Spending lots of money on new products only to have them collect dust at the back of our wardrobe is an experience that we can all relate to. This is why knowing the elements of your hair and tailoring the type of products you use and how is so important. Not only does it help save you money in trial and error, but also you get to use products that target your specific and personal hair needs.
The type of products that you use on your natural hair plays a big part in your natural hair routine and in shaping the integrity of your hair.
In this blog post, the hair property that we will be discussing is high porosity hair!
What is hair porosity?
In short, hair porosity refers to how well your hair can absorb and retain moisture. This is determined by how tightly shut your hair’s cuticles are.
Note: The hair cuticle is the outermost protective layer of your hair. It consists of cuticle layers that overlap each other.
If your cuticles are tightly shut and compact then you have low porosity hair. Water is easily retained however it can be a little more difficult for water to be absorbed.
If you are looking for a low porosity hair guide click here!
If you have medium porosity hair then your cuticles are not as compact. Moisture is both well-retained and absorbed.
Now onto high porosity hair… which is what this blog post is about.
You see, with high porosity the cuticles are more widely spaced leaving gaps. Because of these open spaces, moisture is more easily absorbed but is also easily lost.
If you don’t know your hair porosity but want to find out then check out this blog post here.
What are some distinctive characteristics of high porosity hair?
The raised cuticles of high porosity hair can give rise to particular characteristics such as dryness, frizziness and lots of tangles. All of this combined can give rise to more breakage and split ends.
If you’re a high porosity natural and experiencing all of these then don’t fret! All of this can be easily remedied by following some quick and easy steps.
But before we get into that, let’s see what can cause high porosity hair…
How do we get high porosity hair?
High porosity can be a result of many things. These include chemical processing e.g. from hair dye or relaxer, protein loss, improper hair maintenance/grooming or it can occur naturally.
Whatever the reason, there are steps you can take and key ingredients to look out for in products to help you maintain your high porosity hair.
Note: People who have high porosity hair naturally tend to not have cuticles that are as damaged or open as people who have high porosity hair from damage.
High porosity hair care remedies
1. Moisture, Moisture, Moisture!
High porosity hair tends to be drier than other hair types since it struggles to hold moisture. This is why high porosity naturals must look for products that will attract AND retain moisture!
I say this in every blog post and will not stop saying this, but moisture is WATER! Water is the only moisturiser for our hair. Other products/ingredients help to either draw or slow down the rate of moisture loss.
When searching for products don’t just look for the words “hydrating” and “moisturising” at the front of the bottle and think you’re done. It could just be a marketing tactic as the product itself may not have the best moisturising ingredients.
Instead, you gotta look out for a group of holy grail ingredients that are moisture royalty A.K.A, film-forming humectants!
If you don’t already know, film-forming humectants form a film around the hair in addition to attracting moisture from the surroundings. This is perfect for high porosity naturals as you get the benefit of added moisture as well retention!
Example film-forming humectants to look out for in the ingredients list of products include:
- Aloe vera
- Marshmallow Root
- Slippery elm
- Flaxseed gel
- Pectin
- Nettle leaf extract
- Guar gum
- Xanthan gum
- Hydrolyzed proteins
You can also look out for the simple humectants which simply draw moisture into your hair. Examples include:
- Glycerin
- Honey
2. Alternative methods for moisture retention
Okay so now that we know how to attract moisture to our hair let’s talk about other ways of retaining moisture that do not include film-forming humectants.
Oils and butters
These form a hydrophobic (water-repelling) film around our strands that slows down the loss of moisture that’s already in our hair strands.
After washing and conditioning your hair, you can apply a moisturising leave-in conditioner on damp hair and seal all this moisture in with your favourite oil/butter. It is imperative that you only use oils and butters on already hydrated and moisturised hair. Otherwise, you are not sealing in anything and reducing the ability for water to be absorbed from the environment.
Types of oils:
There are two types of oils. One group are penetrating oils which penetrate hair strands and condition the hair e.g. olive and avocado oil. The other group of oils coat hair strands to add protection and help seal in moisture. These include castor and grapeseed oil.
Exemplar moisture routine for high porosity hair
- Wash your hair with a shampoo to remove build-up to allow water/moisture to be absorbed.
- Condition your hair to bring the pH of your hair back down and further impart moisture, nutrients, manageability and softness.
- Apply a leave-in conditioner on damp hair that’s packed with moisture-attracting ingredients such as simple and film-forming humectants.
- Apply butter/oil over this. Alternatively, use a leave-in that also contains a good mixture of oils and/or butters.
- Apply a styler suited for your desired style that is also packed with water-attracting ingredients. This is to replenish any moisture loss from the moisture gained during wash day.
3. Proteins
One cause of high porosity hair is protein loss, so it’s only logical that you should include protein in your routine.
The proteins fill in the damaged gaps between cuticles to reduce open spaces for moisture loss. The proteins also add strength to your hair to reduce breakage and fragility, which is common for high porosity hair.
You can either do a strong protein treatment monthly or less frequently or add a little bit of protein to your hair more frequently (you can also do this monthly or less). It all depends on your hair’s needs.
