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If you have medium porosity hair, it means your cuticle layer is a little looser, allowing just the right amount of moisture to enter while preventing too much from escaping. Although hair with normal porosity tends to hold styles and colors well, be careful not to color or perm your hair too much as it can increase its porosity over time. Use occasional deep conditioning treatments with protein conditioners to maintain its hydration levels. Before buying any products for your curls in the hair aisle, it’s important you take a hair porosity test.
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Depending on what you currently have, your haircare routine may or may not be making matters better or worse. Wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo to ensure it’s clean and free from product build up. Otherwise, buildup and residues can interfere and skew the test result. In other words, you won’t get a true representation of your hair’s porosity level. Williams says to imagine a sponge to when trying to understand this hair type.
What Are The Different Porosity Types?
Chemicals, heat, and environmental factors can raise the pH of your hair high enough to lift the outer cuticle layer all the way up. Your hair likely feels adequately hydrated without you going out of your way to provide moisture. The outer cuticle scales in medium porosity hair are slightly raised up. Using it from your midshaft to ends in a warm shower will offer the best strand penetration. Since protein-enriched products help add protein to the hair strands and smooth the cuticle layer down, it can be a little too much on your already-smooth strands. Or you might be somewhere in the middle, with medium porosity hair that doesn’t repel or soak up water the way low and high porosity strands do.
What Contributes to Hair Porosity?
There are 3 main types of hair porosity and your type is often dictated by your genetics, as well as how you treat it. Understand your hair porosity with our expert guide which showcases the different types, and how best to get the curls of your dreams. Hair porosity can be impacted by your genetics or your hair grooming routine.
Tips for Medium Porosity Hair
Your strands appear to be a single, long, smooth strip, but they are actually made up of several layers known as cuticles. But since those floodgates are open, everything your hair absorbs is quickly lost. This means you get no lasting hydration, even when you layer heavy products and sealing oils on your strands. For low-porosity hair, look for products that are light and moisturizing—think leave-in conditioners or oil treatments applied before shampooing or conditioning. High porosity means there is a lot of space between cuticles – so too much moisture can easily enter the cuticle layer, leading to dryness, split ends or frizziness. Products with added oils or serums can help counteract this problem.
Laboratory Porosity Hair Tests
This is because that's the area that requires more care and attention. Ideally, you should be looking to achieve and maintain the perfect protein moisture balance every wash day. The Float Test is the most common and most recommended hair porosity test.
Chemical Treatments and processing
To perform the test, a small section of hair is inserted into the porosity meter, and the device is turned on. The device will then measure the electrical resistance of the hair and display the results on a screen. The results can then be used to determine the hair’s porosity level. The best way to determine your hair’s porosity accurately is by doing the hair porosity test, also known as a strand test. Once you identify your hair porosity, you can determine which hair products you need to care for your locks.
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You can repeat this process for your other strands and record your results. The porosity level you get the most may be your overall hair porosity level. These tests can be done without much effort and can give you a general idea of your hair’s porosity level.
That’s why it’s important to know your hair type to cater to its needs with dedicated routines that consider all the different parts of your hair (from curl type to color to porosity). Mid-to-high porosity hair may feel a little rougher because the cuticle layer of the hair strand is more widely spaced. This can either be naturally occurring or a byproduct of damaged hairfrom chemical processing, color treatments, or environmental factors. No matter the porosity of your hair, Chambers-Harris has four tips for all hair types.
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"Hair porosity" essentially refers to how well or poorly your hair absorbs and retains moisture. This is important as your hair's porosity is an indicator of its health. Low porosity hair is typically considered healthier, whereas high porosity hair is more damaged.
The difference in weight between the dry hair and the hair exposed to humidity indicates how much moisture the hair has absorbed. If you prefer to get your hair assessment done by a professional, here are a few types of tests that you can expect. "Porosity tests aren't necessary. It's not something that I would advise as part of a regular process," says Williams. "I would advise someone concerned about their hair health to just consult with a licensed stylist they trust." If you don't like the strong gel cast, you can leave it alone as it loosens up as the days go on. Or, separate your curls a little (or even use a light serum) to reduce the cast.
If the hair feels smooth then it is low porosity, if it is rough or bumpy then it is high porosity. We advise that you should not rely on this test alone to determine your hair porosity. One of the ways to determine the category of your hair porosity is using your hair characteristics.
Moisture is key – no matter what your level of porosity is – so make sure you’re keeping your mane hydrated with a good conditioner or deep conditioner. When using these tools (especially tools like flat irons), make sure to use a heat protectant spray or cream before applying heat to protect your strands from damage. Once you know what kind of porosity your hair has, it’s much easier to find products tailored to those needs and will bring out the best in your mane. You’ll be able to choose the right products and adjust your care routine accordingly to give your hair the best care. After all, this normal porosity won’t last forever, especially if you are a fan of hair-damaging processes. You can add a conditioner or treatment rich in humectants when you steam.
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