Your hair is your crowning glory. You take care of it by washing and conditioning it, using the best styling products you know of to achieve the look you desire, and maybe by throwing in a special treatment to give your strands a boost in the right direction. You might know what products to use for hair based on the styles from popular magazines and makeover shows, but do you really know your hair and what it truly needs? To better understand what you need for an impeccable head of hair, you need to first understand your hair porosity. Then you should be able to choose the best products for your individual needs.
What is hair porosity?
Porosity can be defined as your hairs ability to accept and hold on to moisture. Moisture is everything if you want an amazing head of hair. Without the proper moisture your delicate strands need, they can become more prone to frizz, dryness, and breakage. When you understand your hair’s porosity, you can choose the proper hair care products to create the perfect do’ and enhance the health of your hair.
Types of Porosity
There are three types of hair porosity: Low, Normal, and High. You can naturally have a particular type of porosity, but constant hair manipulation can cause your hair to become more or less porous.
Low Porosity
Do you find yourself trying to saturate your hair with water longer than most people? If you walk through a mist of water, do you see water beaded up on your hair like flakes of snow? If so, then you most definitely have low porosity hair. This hair type is prone to products sitting on top of the hair instead of absorbing and tends to be on the drier side. This is due to the fact that your hair cuticles lie flat and are not lifted to accept much needed moisture. Oddly enough, your hair will take a long time to dry once it is fully saturated with water. Why? Because once water is able to finally penetrate the cuticle, the cuticle closes again trapping moisture.
Since this type of hair is the most delicate, it is important for the person to hydrate properly. Using water-soluble products is best and try to avoid heavy oils and products. Deep conditioning is a must for a lush, hydrated head of hair so make sure you deep condition with heat (such as with a hooded dryer, heat cap, etc.) to lift up your hair cuticles so the conditioner can penetrate effectively.
Normal (Medium) Porosity
If you have normal hair porosity, you are the envy of the town! Your hair type can easily accept moisture and you can even cocktail the type of products you use to suit your needs. The cuticles open and close easily when they need to, so water and products can penetrate just fine. Your haircare routine can change with the weather, so pay attention to your mane and give it what it needs!
High Porosity
Does your hair soak up moisture and products like it’s never soaked in them before? If so, your hair has high porosity, meaning your cuticles tend to stay open. Using heavy products can weigh your hair down quickly, so make sure to look for lightweight, silicon-free products to style and care for your hair.
How to Find out Your Porosity
Now that you know the general guidelines on hair porosity, you might have an idea about which category your hair falls under. But to find out for sure, there are a few different ways to perform a hair porosity test. Some easy, popular ways to determine your porosity are the water shed test or the hair strand test.
- Water Shed Test
Wet a small section of hair with a spray bottle and watch how the water reacts with the hair. Is it sitting on top? Then you have low porosity hair. Is the water absorbed quickly? Then you have high porosity.
- Hair Strand Test
Take a strand of hair and place it in a cup of clean water. If it floats, it is of low porosity. If it sinks to the bottom, it is of high porosity. If it floats to the middle, then it is of normal porosity.
Sometimes women have multiple types of hair porosity at once. If you suspect this, use separate cups of water and pick strands of hair from different sections of your head where textures seem to differ. This will help you tremendously with figuring out which products best suit your needs.
Conclusion
As you can see, the styling regimen that works for one person may not be the same for the next. In order to make that crown of yours shine and thrive, you need to pick out the right products to suit your low, normal, or high porosity needs. If you are looking for a knowledgeable hair stylist to help tame your mane, make sure to call on the experts at Beauty Studio Inc Mobile Hair and Makeup. Click here for more information!
