POROSITY TALK: INTRODUCTION TO POROSITY

The owner of Accented glory invited me to be on a Google hangout and she gave specific topics to do little research for the day of the event. One of the topics were Hair's Porosity. So I grabbed my old Cosmetology text book from high school and went on Google. I started writing notes and did the porosity test myself. I found that I have High Porosity hair. But what is Porosity? What is High porosity? Are they different types of porosity levels in hair? These are frequently asked questions and lets get into it.
 

What Is Porosity?

  Hair porosity is the hair's ability to absorb moisture. It is affected by the flexible outer layer called Cuticle, which determines how easily moisture and oils passes in and out of your hair. It can be genetic related and caused by heat exposure, heat treatments and chemical processsing. Knnowing your hair's porosity can help you choose the right regimen and product to keep your hair well moisturized, supple, strong and healthy.
 

Types Of Porosity

 Hair porosity is classified as Low (resistant) Normal (medium) ans High (overly porous hair).

• Low/resistant hair has tight, compact cuticle layer that resists penetration. Chemical services performed on low porosity hair requires more alkaline solution. A high pH raises cuticle and permits uniform saturation and processing. So this is why some naturals who try to permanently color their hair tend to have problems.
• Normal/ Medium porosity hair often requires low maintenance. Its cuticles are looser and able to absorb and retain its moisture well. Its is also able to hold its style well, and it can be permed and colored with predictable results. But overtime these processes can increase the hair's porosity. Occasional deep conditioning treatments with protein treatments can benefit this type of hair but should not be done daily.
• Overly porous/ High porosity hair absorbs moisture alittle too much which causes frizz and also loose moisture easily which results in dryness. This types of hair contains holes and gaps in which the cuticle again lets too much into the hair leaving it prone to frizz, tangling in humid weather. 

The Porosity Test

There is a simple way of testing your hair levels or porosity. Get a class with water and a strand of your hair. drop the hair strand and let it sit in the water or atleast 5 minutes. DO NOT push hair into the water if you want positive results. After five minutes or so, if the hair is still sitting on top of the water that means you have Low porosity hair. If the hair is floating under the water, then you have medium or normal porosity hair. But if the hair floats down to the bottom of the glass, that means your hair is of high porosity. Do not panic if you see high or low, just simply get on the internet and see what regimen or products and tricks to use in your regimen to help maintain your hair's health.

In my next post about porosity, I will be going in depth about low porosity hair and products and reigmen which can help maintain the hair. So until my next post....

xo Kellz