The road to the perfect hair care routine is not easy. Expensive shampoos that do nothing for your hair or heavy styling products that cause your hairstyle to sag can be incredibly frustrating. If you can’t remember where to look, it can help to determine your hair porosity. In fact, this is the perfect guideline for discovering what products your hair really needs.
Hair porosity
We can all recognize the difference between hair textures, but chances are you’ve never heard of hair porosity. Hair porosity refers to your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture, products, nutrients and humidity. It’s important to know about your hair’s porosity so that you can choose the right products for optimal hydration-and therefore healthy locks!
Hair properties
Among other things, hair porosity is related to the texture of your hair. Whether your hair is curly, wavy or straight, each hair type needs different care to stay healthy. Both hair texture and porosity are mainly determined by your genes, which affect the overall shape and size of your hair cuticles. So you can improve the porosity of your hair with proper care, but also worsen it through the use of heat or other harmful treatments.
Different types of hair porosity
Hair porosity can be divided into three categories: low, medium and high porosity. Each type needs different care and requires different products to keep your hair optimally healthy and your hair texture as beautiful as possible.
Low porosity means that the cuticle of the hair is so tightly packed that the hair has difficulty absorbing moisture or other nourishing ingredients. Usually the hair needs extra help with this in the form of masks. You can recognize low porosity hair by a long drying time, sometimes more than eight hours, it has difficulty absorbing products and it appears as if they remain on the surface of your hair. It also takes a long time for your hair to get completely wet while showering.
Hair with medium porosity – also called normal porosity – is considered the ideal balance. It means the hair can absorb and retain moisture in a healthy way, and the cuticle layers are not too tightly stacked or damaged. Your hair is often easy to style and long-lasting, looks healthy and shiny and absorbs products well.
In high-porosity hair, the cuticle layers are usually damaged. This is often due to heat tools such as curling or straightening irons, or hair dye. The cracks in the cuticle layers mean that although moisture is easily absorbed, it will also be difficult to retain. You can recognize high porosity hair because it absorbs water and other moisturizing products quickly, you have split ends or broken hair quickly, it feels dry and frizzy and dries quickly in the air.
Determining hair porosity
Determining your hair porosity can be quite a challenge. Fortunately, there is a simple test you can do to get a better idea of what category your hair falls into:
Take a few loose hairs that are clean, washed and free of products (preferably ones you’ve naturally lost from different parts of your head), and drop them into a glass of water.
If they sink to the bottom, you have hair with high porosity. If they float, you have hair with low porosity. If they stick in the middle, you have hair with normal porosity.
Hair care
Now that you have determined the porosity of your hair, you can figure out what care your hair needs. Each type has its own needs, and by using the right products, you can get the most out of your hair!
Low porosity hair benefits from light products, as heavy, thick products stay on the hair and can weigh your hair down, leading to an unpleasant, greasy build-up. To prevent this build-up, you can use a clarifying shampoo. These types of shampoos help to open your hair cuticles and let in moisture while removing accumulated products, grease and oils.
Medium porous hair is generally easy to care for because of the good balance in the hair cuticles. Moisture easily penetrates your hair, and the cuticles are closed enough to actually hold the moisture. Therefore, focus on maintaining your healthy hair with mild shampoos, conditioners and possibly masks.
High-porosity hair is often dry and does not retain moisture well. Therefore, choose nourishing products that penetrate deep into your hair and moisturize well. Your hair can also benefit from products with protein; these strengthen your hair and help it retain moisture longer.
Are you blessed with normal porosity, or want to prevent it from decreasing further? Then try to avoid heat and use a nourishing mask once a week. Shampoos without sulfates can also help keep your hair healthy, as can a pre-wash treatment.