The Complete Guide on Natural Hair Porosity You Need to Read | Coils and Glory

(Final Updated On: May 26, 2021)

One of the most usually discussed and controversial topic in the natural hair community is Porosity. If you are a new Naturalista or you've been effectually the block for a while, you've probably heard so many things about porosity and how to determine your hair's porosity. The reason why porosity is a popular topic in the natural pilus space is that it has been argued that knowing your hair porosity will assistance you figure out why your hair is always dry out and assist you cull the all-time pilus production for your porosity blazon.

Therefore in this mail, I volition be discussing what porosity is and everything you need to know near natural hair porosity, especially when it comes to 4c hair.

Disclaimer and why I believe y'all should read this betoken from an educative and objective point of view.

Quick disclaimer, this post will contradict everything you lot know about hair porosity and it may even leave you more than confused than before.

You see, I studied Life Sciences at ane of Canada'southward superlative universities, McMaster University, which means that I understand the science of pilus and life. And even though I am not a hair scientist, cosmetic chemist, or work in the hair products industry, I am educated in full general chemistry and biological science. I've also been a science student since simple schoolhouse, all the style to Academy. And so this article volition be coming from the perspective of a Life Sciences graduate.

I besides accept a natural hair class titled Wet Memory Blueprint where I educated about the A-Z of 4c hair from my objective and scientific signal of view.

Now that I've gotten the disclaimer out of the way, nosotros can now get to this full guide most hair porosity.

What is hair porosity?

Simply put, pilus porosity is the ability of your hair to absorb and retain water, hydration, and wet. It is also used to determine your hair's ability to release wet.

In other words, hair porosity is used to determine how fast or wearisome your hair tin blot and lose moisture.

And so if you've ever wondered why your hair dries out speedily after applying products, yous should stick around and be certain to read this post in detail because I will be breaking downward, everything you need to know nearly natural hair porosity.

You encounter, the hair absorbs and retains moisture differently. Some people's pilus absorbs wet easily simply does not retain information technology. There are others whose pilus doesn't blot moisture easily just when it does, it retains moisture for a long fourth dimension. There are still some whose pilus both absorbs and retains moisture hands. These are known as depression, normal/medium and high porosity. This will be explained in more detail in this mail service.

How the cuticles bear upon your pilus porosity

The hair has iii structural layers which are the cuticles, cortex and medulla. I hash out basic pilus scientific discipline in more than detail in my course, Moisture Retention Pattern.

The cuticle is the outer part of your hair strands that you physically come up in contact with. It'southward bundled like shingles on a roof. The hair cuticles act as a gate to receives and release the moisture that you apply to your pilus. A tightly closed cuticle layer will not receive moisture equally hands as a loosely closed cuticle layer.

And then when people talk about hair porosity and moisture retentiveness, what they're really describing is the health and arrangements of the pilus cuticles. Considering when the cuticle layers are loosely arranged and open, moisture will freely go in and out, simply when it's tightly arranged and airtight, then moisture won't go in and out as freely.

Why should I care about my porosity levels?

Knowing your hair porosity will help you create a hair care regimen, choose hair products, select the best hairstyle and know how to better care for your hair and then that y'all can grow your hair and increase moisture retentiveness.

How tin I discover out about my hair porosity?

Call back my disclaimer above where I mentioned that this post will be an unpopular one due to my knowledge of biology and chemical science? This is where I will be dispelling a lot of myth that surrounds how to test your hair'southward porosity level.

In that location are 3 popular ways to exam your hair porosity level. I will be discussing each of them so that you are familiar with them and know how to conduct out these tests. I will also be providing my scientific opinion about each method and recommend the best way to truly test your hair'southward porosity level.

a. The Float Exam

The float test is the most pop way to test for your hair porosity at abode. This method has been popularized by YouTubers in the past decade, so it may be the only method you're familiar with.

This method is used to see how fast or slow your pilus absorbs water. Yous can test your hair by checking how it receives water. To comport out a bladder test, you lot need to offset wash your hair in order to ensure that your hair is clean and costless of products that can affect your results.

To exam for your hair porosity using the floating exam, do the following:

• Cleanse your hair
• Take a couple of hair strands from your clean hair
• Make full a glass or a transparent basin with clean room temperature h2o
• Driblet the pilus strands inside and lookout how they react.

RESULTS:

• If the hair strands sink to the bottom chop-chop, you lot accept high porosity.
• If the hair strands don't sink at all, you have low porosity hair.
• If the hair strands sink slowly to the center of the basin, information technology means you have a normal to medium porosity.

The trouble with the float test and why I consider information technology to be junk science

As a naturalista with a science degree, I never understood this method and I was often left confused with my results every time I did this test. The reason is that my pilus strands behaved differently every time I did the test. So I went online to do some research and I came across this article past JC of Natural Haven, where she dismissed this exam by ruling it to be junk scientific discipline. You lot tin read the commodity Hither to run into why a 4c hair scientist similar JC dismissed this test due to her laboratory experiences.

In another article written by JC, she explained that at that place are several factors that will impact your hair porosity. Some include your hair length, hair routine, products applied to your hair, the environments you live in, and several others. She besides mentioned that your porosity level is a sign of hair damage because all hair has been exposed to some form of manipulation over time, which volition affect the wellness of the cuticles.

She also mentioned in the earlier commodity that a lot of women don't clarify their hair earlier doing the float test. They just dump some shed hair that's covered in oil and products in water and expect it to sink. Since oil floats on water, it volition crusade the hair strands to float which will give the impression of low porosity.

