How to Identify Your Hair Porosity
What is porosity of the hair? Why does it matter what your hair porosity is? Our fabulous Cloré Community member, Pureness, explains in this guide!
Hair porosity is the level of moisture that the entire shaft of the hair can absorb and retain. Some hair strands can absorb a lot of moisture and some cannot, just as some strands can hold moisture for long periods of time and some cannot. This may affect your hair potential and regimen in that it may affect what kinds of products you can or can’t use, as well as what hair routine will work best to keep your hair at optimal health and growth.
There are many ways to determine your hair porosity. One method that floats around — pardon the pun — is the float test. This is simply placing a strand of hair in water, to see if it floats or sinks. The idea behind this is, if your strand soaks up the water and sinks or not, this would conclude the porosity of the strand. The reason I personally would not use this test as your only hair porosity distinction is because, if the hair has had other stress factors, tears or holes, it may sink regardless of its porosity levels.
Some of the best ways to determine your hair porosity consist of putting your hair, in its entirety, through general absorption tests such as:
- Standing under a running stream of water to see how long it takes for your hair to get totally drenched.
- Using varying amounts of water-based hair products to see how much you need or how long it takes for your hair to absorb its moisture.
- Timing how long it takes before the hair feels dry after washing or after applying water-based products to the hair shaft.
There are three levels of porosity; low, medium and high. Low porosity strands take longer to accept moisture, however, when it finally penetrates it retains moisture the longest. High porosity is the exact opposite; it soaks up water the quickest of all three, and then dries out in a very short span of time. Medium porosity — as you guessed — falls right in the middle; which most would deem the least problematic.Knowing the types of porosity levels, you should be able to observe the characteristics of your hair when it comes to moisture. This will let you know what it needs most and when. With that said, you can now apply the theories mentioned above to determine your hair porosity and create a regimen perfect for you.
So, what are the key take-aways? Use absorption tests to determine your porosity. Once you have identified your porosity, use that as a guide to keep your hair moisturized and healthy! There are many videos and resources out there that can help you in understanding porosity, I have recommended one by GreenBeauty that you can watch below.
All the best with your hair journey and happy, healthy growing!
Pureness
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