- By Prerna Targhotra
- Mon, 01 Apr 2024 04:42 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Types Of Hair Porosity: Most of us usually experience numerous haircare struggles that are commonly caused by little mistakes that we make in our hair care regimes. An effective hair care regime is based on one’s hair type and ingredients that suit one’s hair. But the question that arises here is, are we aware of our hair types? The health of our tresses largely depends on our hair type and the products and remedies we use over them. A deeper understanding of our hair type and porosity can help in facilitating better hair health.
Hair porosity is basically the ability of our hair to soak up and retain nutrients, moisture and products. The levels of hair porosity largely depend on genetics and affect your overall hair health. Your type of hair porosity determines how effectively oils and product nutrients are absorbed by your hair. The hair porosity is typically divided into three types;
Types Of Hair Porosity
Low Porosity: In this type of hair porosity, the hair cuticles are close together. Due to this, the moisture finds it quite difficult to pass between the hair shafts.
Medium Porosity: Cuticles that are less tightly bound and aren’t that closely bound. If you have medium porosity hair, moisture will easily pass through and retain moisture for a longer time.
High Porosity: The high porosity hair allows the moisture to be easily absorbed into the hair shaft but does not retain moisture for long as the cuticles tend to have gaps or spaces in between them.
How To Test Your Hair Porosity?
There are numerous ways to test your hair porosity type but here is an easy hack that you can try. To begin with, shampoo your hair so that there is no bacteria or dirt buildup left on your scalp. Now, fill a glass with clean water and drop a single strand of hair into the glass of water. Npw, carefully watch the hair strand to see if it sinks to the bottom of the glass or floats at the top.
- If the strand flows at the top before sinking in the water, you are likely to have low-porosity hair.
- If your hair strand flows somewhere in the middle of the glass, you might have medium or normal porosity hair.
- If your strand sinks into the bottom of the glass quickly, then you are likely to have a high porosity hair type.
Can You Change Your Hair Porosity?
Many haircare experts suggest that if you have low or high hair porosity by genetics, you may not be able to change it. But there are certain things that you can practise to achieve more healthy and manageable hair.
For low-porosity hair, you can use protein-free conditioners, apply conditioner to wet hair, use hair care products with ingredients like glycerin and honey and apply heat only after conditioning your hair.
For high hair porosity, you can use hair care products that have butter and oils, use live-in conditioners and sealers, use hair protectant products on your hair and avoid hot water for shampooing and conditioning.
(Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis or treatment.)