Hair Porosity: What you need to know.

Hi Naturalistas,

I have been away for awhile, busy at Instagram. Are you following me there? My handle is @naturallyshaz and I share on Natural Hair Tips and Lessons. Right now I am running a Natural Hairstyle a day challenge for 28 days. I am on Day 4 today. Let’s jump right in to it.

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Hair Porosity is the ability of your hair to retain moisture. this is based on genetics and other external factors like how you maintain your hair, usage of heat etc.

It is important to know your hair porosity for the following reasons:

• It helps you better care for you hair. By knowing what products are suited for it.
• It helps you know your hair.

There are three types of Hair Porosity:

Low Porosity – These hair strands have closed cuticles and do not absorb moisture easily, but when moisture does get though it stays locked in. This type of hair also suffers from a lot of product build up so it is important to shampoo it to remove dirt.

Medium/Normal Porosity – This type of hair absorbs and retains moisture well. Hairstyles also last when you have this type of hair porosity.

High Porosity – This hair absorbs moisture easily and loses it quickly. It is prone to frizz and tangling.

How can I test for my Hair Porosity:

Do this on clean hair.

Float Test:

Take a few strands of hair from your comb or hair and put it in a bowl/container. In my case, I used a purity bottle. And left the hair in there for 5 minutes.

 Pic credit: Instagram.com – naturealcurl

Hair Shaft Test

I don’t think this is the actual name. I saw @sinovuyomondliwa do it on Instagram in one of her videos. She said you can spray water on your hair and watch how it reacts.

If  the water sit on it and then absorbs it, then its low porosity.

If the water is absorbed in and stays in, then it is medium porosity.

If the water is absorbed in quickly and then your hair dries quickly, then it is high porosity.

CONFESSION: I have never done a hair porosity Test yet. But I did do one this month for the first time . And I discovered that I have Low Porosity Hair.

Next week we will discuss on the particular type of products that could be good for your type of Hair Porosity.

Cheers,

Shaz.