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.

All about hair porosity

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.

Hair porosity 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.

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3 Comments

  1. Louise
    May 14, 2020 / 9:57 pm

    Hi Chantal, hope you are well and staying safe ? I am natural now and I have 4b/4c texture . My hair does not break easily which makes it strong and coarse. In addition, it gets dry quickly . I want to soften it because I can’t manage it . Do you have any recommendations I can use please ?

    • Chantal
      Author
      May 15, 2020 / 10:24 pm

      Hi Louise,

      Thank you so much for reading my blog. It’s sounds like you need to use heavier products. Thicker creams and oils will keep your hair moisturized longer. What products are you currently using?

      • Louise
        May 22, 2020 / 6:18 am

        Hey Chantal, yes it is a really good blog ! Thank you so much . Ooo will try that and see. I use argon oil shampoo and leave in conditioner, or hair mayonnaise ors conditioner. At times I use head and shoulders shampoo . What shampoos, conditioner and oils should I use please ?