The difference between a strong and a weak protein conditioner depends on where the protein ingredients lie in the ingredients list and the number of proteins inside.
Strong protein treatments contain proteins within the first 7 ingredients. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something mild then look for products that only contain 1 or 2 proteins after the first 7 ingredients.
Note: Just because you are a high porosity natural doesn’t mean you are immune to protein overload. Too much of a good thing is not good anymore! So get to know what your hair needs and add protein accordingly.
4. Alternative strength source
Something that people do not know is that proteins are not your only source of strength.
An example of such a molecule is ceramides. Ceramides are molecules that keep the shingles in your hair together. In other words, they help keep your cuticles tight and sealed. Hence as well as helping to retain moisture, they also add shine and restore strength and protection to natural hair.
Ceramides can be found in artificial and natural sources. Artificial sources include 2-oleamido and 3 octadecanediol. These artificial sources of ceramides more closely resemble the hair’s natural ceramides. Alternatively, natural sources of ceramides include safflower oil, wheat germ oil, and sesame seed oil.
5. Conditioners are a high porosity natural’s best friend
Conditioning ingredients are another key group that you should look out for in your hair products.
They have so many benefits for natural hair in general but are even more beneficial to high porosity hair.
Conditioning agents help to improve the overall condition and manageability of hair in so many ways.
Enhancing manageability
As stated before, high porosity hair can be more prone to tangles and breakage and be difficult to detangle. This is because, in addition to dryness, the raised cuticles create friction between strands to form knots and/or further wear to the cuticle.
Conditioning agents have lubricating properties that help to smooth down the cuticles to reduce friction and all the problems that follow it. This smooths down the hair texture to reduce frizz, enhance manageability, add shine and reduce breakage.
Strength and protection
Conditioning ingredients can protect hair strands and add strength by providing a barrier to reduce moisture and protein loss. They can also minimise the negative impacts external factors can have on natural hair such as manipulation, environmental stressors etc.
Conditioning ingredients to look out for:
Some great conditioning ingredients to look out for in your hair products include:
- Cationic (positively charged) surfactants – these adhere to negatively charged strands. High porosity hair tends to be anionic (negatively charged) which tends to be frizzier and experiences more breakage and tangles. Cationic surfactants reduce these symptoms. Examples include behentrimonium chloride, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine and polyquaternium
- Silicones – yes, you did read that correctly. These are synthetic polymers that form a protective barrier around the hair to improve slip/smoothness, manageability, reduce moisture loss and reduce frizz. Some e.g. amodimethicone are non-water soluble and will need to be clarified out of the hair. These can be easily spotted in the ingredients list as they end in ‘cone.’
- Fatty alcohols and emollients – Emollients are ingredients that help to soften, smooth, and moisturise the hair and scalp. They have lubricating and moisturising properties, forming a protective barrier on the hair surface to lock in moisture and prevent dryness. Examples include cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, cetyl esters, caprylyl glycol, propylene glycol, distearate, triglycerides, behentrimonium methosulfate (BTMS)
- Natural oils and butters – Certain oils such as olive, coconut, avocado, and argan oil are rich in fatty alcohols and act as emollients.
Steps and habits to add to your high porosity hair routine
Now that we’ve looked at how you can use products as tools to manage your high porosity hair, let’s look at steps we can add to our hair regimen to help with this too!
1. Be gentle with your hair!
High porosity hair can sometimes be frustrating to manage due to it being more prone to knots and tangles. It is extra important that you have patience with your hair and are gentle with caring and maintaining it!
2. Avoid excess chemical processing and heat use
I’m not going to be the one to tell you to stop using heat on your hair or stop dyeing your hair. Being a high porosity natural does not mean you have to stop having fun with your hair, but rather you just have to be extra careful!
When using heat, ensure to use a quality heat protectant, and the right techniques and treat your hair with protein to give your hair a strength boost.
The same goes for any chemical process you want to do. If you’re worried you can’t do this yourself then definitely go to a professional and they can offer personalised advice too!
3. Incorporate all the ingredients discussed previously into your products
Everything we discussed in the previous section will help to remedy your high porosity hair on a molecular level.
It will help with manageability and moisture retention, so take notes!
Product recommendations
Disclaimer: This post may contain some affiliate links through which I may earn a commission if a purchase is made using the link.
Camille Rose Curl Love Moisture Milk Softening Leave-In Conditioner
This moisturising leave-in conditioner contains aloe vera juice and slippery elm (both film forming humectants), natural oils and behentrimonium methosulfate (conditioning agent).
Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Strengthening Hair Masque, Infused w/Biotin
This is deep conditioner is packed with humectants such as aloe vera, honey and nettle extract. It also contains your conditioning agents e.g. BTMS and biotin at the end of the ingredients indicating that it is a weak protein treatment.
ORS Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise Conditioning Treatment For Damaged Hair
Contains glycerin as the second ingredients to draw a lot of water into the hair. Contains hydrolysed collagen and egg protein in the middle of the ingredients list. Also contains ceramides from the natural source wheat germ oil!
Final words
So there you have it!
Everything you need to know to care for your high porosity hair.
With love,
A type 4 natural ♥