Have you ever heard someone refer to their hair as being porous? Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to retain moisture and products. But what exactly does that mean? Think of it this way: your hair’s porosity is its thirst level. Let’s dig deep into the three types of hair porosities and how you can test your own hair porosity.
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Hair Porosity Types
Hair porosity falls into three categories: low, medium, and high. Basically, low-porosity hair won’t absorb moisture as easily as someone with highly porous locks. Just like figuring out your hair type, understanding your hair’s porosity level directly influences the way you take care of your hair.
What Is Low Porosity Hair?
If you’re someone who rocks low porosity hair, then your strands are like a bouncer at a club. Moisture doesn’t get in under certain circumstances. After wash day, you probably notice that your hair takes a really really really long time to dry. This is because your cuticles are shut so tight that water has a hard time making an entrance. But don’t worry—we’ve got the secret password.
Using curl-safe shampoos and conditioners, along with a nourishing moisturizing hair mask will help keep your thirsty hair hydrated. Plus, your strands will welcome moisture with open cuticles when you do weekly steam treatments.
What Is Medium Porosity Hair?
This is the happy medium of hair porosity. Your hair welcomes moisture but doesn’t go overboard. Medium porosity has no problem absorbing and retaining moisture, but be wary of excessive heat styling and color treatments.
Products like curl cream and weekly deep conditioning treatments keep medium porosity moisturized and balanced without smothering those strands.
What Is High Porosity Hair?
High porosity is the hostess of the moisture party. Its cuticles are wide open, welcoming any moisture that comes knocking. That said, highly porous hair may let moisture go as soon as it gets it. This type of hair porosity benefits from a lot of moisturizing and hydrating treatments.
Opt for leave-in moisturizers and products containing anti-humectants for frizz control.
Hair Porosity Tests: Testing 1-2-3
Alright, let’s get to the fun part: the hair porosity test. It’s like a personality test for your locks. There are a few ways to do this, so let’s go through them one by one.
The Glass of Water Test
Take a single strand of your hair, and place it into a glass of water. If your hair floats to the top, your hair is in low porosity territory. If it sinks, you likely have highly porous hair. If it settles anywhere in the middle, then your hair falls anywhere between the low and high categories.
The Spray Bottle Test
Grab a small section of your hair, and give it a good spritz. If the water beads up, then you have low-porosity hair. If it’s absorbed like a cold glass of water on a hot summer day, then you have high-porosity hair. Anything else falls into the medium porosity category.
The Strand Test
Take a strand of your hair and run your fingers up it. If you feel small textured bumps along the way, then you may have high porosity. If it’s smooth, then you probably have low porosity with a water-tight cuticle.
Hair Products for All Porosity Types
No matter where you fall on the porosity scale, AFAM has got your strands covered. From hydrating serums to curl-defining creams, we carry everything you need to personalize your hair care routine. Rock those locks, and shop our entire collection of curl-safe hair products.