Determining the Porosity of Your Hair

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What is hair porosity?

According to CleverCurl.com, porosity is a measurement of your hair’s ability to hold and absorb moisture. Hair porosity is largely determined by your genetics, however factors, such as heat and chemical changes, can change the porosity of your hair. Each type of hair porosity is characterized by how tightly bound each cuticle layer of your hair is, and whether or not moisture easily penetrates those layers. Determining your hair porosity will allow you to understand your hair’s needs, such as which products to use and how to apply each product.

What is the difference between low, medium, and high porosity?

LOW MEDIUM/”NORMAL” HIGH
– Products “sit” on your hair; not easily able to penetrate your hair’s cuticle layers

– It takes a long time for your hair to get completely wet

– It takes longer for hair to dry

– LP hair can be resistant to chemical/color treatments; not always the case

– Your hair is more susceptible to product build up

 – Doesn’t get wet immediately/as easily, however after a few minutes it absorbs moisture

– Dries at a normal pace

– Can be prone to product build up, dryness, and over-moisturization

– Great elasticity

 – Prone to frizz

– Tangles very easily

– Air dries very quickly

– HP can easily absorb products and moisture

– Very prone to breakage

– Often struggles with volume

How can I tell what porosity my hair is?

There are multiple different tests you can do to determine your hair porosity using a few strands of hair. The most common test used is called the ” Float Test”. The Float Test goes as follows:

  1. Take a few strands of your hair directly from your head, comb, or brush.
  2. Drop them into a bowl/cup of water.
  3. Let the strands of hair sit for 2-4 minutes. If your hair floats, you have low porosity hair. If it sinks, you have high porosity hair. If it sits in the middle of the bowl/cup, you have medium/normal porosity hair.

This video provides 4 additional ways to test your hair porosity.

Personal Experience

I used Adobe Photoshop in order to photoshop my most used products onto one picture. These are my top 7 hair product choices.

I have low-porosity hair, a fact that I recently discovered after my big-chop. Having this type of hair is very frustrating at times because it requires a lot of to keep it moisturized. In order to best care for my LP hair, I use steam treatments, humectants (specifically glycerin), and lightweight oils. I’ve included a picture of the products I use, as well as the links to each below!