A Starter Guide To Care For Your High Porosity Hair

Understanding the Concept of High Porosity

Most normal people would not be sure about what high porosity hair means. To simplify things, you may have high porosity hair if at all your hair is prone to breakage, absorbs products very quickly, tangles easily and tends to be frizzy, rarely looks shiny and looks dry.

The literal meaning of porosity is the hair’s ability to retain and absorb moisture or chemicals such as color or oil into the cortex. In fact, all hair types are naturally porous, though the degree of porosity varies from one person to another. There are three different levels of porosity, namely, low, medium and high.

Due to various experimental habits such as mechanical manipulation of hair or regular color treatment, many people deal with naturally high porosity hair. The other causes of this condition include anything that has or can change the cuticle and includes excessive mechanical abuse from heat styling tools, dye or bleach, use of sulfate-rich shampoos, and the sun.

One downside of high porosity hair is that when it is wet, it absorbs more water but loses even more as soon as it begins to dry. I’m assuming you must have experienced it when your hair is fully dried, it feels kind of rough, puffy and swollen. If you have this kind of hair, you must moisturize them often to counter the chronically dry feeling of your locks. The hair is very susceptible to breaking and shedding.

How to Treat High Porosity Hair?

Deep Conditioning

One must proceed with deep conditioning after every wash. Make sure that you apply it on particular strands and in generous amounts. Even in the case where you don’t have a hooded dryer, you can always cover your hair with a warm towel for 15 minutes. Next, you should leave your deep conditioner overnight and rinse it in the morning. Doing this would bring your hair to life.

Sealing the Hair with Butter or Oils

Butter and oils help seal the moisture in your hair that it soaks up without releasing it back into the air. Some of the best products for high porosity hair that are used for sealing are olive oil and Shea butter. Olive oil has proven to be one of the few oils that manages to penetrate the hair shaft. This is one of the reasons why it is known to be the best option for a sealant.

Protein-based Treatments

Adding protein-infused products in your daily hair care routine would prove to be necessary for high porosity hair to gain strength. At times, high porosity hair is a conclusion of significant damage and requires an immense amount of protein to return back to normal. High porosity hair develops holes in the hair shaft and the extra protein helps to fill those holes. They are recommended to be used every month. But to speed up the repair and development, you can use light protein treatments every other week, in between your monthly cycle of protein intake. Do not use protein as a moisturizer because it is not supposed to work that way.

Usage of Aloe Vera and Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar and aloe vera will work in adjusting the pH balance of your hair texture. Applying Apple cider vinegar will help flatten the cuticle and seal the moisture in the hair. Some people add aloe vera gel or juice to the conditioners, and it turns out to be a wonder for the hair.

Using Heavy Products with Natural Oils

Heavy products prove to be the best products for fixing high porosity hair which will put up a protective layer that is missing from the hair texture and reinforce the sealing from the layer of oil and butter. You can check the ingredients on the label of the product that you’re using for the inclusion of heavy oils such as avocado oil, olive and castor oil.

Avoid Sulfates

It is always better to avoid ingredients such as parabens, sodium Laureth sulfates, and silicones. Such ingredients can pull a lot of natural oil from your hair.

Usage of Lukewarm Water

It is advisable to use lukewarm water when you wash and condition your hair. Strictly avoid using hot water as it may lift the cuticles and cause an immense level of damage.

If at all your hair continues to break and constantly lack moisture even after doing all the above things, then it is better for you to consult your stylist about how you can improve the texture of your hair.

Contributed by https://www.hairfinity.com/