Hair porosity refers to how well your hair absorbs and retains moisture. It therefore determines the ease or difficulty with which you will be able to moisturize your hair and keep it shiny and healthy. This is a very important characteristic that you must take into account if your hair is frizzy or curly. Indeed, the latter are naturally dry and the care to be given to them will be different according to their porosity. In this article, we are going to see what hair porosity is, how to determine your porosity level, and how to take care of your hair according to its porosity. We will also give you some tips for choosing the right hair care products.
Curly hair porosity test: how to do it?
How do you know how porous your hair is? There are several ways to determine hair porosity. One of them consists in carrying out a test thanks to drops of water. After shampooing, put a few drops of water on your hair. If the water beads up and does not penetrate, you have very porous hair. If water spreads quickly and easily through your hair, you have high porosity hair.
You can also perform the glass of water test. This popular test is very simple to perform. To do this:
- Take a section of hair and place it in a transparent glass of water. The wick must not be covered with products, which could distort the result.
- Place the hair on the surface of the water
- Observe for a few minutes.
If the hair floats on the surface of the water, you have low porosity hair. Their main characteristic is that the cuticle has closed scales and does not allow water to penetrate easily. If it stagnates in the middle, your hair is said to be of medium porosity. It is "normal" hair that has no special needs. Finally if it sinks to the bottom, they are very porous. It is most often hair damaged by external aggressions.
How to take care of your hair according to its porosity?
Our tips for low porosity hair care
If you have low porosity hair, it's because it has trouble absorbing water. Light hydration will not be enough and your hair will tend to remain dry and greasy. Indeed, the products you apply on it will remain outside the hair fiber. This does not nourish or hydrate the hair in depth. If you want to avoid this and have beautiful, long hair, you must use suitable products. Opt for products that will help your hair absorb moisture, such as vegetable glycerin and honey which are humectants. They absorb water for optimal hydration. To achieve this, it is recommended to use a deep conditioner and apply it to your hair for at least thirty minutes. You can also use a leave-in conditioner or serum to seal in moisture for shiny, bouncy hair.
The thing to remember here is that the penetration time is longer than on more porous hair. It is advisable to leave the products on for a long time in order to improve their effectiveness. You can choose to use heat before applying the treatment to open the scales. This can be done using a heated cap or helmet. Also prefer light vegetable oils like coconut oil.
The choice of products for high porosity hair
If your hair is very porous, it's important to use products that help seal in moisture. The hair here easily absorbs moisture, but does not retain it permanently. The hair is therefore very dry, damaged and brittle. We recommend that you avoid using hot tools and chemical straightening or straightening products, which can further damage your hair. Prioritize the regular use of a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, as well as deep treatments.
Products with a high keratin content will be the allies of your porous hair. They will repair the fiber weakened by the lack of hydration. To close the scales of the hair and trap the hydration provided, you can proceed to a final rinse with cold water or diluted cider vinegar at the end of your washing session. Consider sealing in moisture with plant-based oils and butters such as shea butter and avocado oil.