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High porosity hair is something that people have started talking about because the porosity of hair determines various things such as how much moisture or other liquids your hair is going to retain and that determines the condition of your hair.
So it is clear that the high porosity hair or whatever level of porosity your hair has is essential for you to know whether your hair is in good condition or not and if you need to start taking better care of it to make it look better and make sure that your relationship with your hair lasts a lifetime and they don’t break up mid-life.
There a re lot of types of hair, some are thin, some are curly, some are bouncy, and a lot of other types. When it comes to the health of your hair, you should not be just concerned about the type of your hair, there are other things that are essential for your hair’s health as well.
If you have not heard about high porosity hair or even the term ‘porosity of hair’ then it is time that you started paying attention to it and learn what it is and why it is so important for your hair’s health.
If you don’t know what high porosity hair is or what the porosity of hair is, well I am here to help you with just that. In this article, I am going to tell you all about hair porosity and high hair porosity, what they mean, when do you need to get concerned, and a lot of other things.
This is going to be an informative ride, so fasten your seatbelts and let us go hair exploring!
What Is Hair Porosity?
Porous means the holes or pores that a thing possesses. When I say hair porosity, I am talking about the pores that are present in your hair the same as the pores on your skin. The pores of the skin and hair are obviously of different kinds but they are nonetheless pores.
If you want to understand what these pores are like, imagine it as a dome on your hair’s outer layer. These pores are very much like the shingles you get when you have chickenpox. All hairs have pores on them, some have it less and some have it more. The number of pores determines the level of porosity on your hairs.
Hair porosity is a term that can be defined as the level of ease with which your hair is able to absorb and retain moisture. The level of porosity will affect the amount of oil or moisture that passes in and out of the outmost layer of your hair. This outermost layer of the hair is called the cuticle.
The cuticle is a tough protective layer and has smaller cuticles in it that are overlaid over each other and are similar to shingles. The hair also has the cortex which is the thickest later of the hair and it has fibrous proteins in it along with the pigments that give your hair its color.
The hair also has the medulla which is the soft, central part of the hair shaft. If your hair needs to be healthy, it is necessary that moisture reaches the cortex through the cuticle or the pores on the hair.
And the problem arises when the cuticles are too close as it makes it hard for the water or oil to pass through and if they are too far away, your hair would find it difficult to retain the moisture.
Types Of Hair Porosity
As I said, depending on how porous your hair is, it can be classified into 3 categories namely high porosity hair, medium porosity hair, or low porosity hair. These categories can be said to have:
- High Porosity Hair: Hair that has widely spaced cuticles
- Medium Porosity Hair: Hair that has moderately bound together cuticles
- Low Porosity Hair: Hair that has tightly bound cuticles
You should know that all types of hair have pores in them. The simple answer to the question of whether high porosity hair is good for you or not is, no, high hair porosity is not good for your hair. When the hair strands are damaged, it is then that they have highly porous cuticles.
If you have high porosity hair, then it means that your hair would not be able to absorb moisture or oils and that may lead to problems. Having less porous hair could be a problem too because the hair might not absorb much moisture for a long time.
That would make it look dry and damaged. That is a problem because if your hair is moist, then you would not have issues like static and frizzy hair.
The high porosity hair can be a genetic thing and it could be running in your family. Although, it is not always genetic.
Sometimes, the hair processing or the styling treatments that you make your hair go through might also cause issues to it and these treatments include straightening, bleaching, blow-drying, and any other type of chemical things that you apply on it.
All of these treatments could affect the cuticles in your hair and that will cause them to lift up or even separate. If this happens, then gaps could get generated in the cuticles, and hence, that will make your hair high porosity hair, which is more than it should be.
Another thing that can cause this will be exposure to Ultraviolet rays. So always wear hats when you go out in the sun.
Characteristics Of High Porosity Hair
The high porosity hair has a lot of characteristics that will help you notice and determine whether you have highly porous hair or not. These characteristics include:
- The hair might light and feel dry to your touch
- Highly porous hair is usually very frizzy
- If you have high porosity hair, chances are, it will break very easily
- You can tell that you have high porosity hair if you blow-dry it and it gets dried very easily and quickly
- The highly porous hair would very hardly look shiny or bouncy
- Highly porous hair can get tangled very easily
- High porosity hair would also easily absorb various hair products as well
Even though highly porous hair can easily absorb moisture, it can hardly ever retain it for a long time and the reason behind that, as I have already explained, is that the cuticles are too far away from each other.
How Do You Tell How Porous Your Hair Is?
