Its useless! “No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to get moisture into the strands of my hair”. Is this possibly your sentiment? Don’t feel defeated there is hope for your hair. Keep reading as we learn the “in’s and out’s” of low porosity hair and how you can care for it and achieve healthy hair.
What is low porosity hair
The porosity of your hair is defined by how well your hair manages to not only absorb but retain and maintain water and oils. Therefore, if you have low porosity hair it means that the structure of your hair makes it difficult for moisture to be absorbed into the shaft of your hair strands. Water saturation is not easy even when hair is washed because of the nature of the hair to repel moisture. Damage prevention and the style process can also prove to be more challenging.
The structure of hair
The hair shaft consists of three layers the cuticle (outer layer), the cortex (middle layer) and the medulla (inmost layer). Low porosity hair cuticles tend to overlap closely and tightly. The use of chemicals and heat doesn’t cause low porosity hair but can lead to high porosity hair which makes it hard for the hair shaft to retain moisture because of the cuticles being raised and having spaces in between.
The nature of low porosity hair
Low porosity hair causes products to sit on the outer layer of the hair shaft without being absorbed. It also makes washing and drying more difficult, as it takes a long time for water to be absorbed into the hair shaft to accommodate washing and then another extended period for hair to become dry.
How to test for low porosity hair
A low porosity hair test can be performed by washing your hair to remove all products and taking a hair strand and placing it in a glass of water and watching to see if it floats before sinking to the bottom.
How to care for low porosity hair
In caring for your low porosity hair its necessary to incorporate shampoos that leave less residue on the hair, diluting your conditioner with water, deep conditioning weekly, applying less products and using curl and style enhancing products which helps to keep hair soft and free of heat damage. Here is a simple regimen to follow:
Use a prepoo treatment such as our Banana and Coconut Pre Poo
Always deep condition at least 1x per week, we recommend using our Mega Moisture Deep Conditioner.
Water down your conditioner. This can be done with just plain water or our Mega Moisture Leave In treatment
Seal in moisture with an oil.
Try bagging or using the GHE (green house effect) method on your hair (either at night or when you've got a few hours and nowhere to go). ...make satin your best friend.