Recently there has been increasing conversation regarding hair porosity. You may have heard hair bloggers discuss it or maybe you’ve seen the new Shea Moisture lines catered for different porosity levels. But does knowing your porosity even matter? Are you even sure what is the true natural hair porosity definition?
Here are the basics about hair porosity. Hair porosity is essentially how well your hair can absorb water. There is high, medium, and low porosity:
High Porosity
If your hair is high porosity, this means that your hair cuticles are very open allowing water to enter quickly but water also exits just as quickly.
Medium Porosity
If your hair is medium porosity, this means that your hair cuticles are slightly open allowing for moisture to enter and be retained.
Low Porosity
If your hair is low porosity, this means that your hair cuticles are fairly closed preventing water from entering.
I noticed that my hair was extremely dry and none of my hair products were helping anymore. Because of that, I decided to test its porosity. I wanted to see what was it that my hair was lacking that made it so dry. I did the test and discovered that my hair has low porosity.
After that, I looked up everything I could on low porosity. I wanted to know the best products and techniques. I watched countless YouTube videos and read many articles. But after all this research, I started to get frustrated. Some of the products were either too expensive or just did not really exist. (Try finding a leave in conditioner or cream with no coconut or shea butter in it.)
I also would find some conflicting tips. One blogger would recommend honey while the other blogger would disagree. I started to question whether this porosity thing was even important.
What I realized was that it is important to a certain extent. It is valuable knowing your porosity to see what your hair is lacking. Learning that I had low porosity allowed me to switch to better products.
I went from coconut oil to almond oil. I started deep conditioning with heat. But do not become obsessed with tips on porosity to the point where you just become a product junkie and waste time and money.
At the end of the day, we all have different hair. Porosity is not the only thing that affects what products you use. There’s thickness, length, texture, etc. Because of that, it is important to find a product that works for you and not to use it because a blogger suggested it.
I encourage you to do the porosity test to see what your hair may be lacking. From there, trial and error will be your friend. If there is a product for your hair type, try it and see what happens.
It might work. But ultimately, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke. If your hair routine works, why change it.
Stick with what makes your hair healthy and you’ll be fine.
