I know I am not the only person who has done the hair strand in the water test to see my hair porosity. Many of you may know this already, but I will briefly explain. Hair porosity is how well your hair absorbs and retains moisture.
For example, if you experience product build up and oils don’t penetrate your cuticle layer, you have low porosity. If your hair takes a long time to dry or takes a while to get saturated this indicates low porosity, as well.
Your natural porosity is genetic, but it can change throughout your life depending on a variety of factors.
These are factors that change your hair porosity:
Chemical processing (ie relaxers, bleach)
Heat applications
Environment (ie sun exposure, climate, etc)
Damage to hair
The goal is to have a normal hair porosity at your hair’s natural state. Normal porosity equals healthier hair. Your hair at this level of porosity is strong, easy to manage, and shiny. There is no damage to the cuticle or breakage to the hair. It is balanced and able to obtain needed moisture and nutrients easily. Your hair porosity level is not permanent, it takes a lot of treatment and upkeep to get it and keep it where it needs to be, in order to have a healthier head of hair.
Here is what you can do to improve your hair porosity to a normal level:
Stay away from chemicals (ie relaxers, dyes, bleach)
Limit the amount of heat
Apply steam to hair during deep conditioning
Protect your hair from the sun
Protect your hair from chlorine & salt water
Rinse with cold water
Alter haircare routine to allow moisture to get evenly distributed to fix raised cuticles
Use all natural chemical-free hair products