Everything You Need to Know About High Porosity Hair

Have you ever noticed that your hair suddenly becomes frizzy in humid conditions? That your hair tangles easily, feels very brittle, absorbs products quickly, and air dries quickly? Well, these are some signs that you probably have high porosity hair.

So, what now? What does it mean to have, and most importantly, what does it take to take care of your highly porous hair? Read on to learn more about your hair’s porosity type and how you can properly take care of it to keep your locks healthy and strong!

What is High Porosity Hair?

First and foremost, hair porosity is your strands’ ability to absorb and retain any type of moisture, like water and hair products. Hair porosity comes in three types: low, medium, and high. So, what’s the best hair porosity out of the three? Ideally, it’s best to have medium porosity hair since it means you have an even balance of water absorption and retention.

Now, when it comes to highly porous hair, strands absorb too much moisture because they have a lot of raised cuticles. Because of these raised cuticles, all types of moisture – water, oils, creams, etc. – can easily be absorbed by your strands; however, they can also easily escape out of your strands. This is why with high porosity hair, you can soak up as much moisture as you can, yet most, if not all, of the attained moisture would just not retain. This is why people with highly porous hair often have dry, dull, damaged, or frizzy hair.

How Do You Find Out Your Hair Porosity?

If you have no idea what your hair porosity is, then you’re in the right place – we’ll be teaching you a simple way of how you can determine your hair porosity type in less than 5 minutes!

To do the hair porosity test:

1. Grab a glass or bowl and fill it up with lukewarm water.

2. Pluck out one clean strand from your hair. Make sure that it’s clean from any styling product, as well!

3. Drop your hair strand into the water.

4. Observe what happens to the hair strand in the water.

If it floats on top before slowly sinking, then you have low porosity hair.

If it stops to float in the middle of the water for a while before sinking, then you have medium porosity hair.

If it quickly sinks to the bottom, then you have high porosity hair.

Source: Pinterest

Causes of High Porosity Hair

You can have highly porous hair because of genes – it runs in the family! But most of the time, it’s because of the damage you bring to your strands. Heat styling, chemical treatments, bleaching, and dying the hair are a few of the reasons why you have high porosity hair. These hair damaging activities cause your hair’s cuticles to open up and separate more than normal, which makes your hair absorb moisture as easily as it can drain out the moisture.

Hair Care Solutions for High Porosity Hair

Now that you have a better understanding of what it means to have high porosity hair, it’s time to understand what it takes to take care of high porosity hair. Since highly porous hair can be similar to damaged hair, you’ll be needing hair remedies that focus on nourishing, moisturizing, and repairing brittle strands. Here are two of our recommendations:

Davines Nourishing Extreme Damage Repair Set (₱ 2,900)

This set is recommended for a dehydrated scalp and for dry, brittle, and damaged hair. It thoroughly cleanses and deeply moisturizes hair to make it soft, bright, and stronger without changing its structure. Its formula contains natural active ingredients and is free from parabens and sulfates – which is healthier for your hair!

L'Oréal Professionnel Serie Expert Inforcer Duo (₱ 2,140)

Enriched with vitamin B6 and Biotin, this shampoo and mask help hair to become more resistant and stronger. It's designed to target breakage and split ends, and leaves hair soft and healthy. Perfect for providing more strength and manageability to your highly porous hair!

Discover more of our hair care products for highly porous and damaged hair here.