Learning how your natural hair retains moisture is the biggest key to your hair regimen. Moisture is vital to natural hair and we need it to keep our hair nice and healthy. The hair typing system helps us to determine some great ways to care for our different hair types, but understanding hair porosity can definitely change the game. A group of naturalistas can all have type 4 hair but if they use the same products and the same methods on each of their heads, their hair may absorb the products differently. That’s why porosity is important.
What is hair porosity?
Hair porosity describes how your hair absorbs and retains water. To truly understand hair porosity, its helpful to know how a hair follicle is structured. There are 3 layers within a hair follicle: the cuticle, the cortex and the medulla. The outside of the hair follicle, which is what we see, is the cuticle. The cuticle protects the inner layers of the follicle and looks similar to shingles on a roof. Underneath the cuticle is the cortex. This layer consists of fibrous proteins and hair pigment (the color of your hair). The softest and most inner layer is the medulla.
So porosity describes how well your hair can get water past the cuticle. When water and moisturizing products get past the cuticle and can stay there, it helps to nurture healthy and hydrated hair. However, this is not an easy task for each natural. There are 3 different hair porosities: high, low and normal. Each porosity type relates to the hair shaft’s cuticle. Remember the shingles on a roof, some are more tightly packed (overlapping) and some are less packed (more gaps).
High Porosity
High porosity describes hair cuticles that can easily absorb water but have trouble retaining the water (keeping the water inside the cuticle). High porosity hair has an open and absorbent cuticle, which means that water easily flows in and out of the cuticle. Sort of like a sponge that can easily absorb water but a lot of water is still dripping out the sponge. Most times hair that is color treated, relaxed, heat damaged or gets high sun or chlorine exposure tends to be high porosity. These factors usually weaken a follicle, so it naturally makes the cuticle more open. That’s why high porosity naturals can experience extremely dry or frizzy hair, which can in turn cause their follicles to snap easily.
Low Porosity
Low porosity describes hair cuticles that are very resistant to absorbing water but once absorbed, it can be retained. This happens because low porosity cuticles are tightly packed on top of each other, similar to a roof with tightly packed shingles. Because the cuticle is more closed, it takes the cuticle longer to absorb the water or product. So if the hair is not moisturized properly, it can often be left dry and brittle. This definitely can cause some future breakage. Naturalistas with low porosity hair have to make sure they really work in the product to get it inside the cuticle.
Normal Porosity
Normal porosity describes hair cuticles that absorbs water quicker than low porosity and retain water better than high porosity. It’s pretty much in the middle of high and low, it absorbs and retains water easily. These cuticles are neither too tight or too open. This is a perfect condition for healthy hair.
What Porosity Means for Your Hair
Now that we know what porosity is, it’s quite obvious that it plays a huge factor in wash day routines and daily maintenance. So here are a few ways to find out your hair’s porosity. The most popular way is to pluck a clean strand of hair from your head and place it in a glass of water. If it floats on top of the water, then your hair is low porosity. If the strand sinks to the middle, then its normal porosity. If it sinks to the bottom, then you have high porosity hair. The other ways to determine your porosity is from paying close attention to your hair.
High Porosity Characteristics
- Product absorbs into your hair quickly
- Takes hair a short amount of time to air dry
- Water quickly drenches your hair when washing
Low Porosity Characteristics
- Product sits on top of your hair, slow to absorb
- Takes hair a long amount of time to air dry
- Water slowly drenches your hair when washing
Once you learn your porosity, then it’ll be easier to find out which products work the best for your hair. High porosity hair usually works well with products that contain butters and oils during wash day while low porosity hair likes products with ingredients like glycerin and honey. Applying heat to low porosity hair can help the cuticle open up so it will be easier for the cuticles to retain the moisture being put in. So steaming or applying a heated cap over your deep conditioner will make a huge difference for low porosity naturals during wash day. But avoiding hot water and using lukewarm water instead makes a difference for high porosity naturals.
All in all, your hair porosity makes a big difference in how you care for you hair. It can ultimately determine how often you moisturize your hair during the week or even how often you wash your hair. So learning your hair and being consistent with the best methods and products is key to keeping it healthy!