December 09, 2022 • Artesia McNeal Washington

How to find Your Hair Porosity

How to Determine Your Hair’s Porosity 

If you’re new to caring for natural hair or just want to step up your hair care game, identifying and understanding your hair’s porosity is an excellent first step. 

In this blog post, we’re going to walk you through the basics of hair porosity, what it is, how to determine yours, and most importantly, what to do with this newfound information. So let’s dive right in:

What does hair porosity mean? 

If you’ve rocked your curls for a long time, chances are, the word porosity isn’t new to you. 

Porosity is a fancy term that simply means how much your hair can retain and absorb moisture. The lower your hair’s porosity, the harder it is for water to penetrate the hair strands, and the higher the porosity, the easier it is for strands to allow moisture in. 

There are three types of porosity, low, normal, and high. And once you discover yours, you can take the proper steps to hydrate those curls!

How do I determine my hair’s porosity? 

Figuring out your hair’s porosity is easier than you might think because all you need is a strand of hair and a glass of water. 

Drop one of your hair strands into a glass of water and watch carefully for what happens. Low porosity hair should float on top of the water, normal porosity hair will float and then sink slowly, and high porosity hair will sink immediately. 

Hair care tips for each porosity type 

On to the best part: taking care of your hair according to its porosity. 

Starting with low porosity hair, contrary to popular belief, this is the healthiest porosity type. Here are some quick tips:

Avoid build-up by washing the hair weekly

Use light oils as a pre-shampoo treatment

Opt for hydrating conditioners over protein

Now for medium porosity hair folks, you don’t have to do too much to keep your hair moisturized, but here are a couple of pieces of advice for you: 

Wash your hair regularly with a clarifying shampoo 

Avoid using dye or chemicals on the hair 

Use protein treatments to keep the hair strong

While high porosity hair can occur naturally, it often results from heat and chemical damage. If this is your hair type, here’s what you should know: 

Use leave-in conditioners and sealants to keep moisture in

Opt for shampoos with oil or butter in the ingredients 

Shampoo with lukewarm water instead of hot 

The more you know, the better
Understanding hair porosity might just feel like another thing to add to the long list of must-dos for naturalistas, but trust us, knowing makes a world of difference in the health of your hair.

There’s always going to be something new to discover along your hair journey, and we hope that this post has given you clarity about your hair. For more information and inspiration all about natural hair, visit the Silent Naturals blog and subscribe, so you