Maybe you’ve heard of it or you’ve read it once or twice on some product label. Yet, you still didn’t fully understand what it was, what it meant or how it applied to you. Well, here it is, your hair porosity 101 lesson. Here you will learn what low, normal, and high porosity hair means to curly hair chicks.
What is hair porosity anyway?
Porosity is your hair's ability to absorb moisture. Depending on how widely the cuticles open, determines how much your curly hair conditioners penetrate your hair shaft. Hair porosity is classified as low, normal, and high. Each has its own characteristics and in an effort to better care for your curls, you should know your hair's porosity. Low porosity – If your hair takes forever to dry, it’s probably low porosity. If you have low porosity hair, your hair cuticles are very compact, and these tightly closed, roof-like shingles, prevent moisture from penetrating the hair shaft. The good news is that even though it takes time, a lot of time in many cases, when it does penetrate the hair shaft it’s locked in and your hair benefits greatly. High porosity – Usually characterized by damaged hair, high porosity hair has large gaps in the hair cuticle that allows moisture to escape or absorb quickly into the hair shaft weighing it down and often causing frizz and tangling. High porosity curls often look very dry and require more curly hair product to maintain proper moisture. Normal porosity – If you have curly hair, having normal or medium porosity is THE goal. Curls with normal porosity have a lot of volume and elasticity, and moisture is easily absorbed inside healthy, normal cuticles. Normal porosity hair holds styles easily and requires little maintenance and moisturizing products. Your hair’s porosity type determines in large part what and what type of hair products you should use. Curls that are often chemically or heat-treated can change, so it is important to periodically assess your hair’s needs. Hair care tips for your hair porosity type Low porosity hair care tips: Low porosity hair requires moisturizing products with emollient-rich ingredients like coconut oil, jojoba seed oil, and shea butter. Since low porosity hair is prone to product build-up, using light-weight liquid products and curly hair conditioner like hair milk is ideal. Blueberry & Coconut Hair Milk is perfect for restoring moisture to low porosity curls. High porosity hair care tips: Highly porous hair needs heavy products that fill up the gaps in damaged hair cuticles. Choose products that help your hair retain moisture and protect it from dehydration. Layering with leave-in conditioners, deep conditioners, and products with moisturizers that seal is a winning combination for high porosity hair. Blueberry Bliss Styling Bundle has everything you need to tame tangled, frizzy, dry hair. Normal porosity hair care tips: If you have normal porosity hair, you are golden! One of the greatest things about normal porosity type curls is that it is low maintenance. Who doesn’t love low maintenance anything? Keep protein treatments to a minimum and stay consistent with monthly curly hair deep conditioners. Apply Blueberry Bliss Reparative Hair Mask or Cashmere+Caviar Hair Masque - Deep Conditioner to keep normal hair hydrated and healthy. Check out CURLS for more all-natural hair care products and see the best curly hair conditioners for your hair porosity.