Have you ever wondered why it seems almost everything you are doing on your hair doesn’t work? Ask yourself these questions: do you know your hair porosity? Am i making decisions of what i use on my hair based on the background knowledge i have of my hair porosity? If you are sincere to yourself and the answer to those questions are non affirmative, you need to keep reading.

What Then Is Hair Porosity?

Your hair porosity is its ability to absorb moisture and retain it. In other words, there are different moisture retention levels of natural hair for diferent people. Categorized into three, every naturalista falls into one of these and their characteristics are:

• Low Porosity: Has closed cuticles, does not absorb moisture easily and product build up on hair. Have you ever spritzed water on your hair and it doesn’t get absorbed but forms bubbles and just sits on your hair? Your hair is of low porosity.
• Medium Porosity: This type is easily moisturised and retains moisture well.
• High Porosity: Absorbs moisture easily and loses it almost immediately, prone to frizz (that squeaky like feeling you get on your hair when you use a non-micro fibre towel to dry your hair after shampooing; that is what frizz feels like), prone to constant tangling and looks dull and dry.

Hair Porosity Test

I’m not about to bombard you with so many things you should do to find out your hair porosity but this is the easiest and simplest way to determine yours.

The Spray Bottle Hair Porosity Test

To do this, all you need is a spray bottle filled with water. Divide your hair into sections for easily manipulation and spritz about 2-3 pumps of water on a section of clean hair. If you notice:

• Visible drops of water that are not absorbed and tends to form bubbles on hair, it is of low porosity.
• If water sits on hair and is absorbed in few minutes, it is of medium porosity
• If your hair absorbs the water with ease or almost immediately and after some time seems dry, it is of high porosity.

Hair Care For Different Porosity Types

• Low Porosity: Stay away from too much protein treatments as this makes the hair hard and brittle. It should instead be done once in two months. I know girl! You need to also include heat in your regimen while pre pooing and deep conditioning for maximum penetration as easy penetration is a problem for those with this porosity type.
• Medium Porosity: For this porosity type, the hair cuticles aren’t that tight so will allow in the right amount of moisture. Occassional deep conditioning treatmentd with protein conditioners can benefit medium porosity hair but do not include proteins in your daily regimen.
• High Porosity: This type of hair can loose moisture real quick which leaves it dull and dry and makes it prone to tangling a lot. It is important to use leave-in conditioners, moisturizers and sealants. Layering these produucts will help your hair hold the moisture you are offering it. I recommend heavy hair butter (sealant) like Shea butter to help fill the gaps of your loose cuticles and protect your hair from loosing too much moisture.

So you can finally agree with me that having a good knowledge of your hair porosity goes a long way in determining the choice of products or things you choose to and not to do on your hair. Do you know your hair porosity? I can’t wait for you to carry out this porosity test on your hair which is super easy and share the results with me.

Shalom!