Characteristics and Tips for Care

Your hair’s porosity is determined by how well it absorbs water, hair products, oils, and moisture. Low porosity hair may take longer to get completely wet during washing and have difficulty absorbing hair dye, treatments, and conditioners. Once moisture penetrates your hair, it is slow to release the moisture and may take a while to dry.

Resistance to moisture may make low-porosity hair difficult to care for and style. There are also some benefits to this hair type. Low porosity hair is healthy and strong because the cuticles lie flat and are not prone to breakage or damage. These features may also cause your hair to appear shiny.

Human hair is comprised of a cuticle, cortex, and medulla. Hair’s cuticle is the outermost protective barrier. When it becomes damaged by chemical processes or environmental factors like ultraviolet light and heat styling, the cortex and medulla are at risk for damage. Hair’s porosity will increase in response to the voids in your hair when the cortex and medulla are damaged.

Low-porosity hair is identified by its tightly closed cuticles, which are reluctant to absorb water, hair products, or oils. This hair type is also resistant to damage and can reflect light, giving it a shiny appearance. Typically, low-porosity hair is considered “healthy” because the cuticle is intact and has not been damaged by perms, bleach, and ultraviolet light.

Who Is More Likely To Have Low Porosity Hair?

Several factors can influence your hair’s porosity, including genetics, the environment, and how you treat your hair. People with low porosity hair may have inherited these characteristics, but they are also less likely to have used perms, color treatments, and other hair styling techniques that can damage hair, leading to a higher porosity. Additionally, people with straight hair are more likely to have low porosity hair.

Low porosity hair tends to be stronger with less damage, and extremely resistant to moisture. Normal porosity hair absorbs 75% of the maximum amount of water possible within just four minutes, but it will take low porosity hair much longer. Some other characteristics of low porosity hair include:

• Cuticles are tightly closed and lie flat
• Hair appears smooth and shiny
• Resistant to water and chemical treatments
• Takes a long time to get wet before washing
• Takes a long time to dry fully
• Products can build up on the surface
• Hair feels stiff after protein treatments
• Chemical treatments may not be effective

Knowing the porosity of your hair can help you understand why your hair behaves the way it does and how to best care for it. There are several ways to test hair porosity. There are also a few simple tests you can do at home.

Float Test

To determine your hair’s porosity using the float test, you will need a few strands of clean, dry hair and a bowl of water. Slowly place a strand of your hair in the water. If your hair floats, it likely is low porosity hair. If it sinks quickly, it is high porosity. Medium or normal porosity hair will sink slowly.

Spray Test

Try spraying clean, dry hair with water. If your hair is low porosity, the water will tend to bead up on your hair. It will also take your hair longer to dry once it is wet. If your hair is high porosity, it will become saturated quickly because the cuticle is more open, and the water is absorbed quickly.

Slide Test

Slide your fingers along the hair shaft of clean, dry hair from the end toward the scalp and observe how easy it is to do. If you have low porosity hair, your fingers will not slide easily. Your fingers will move smoothly without much resistance if you have high porosity hair. Medium porosity hair will have some resistance, but you still should be able to slide your fingers up.

Caring for your hair usually involves removing oil, dirt, and hair products and ensuring your hair is hydrated. Low porosity hair can sometimes pose a challenge, especially because choosing the wrong products can cause buildup on your hair or make it difficult to hydrate. Here are some tips for caring for low porosity hair:

• Maintain the health of your hair: Because low porosity hair is usually healthier hair, you want to ensure you are taking steps to keep it that way. That may mean avoiding perms and color treatments, protecting your hair with a hat or covering when you are outside, and removing pollutants. Pollution exposure can increase hair porosity.
• Use steam to help manage your hair: Some hair professionals recommend using steam to open the cuticle and allow moisture to penetrate the hair. You can do this with a handheld hair steamer or a shower cap in a warm shower. Once the cuticle is open, you can add oils and other hair treatments to your hair for better absorption.
• Select oils that work well with your hair: Products that contain oils can help seal in moisture, but use them sparingly as they can increase your hair’s porosity when overdone. Instead, opt for coconut oil. One study found that using coconut oil and products with coconut oil can reduce the likelihood that your hair’s porosity increases. Make sure to apply coconut oil only to the hair shaft and not the scalp, as it may clog pores and contribute to acne for some people.
• Avoid using products with proteins and butters: Products that contain protein treatments or heavy butters may be less effective on low porosity hair, as they cannot penetrate the tightly closed cuticle. These products can also cause buildup and dull your hair.
• Choose products with humectants: When looking for products to maintain your hair’s moisture, select those that contain humectants, which are substances that attract and hold water to hydrate the hair. Examples of humectants include hyaluronic acid, glycerin, and aloe vera. Avoid leave-in products, which cause low porosity or straight hair to look oily and dull.

Hair porosity describes how well your hair absorbs water and products. Low porosity hair has tightly closed cuticles that lie flat, making it resistant to water, oils, and treatments. Low porosity hair tends to be stronger, less damaged, and may appear shinier than high porosity hair.

Straight hair is more likely to be low porosity, but any hair type can be low porosity. You can determine your hair’s porosity with a spray test or float test, which determines how your hair responds to water. To care for low porosity hair, use steam to open the hair cuticles and select products that will hydrate the hair without causing buildup.