Natural Hair Porosity: Everything you need to know about it.

Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb,and hold moisture. Genetics, exposure to heat, and chemically processing your hair all affect your hair’s porosity. Knowing your hair porosity helps you figure out what products to use, and how much maintenance your hair requires. It also helps when figuring out what hair methods to use and if you’re like me, what natural hair influencers to follow.

Types of Hair Porosity
Hair porosity can be categorized into three types; low, medium/normal, and high.

Low Porosity
– tightly sealed cuticles
– harder to get moisture in
– takes longer to dry

Medium/Normal Porosity
– normal cuticles
– absorbs and retains moisture
– curls have elasticity and bounce

High Porosity
– opened cuticles
– moisture is easy to absorb and hard to retain
– hair is frizzy, and dry

Porosity also tells you how to layer your products. For example, someone with high porosity hair should use the LOC Method when applying products. Because high porosity hair dries out quickly, you want to apply your moisture, use an oil to seal it in, then add an additional layer of moisture. Someone with low porosity should use the LCO Method because once that moisture is in, all you have to do is seal it. For more info on the LCO and LOC method, click here.

To learn you hair’s porosity, you can do the water test on clean hair. Get a glass, fill it with water, and add a strand of hair (freshly washed) to the water. If it floats, you have low porosity hair. If it sinks, you have high porosity hair. If it kind of stays in the center of the glass, you have medium/normal porosity. Below is a visual of the test.

You can also try the spray test. Section your hair and spray one section. If you can see beads of water just sitting on top of your hair, you have low porosity hair. If your hair instantly absorbs the water, you probably have high porosity hair.

What is your natural hair porosity? Comment down below with any tips you may have for your porosity type!

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Chantal

Hi, I’m Chantal. I’m a mom of two, self proclaimed naturalista, and Author of Growing Girls With Curls: Short Stories For Girls of Color. Being a mom is hard. Pair that with being a single, black, millennial in America and it’s a whole different monster. Feel free to join my mailing list and follow along as I blog through this crazy thing called life.