Does Your Hair Have Holes?
Are you familiar with the word “Porosity”? Porosity refers to the ability of your hair to absorb moisture. Imagine that your hair, rather than looking like a piece of string, looks more like a string covered in scales, like a snake.
If your hair is more porous (aka, the “scales of the snake” are flared out, away from the core of the hair), it is able to absorb more moisture (and more of other products, too!). If it is less porous (aka, the “scales of the snake” are adhered tightly to the body of the snake, not allowing anything to get into the core), it does not hold and absorb moisture well. A normal level of porosity has “scales” that are slightly flared out, but not too much.
The Test
How do you know what kind of hair you have? The easiest way to test it is to place a strand of your hair into a bowl of water and wait for a few minutes. If the hair sinks, you have porous hair, because the strand absorbed water which made it heavy enough to sink to the bottom.
If your hair floats, then the opposite is true- your hair is not porous and so it repelled rather than absorbed the water, thereby allowing it to float.
If your hair is floating somewhere in between, suspended in the middle of the bowl, then you have hair with normal porosity.
What Does It All Mean?
Ok, so now you know which kind of hair you have, but what does it mean? How should you best take care of your type of hair?
High Porosity Hair
High porosity hair not only absorbs moisture quickly, but it also loses it just as fast, so you need to use products designed to help your hair both receive and hold onto moisture. Products including aloe (aka- almost everything we sell!) are amazing for this kind of hair. Moisturizing serums and oils are also very useful, as high porosity hair has a greater tendency to become frizzy.
Normal Porosity Hair
Hair with normal porosity is the most healthy state that your hair can be in. Able to absorb and hold just the right amount of moisture, this type of hair tends to be the most healthy and shiny. Help keep your hair normal by not subjecting it to harsh chemical products and treatments, such as bleaching, relaxing, and heat.
Low Porosity Hair
Hair with low porosity struggles to absorb moisture, so you need to intentionally select products that are a bit more alkaline (lower PH). This will help open the cuticle (aka, make your hair temporarily more porous), which allows moisturizers and other healthy products to penetrate the strand. It is easier for low porosity hair to get weighed down by excess products (since they tend to sit on top of the hair rather than be absorbed by it), so don’t be heavy-handed when you style!
Conclusion
No matter which type of hair you have, it is important to be careful to select the right kinds of cleansing, conditioning, and styling products. We recommend that you stick to natural organic products, which is why we have spent so much time fine-tuning our formulas to be perfect for your curly hair, using only the highest-quality plants and minerals.