If you desire to larn more about pilus porosity, how to exam your porosity and more, exist certain to check out my grade, Moisture Retention Blueprint where I defended an unabridged module to hair porosity.

b. The Slide Test

The 2d method to determine your hair porosity is with the slide test, which is the easiest porosity exam. This is mainly because yous don't need much, aside from your pilus strands and your sensitivity to touch.

To behave out the slide exam,

• Take a single strand of your hair in one paw
• Stretch that department equally far as your hand tin become to give information technology a faux straight look
• Use your other paw to concur the tip of that section of hair. Yous tin can do this with your thumb and your alphabetize finger
• From the tip, carefully slide your finger down your hair strands towards your scalp.

RESULTS:

• If your hair feels crude or bumpy, y'all accept high porosity
• If information technology feels almost smooth, you lot take normal porosity
• If it feels very smooth and dumbo, you lot accept depression porosity

The problem with the slide test and why it's junk scientific discipline

When you take a look at the structure of the hair, you will notice that the cuticles are arranged on top of each other and they face up downward as your hair grows out of your scalp. This ways that if y'all run your fingers from the roots to the tips, your hair will experience smooth because you will be sliding your fingers in the direction that your cuticles are arranged in. Yet, if you run your fingers from the tips to the ends, yous will be going against the normal arrangements of the cuticles, which makes it absolutely normal to feel some bumps on the hair shaft.

So as you tin can see, the slide test is junk scientific discipline and isn't an authentic style to exam your porosity. Because if yous run your fingers downwardly your hair shaft, every bit opposed to upward your hair shaft, you will exist raising the cuticles and can come to the conclusion that you have high porosity pilus.

c. Spray Examination

The spray exam is similar to the float examination considering it's a way to encounter how fast or slow your pilus absorbs the water that was sprayed on your hair.

To determine your hair porosity using the spray test, here's what to do.

• Take a small-scale department of your hair
• Make sure that the residual of your pilus is set aside with a clip or a band to avoid confusing yourself
• Using a spray canteen, spritz some water on your hair
• Observe how your hair reacts to the h2o you spritzed on it

RESULTS:

• If your pilus absorbs the water apace, you have high porosity
• If your pilus absorbs the water slowly, you have medium/normal porosity
• If the hair doesn't absorb the water at all, you lot have low porosity pilus

The all-time and well-nigh scientific way to test your hair porosity.

After reading through the three ways to determine your hair porosity, yous will notice that there isn't an accurate mode to find out what your hair porosity is. So you may be wondering what your hair porosity is and how tin you lot notice out.

In my course Moisture Retention Blueprint, I stated the fourth style to determine your pilus porosity which is the "obvious method". This method suggests observing the way your hair responds to pilus products and water to determine what your porosity is.

This means that if your pilus feels moisturized as soon every bit y'all employ conditioners in it and it stays moisturized for a few more than days afterward, you can say that you have low porosity hair. Nonetheless, if your hair feels dry a few hours subsequently applying hair products in your hair, you lot tin confidently say that you have high porosity hair.

Factors that touch on hair porosity.

There are many factors that decide your hair porosity levels. Factors such every bit the ingredients in your hair products, the product line you lot use, how you dispense your hair, heat, pilus colors, environments, and your hair routine can touch on the health of your cuticles.

Over fourth dimension every bit your hair grows further away from your scalp, it will lose some cuticle layers, which will, in plow, increase the porosity level of your pilus. In other words, hair closer to your roots will generally have low porosity since it's new hair which has all the cuticle layers in their healthiest state.

Whereas, the hair in the middle part of your pilus shaft volition take normal porosity due to regular manipulation. And hair towards your ends will have high porosity because information technology volition accept fewer cuticle layers. This is too why your twists wait thinner at the ends and your hair feels rough and dry on the ends, as opposed to the roots where the hair is thick and healthy.

courtesy of thenaturalhavenbloom.com

Tin can pilus porosity alter with time?

You can ameliorate your pilus porosity from high to normal or normal to loftier, depending on your pilus routine. So if you lot have high porosity and want to achieve a normal porosity level, you should focus on caring for your cuticle layers so that they stay equally good for you equally possible. Using gentle hair products that won't strip your hair of its natural oils, avoiding heat, over detangling, and manipulation can all contribute to having healthy hair.

High porosity hair is a sign of pilus damage.

From this same article by JC of Natural Haven, she mentioned a few factors that tin can contribute to having high porosity hair. If you take a look at these factors, you will likewise discover that these same factors lead to pilus damage. And based on what we know about the health of the cuticles and porosity, nosotros know that raised and chipped cuticles will lose wet much faster.

Depression porosity pilus is unrealistic unless you take a TWA that'south less than 6 months

Having depression porosity hair does not exist unless you have a TWA and your hair is less than six months old.

Since low porosity pilus mostly doesn't exist if your hair is longer than 3 inches or older than 6 months, then y'all tin can't really reverse your hair porosity unless you cut your hair. This ways that y'all will mostly have normal or high porosity.

Why tin't I opposite my hair from high porosity to low porosity?

If you have high porosity due to severe hair damage such as overuse of rut, bleaching or the use of a hair product that compromises the wellness of your cuticles, and so you lot won't exist able to reverse your hair porosity. As well, this blog postal service by Natural Haven explains how yous tin can't fully close your cuticles, restore chipe pd or missing cuticle layers or force your cuticles to open up.

Determination

Natural hair porosity is very simple. There are iv means to decide your porosity and I recommended the fourth and best manner, which is also the virtually scientific.

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Source: https://www.coilsandglory.com/natural-hair-porosity-guide-for-4c-hair/

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