Determine Your Hairs Porosity and Master Your Hair Regimen

No two curl, coil or kink patterns are exactly the same, not even on the same head of hair, so in order to get the most out of your hair its important to determine your hair porosity. Understanding your hairs porosity will help you with product selection and regimen orders.

What is hair porosity?

Hair porosity simply refers to your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture, and here are three ways to determine where yours falls on the porosity spectrum: low, normal or high.

#1 – THE STRAND TEST

Gently stretch a tiny section of curl strands from different areas of your head – front hairline, nape, crown, and temple. Place the stretched curl between your thumb and finger and slide it up the hair strand from the tip towards the scalp. If your fingers move easily up the strand and it feels dense and hard, you have low porosity hair. If it feels smooth, you have normal porosity hair. And if the strand feels rough or dry or it breaks, you have high porosity hair.

#2 – THE SHEDDING HAIR TEST

Another way to check your hair porosity is to drop hair that’s been shed as a result of combing into a glass of water. If it floats, your hair is low porosity. If your hair sinks slowly, it has normal porosity, and if it sinks immediately, your hair is high porosity.

#3 – THE H20 TEST

To determine your hair porosity level using water, spritz a small section of curls with water and watch how your hair reacts – does your hair absorb the water quickly (indicating high porosity) or does it remain on top (indicating a low porosity level)?

While these three tests are good places to start in determining your hair porosity-level, there are other tell-tale signs you should look out for:

Characteristics of Low Porosity Curly Hair

• Curls take a long time to dry.
• Products tend to build-up on curls rather than absorb.
• Natural oils don’t readily penetrate, but rather sit on your hair.
• Curls take much longer to get fully saturated when you wet them.

Characteristics of Normal Porosity Curly Hair

• Curls are full of bounce and elasticity.
• Requires very little maintenance.
• Easily accepts and retains moisture inside the cuticle.
• Holds styles well and can be colored with good results.

Characteristics of High Porosity Curly Hair

• Curls easily absorb water, however, it requires more products.
• Curls often look and feel dry.
• Curls are often frizzy.
• Curls dry quickly.

Now that you’ve got the information on low, normal and high porosity hair, it’s time to get armed with the right care for your hair. Stay tuned for my next post where I discuss how to care for each porosity type.

source