Hair Porosity Test: Why It Matters for Your Hair Care

If you haven't tried this test yet and want to treat your hair better, then find out here all you need to know about hair porosity, the test and why it's important for hair care.

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What is hair porosity?

Hair porosity refers to how moisture can pass to and from your outermost layer of the hair (cuticle). It differs from one person to the other and can change over time. It has nothing to do with your hair type (oily, dry or normal) or its texture (straight, wavy or curly). It also means that your hair porosity can change from high to medium or low porosity within a few months according to how you treat it and the types of products you use on it.

What is the hair porosity test and what's the right way to do it?

As I just mentioned, this test indicates how much moisture your hair absorbs, so you need to put one hair in a glass of water. From this, you'll find out what your hair porosity is and what are the best ways to take care of it accordingly. But in order to do the porosity test correctly, you need to follow the following steps:

1. Watch your hair thoroughly with a silicon free shampoo (or you can use a loose hair from your head that has fallen naturally and wash it with dish soap and water).

2. Before adding any other hair products on your hair, take out a couple of hair strands from your head, that has fallen out naturally. You should not pluck them directly from your roots.

3. Leave the fallen strands on the side to dry completely then bring a glass or bowl full of water . Make sure it is deep and of medium width and one you can look through from the side.

Note: If you have long hair, cut the strand with scissors to be approximately as long as a finger before putting it in the water. Do not pull on or stretch the hair.

4. Use just 1 hair for the test, put in the water and push it down quickly to break the surface tension. Leave it in the water for around 3 minutes.

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What does the hair porosity test results mean?

1. The hair will sink to the bottom of the glass = You have high porosity hair

Having high porosity hair means there are large spaces between the hair cuticles that allows a lot of moisture to get in, but it also means that it can escape the hair just as easily. 

Tips:

Taking care of your hair would need you to use heavier products such as butters or heavy oils to keep it moisturized and less easy to escape. High porosity hair needs a lot of attention and constant moisturizing as well as avoiding heat as much as possible when styling your hair and while washing it. Because heat lifts the hair cuticles even more which, in turn, increases the porosity.

2. The hair will be suspended in the middle = You have medium porosity hair

Medium porosity means that your hair absorbs moisture well but doesn't lose it fast. 

Tips:

You don't need too heavy products to keep it moisturized and taken care of, you can use them once a week for deep moisture, and less dense products for your regular hair care routine.

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3. The hair stays floating on the surface = You have low porosity hair

Having low porosity hair means the spaces between your hair cuticles are very small so it doesn't absorb moisture easily. But once it's in, it stays inside for maximum benefit as the moisture doesn't escape easily. 

Tips:

You should be careful when using heavy products since it will be very hard to penetrate the hair, but it'll stay on the surface making your hair look greasy. Substitute them with light oils and using the help of indirect heat to open up the cuticles for the products to be absorbed. One of the ways that can help is to wrap a warm towel around your head after applying the products.

Now after finding out the meaning of hair porosity, the right way to do the test and understand the different meanings for every result, look out for next week's article to know the details of creating a healthy routine for each type of hair porosity.

Main Image Credits: Kriya Botanicals