You can easily determine whether your hair is high porosity or medium or low porosity hair. This can be done at home. You would just need to have a dry and freshly washed strand of your hair and take a clean and clear glass of water. Or do it in a glass bowl to clearly see the result.
To test the hair porosity, you will have to fill the glass or bowl with water and then place the strand of the hair in it and then you will have to observe the time which it takes to sink to the bottom of the glass or bowl as that will tell you if it is highly porous, lightly porous or moderately porous.
If the strand of your hair takes its time to sink and floats the top for some time before beginning to sink, then your hair is low porosity hair.
If the strand of the hair floated in the middle of the bowl or glass and was sinking to the bottom slowly, then your hair has medium porosity.
If you observe that the strand of your hair sunk to the bottom quickly, then it tells that you have high porosity hair.
Once you have determined the porosity type of your hair, you can then decide whether your hair needs any kind of treatment or not. You can take help or some products and ingredients to make sure that your hair is well and healthy.
If You Have High Porosity Hair, How Do You Care For It?
There are a few things that you can do to make sure that you are taking proper care of your hair and in case you have high porosity hair, then there are some things you could do to reduce and reverse the damage to the cuticles on your hair. Doing these things will help your hair in retaining moisture for a much longer time.
When you are trying to help your hair by nourishing, moisturizing, and repairing it, it becomes essential that you make sure the products you are using are compatible with your hair type, you wouldn’t want your hair getting more damaged than it was before.
Mostly, the products that would help treat your high porosity hair would contain butter or oils. Some of the products or ingredients that would help in making your hair better are:
Conditioners
A lot of conditioners contain butter and oils in them that help heals the gaps between the cuticles and they also help as a protective layer. There are a lot of conditioners in the market that help with various things.
Some conditioners help in nourishing and moisturizing the hair as they contain almonds and olive extracts and are highly hydrating. Some products contain sulfates that make them a great choice for high porosity hairs.
A lot of conditioners even contain shea butter, mafura oil, honey, fig extract, argan oil, amino acids, etc. All these things help in strengthening, moisturizing, reducing static, and well as in reducing frizzes.
Deep Conditioner
Deep conditioning treatments are something that helps in moisturizing the hairs as well as nourish and soften them. If you are using a deep conditioner then make sure you use it at least once or twice every week.
Some deep conditioners are made from hemp seed, apple cider vinegar, baobab proteins, avocado oil, argan oil, keratin, etc. All these things help with making the hair stronger and less unlikely to break as well as help in coating and cushioning the hair.
Shampoo
A lot of shampoos or hair cleansers are made with quinoa proteins and these will be helpful in moisturizing your porous hair. Some protein-rich shampoos also have conditioning ingredients like almond oils which soften the hair and reduce frizzing. Shampoos can also help in proving strength to the to prevent them from breaking and provide internal moisture as well.
Styling Products
Hair can sometimes get damaged due to heat or styling products but there are some styling products that actually help with strengthening your hair. A lot of lightweight creams contain detangler and frizz-protection components in them and they could be applied to your hair before you blow-dry them.
A lot of hair conditioner sprays are even gluten-free and vegan and are very safe for hair that has been color-treated and it helps protect the hair against UV rays. You can even use these products before you go out in the sun. Some products even have argan oil to protect the hair from heat damage.
Additional Tips To Help Your Hair Grow
As I said, if your hair is high porosity hair, then chances are that it will get damaged and broken very easily. Besides using products to nourish, moisturize and hydrate your hair, you can do other things as well to take care of your hair.
A lot of ingredients like sulfates, parabens, sodium Laureth sulfates, and silicones can actually pull natural oil and moisture from your hair, damaging them even more than before. When you are washing your hair or conditioning them, use lukewarm water only as hot water would just lift the cuticles and cause more damage to the hair.
When you are frying your hair, use a cotton cloth rather than towels as that can create a lot of friction and cause your hair to break. Using a smooth fibre like a cotton cloth would be much soothing to your hair and not let your hair break.
Another thing to help prevent damage to your hair would be to prevent using heat styling as much as possible. If you have to use heat styling, keep the heat on a low setting and use heat protecting product for your hair if you can.
Cessation
High porosity hair can be a pain in the backside if you are not careful because it can result in a lot of damaged hair and you could end up suffering a lot before you start treating it.
Having highly porous hair is not the end of the world. You can treat it and make your hair healthy again. You just have to keep in mind that hair is an important feature of your body and if you lose them, you will have to start using wigs to cover it up.
So take the utmost care of your hair and make sure to not damage it even more by doing things like heat styling. If you keep all the points that I discussed in this article, then you and your hair are going to be good.
