Have you ever used a product and felt it did nothing for your hair? Or that the product just sat on the hair without absorbing into the hair strands? Are you wondering why some products don’t seem to work effectively for your hair texture? I’m sure that 99.9 percent of the reason why you feel like this is because you have not identified you hairs porosity level.
If you are like me before returning to your natural hair texture you probably never heard the word “porosity”. To be honest in the beginning hair porosity was not important to me. When I was relaxed I never heard a beautician talk about porosity, so why should I care now? Well hair porosity is a big deal and a key factor when looking to create a healthy hair regimen. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money by taking time to learn about hair porosity.
So what is porosity? Actually it’s really simple, the hair’s ability to absorb water. But there’s still a little more you need to know. There are 3 levels of porosity and knowing these levels will help you create a better hair care regimen for your natural hair.
3 Levels of Porosity:
High Porosity – hair with high porosity is considered to be overly porous. Hair that is high porosity easily allows moisture in but moisture also easily escapes. This means that the cuticle layers are lifted and more open. Hair cuticles that are damaged due to excessive heat styling tools, chemical relaxers and color usually fall within the high porosity category.
Normal Porosity – the cuticle layers are more lose and allows the right amount of moisture to enter while preventing too much from escaping. The hair usually absorbs water, moisture, and chemicals as expected based on its hair texture. Hair with average porosity is considered normal.
Low Porosity – hair that has not been exposed to harsh cuticle treatments is considered to be healthy and has low porosity. The cuticle layers lie flat and tight and very little moisture is allowed into or out of the shaft. Also, hair with low porosity requires more alkaline solutions to lift the cuticle and permit uniform saturation.
Being able to identify your hair porosity level will help you select the right products for your hair and make better product purchasing decisions.
Now do you understand why hair porosity is important? Let me know. Leave a comment below.
Nicole Patrick, founder of thenaturalcole.com is an online hair care resource for women of color with natural hair. To learn more visit thenaturalcole.com or contact her at cole@thenaturalcole.com.
