e.g twists, braids, etc). Don’t apply oil to your hair if it is not adequately moisturized.

Product recommendation

I took my time to read the ingredients of each of the products below and I think they should be good for low porosity hair. They are mostly protein and coconut oil-free.

1. Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in conditioner
2. Blue Roze Beauty Pumpkin Puree leave-in/moisturizer
3. Blue Roze Beauty Toasted Marshmallows moisturizer
4. Bel Nuovo Avocado shea healthy hair milk
5. Camille Rose Naturals Curl Love Moisture Milk
6. Karen’s Body Beautiful Hair Blossom Moisture Mist
7. Curl Junkie BeautiCurls Leave-in Hair Conditioner
8. Curls Curl Ecstasy Hair Tea Conditioner
9. Alikay Naturals Honey and Sage Deep Conditioner
10. Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Moisturizing Hair Treatment- Strawberry Ice Cream
11. Jessicurl Too Shea! Extra Moisturizing Conditioner
12. Trader Joe’s Balance Moisturizing Nourish Spa Conditioner
13. Kinky Curly Tiny Twirls Conditioner
14. Bel Nuovo Avocado & Shea Healthy Hair Conditioner (contains hydrolyzed wheat protein)
15. Jessicurl Deep Conditioning Treatment
16. Blue Roze Beauty Strawberry Hibiscus Deep Conditioner (If you have fine hair, this should be okay but might be too light for more coarse strands).
17. Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai twisting butter
18. Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai twisting butter
19. Camille Rose Naturals Aloe Whipped Butter Hair Gel
20. Shea Moisture Baobab & Tea Tree Oils Low Porosity Protein-Free Shampoo
21. Shea Moisture Baobab & Tea Tree Oils Low Porosity Protein-Free Conditioner
22. Shea Moisture Baobab & Tea Tree Oils Low Porosity Protein-Free leave-in detangler

Do take note that these are just recommendations. The ultimate determinant is how your hair responds to a particular product or ingredient.  For example, a product that is geared towards high porosity hair might work better for your low porosity hair and vice versa. Learn how to read your hair by keeping a journal. Secondly, don’t introduce too many products at the same time so that you can track your hair’s reaction to each product.

How to Maintain Hair With High Porosity

When I first started to grow my hair, I discovered that even when I deep conditioned my hair, it felt dry afterward! This was when I discovered there was something called high porosity hair!

Porosity with regards to hair refers to its ability to absorb water or chemicals deep into its cuticle layers and cortex. The degree of your hair’s porosity determines how much it can absorb. If your hair has low/poor porosity, it means that your hair does not readily absorb moisture and chemicals.

On the other hand, if your hair can soak up water but never feels moisturized, it means that your hair has high porosity. If it feels or appears puffy or frizzy, it might also have high porosity. Sources say that high porous hair is a result of the overuse of heat on the hair, over processing with chemicals, excess sunlight, shampoos with sodium lauryl sulfate and similar chemicals; mechanical damage from excessive use of combs and brushes; etc

I started using Porosity Control Corrector and Conditioner after shampooing my hair and before I deep conditioned. It did help a little because my hair felt a bit softer when it dried. As my hair has grown longer and there is less damage now, I haven’t used it in a while but if you’re just starting your hair journey, you might get some benefits from using a porosity control conditioner.

Other things that can help you if you think your hair might be porous might be to:

1. use a protein conditioner. Proteins help to fill in gaps along the hair shaft and make it stronger. [Don’t overuse protein though because it might make your hair too hard!]
2. seal your hair with a moderately heavy oil e.g avocado oil or jojoba oil.
3. avoid the precipitating factors that I listed above and over time, you will notice a difference in your hair!