Does your hair suck up moisture fast but feels like a brillo pad a few short minutes later? If so, this definitely sounds like you have high porosity hair without realizing it.
Highly porous hair lack a strong enough cuticle barrier to keep moisture from seeping out just as fast as it seeps in.
You hair cuticle may either be naturally raised or it may have cracks and holes within it from damage.
Read on to find out the crucial mistakes you are making with your high porosity so you can retain moisture better.
1. Your Hair Products Are Too Light
Yes! The consistency of your hair products play a role. Hair products that are thicker isn’t as easily absored compared to lightweight products.
The heavier and thicker the product, the slower it evaporates from the hair.
- Instead of runny liquid conditioners, use thicker ones.
- Skip spray based leave ins and choose cream based ones.
- Maybe butters may be better at sticking to the hair than oils
2. Too Much Sulfates
When your hair is high porous, the last thing you want is anything else that will raise the cuticle even more.
It is best to stick to gentle sulfate free shampoo. The lower ph smooths the cuticle down, allowing less moisture out.
You may also find co-washing to be more suitable than a shampoo since it’s even more gentle on the cuticle.
3. Agressively Towel Drying The Hair
Instead of using towels to dry your hair, opt for an old but clean t-shirt.
The fabric on the the t-shirt is much more gentle and doesn’t roughens up the cuticle as much.
The way you dry the hair also makes a difference.
Instead of rubbing the hair like a mad woman, wrap your hair in the t-shirt and just allow it to absorb the moisture for about 30 minutes.
4. Washing Your Hair With Hot Water
Cool water is your best friend girl. I know it may not feel as relaxing but your high porosity hair will thank you for it.
This is because cool water constricts the cuticle which forces them to lay closed.
Hot water does the opposite and actually makes it harder to retain moisture afterwards.
5. Lack Of Protein Treatments
Unlike moisture treatments, protein binds to the outer layer of the hair and fills in cracks along the hair shaft.
When the gaps are filled in, they act as a barrier for preventing moisture loss.
Pay attention to your ingredients and use products that contains “hydrolyzed” in front.
When the protein particles fills in the cracks, this causes moisture evaporation to slow down.
As a result, the hair stays moist longer.
6. Too Much Heat
The last thing you want near your high porosity hair is heat.
Porous hair lacks a strong enough barrier to limit the amount of damage heat can do.
This is why high porosity hair is more prone to heat damage in comparison to low porosity.
Use heat on the lowest setting and don’t forget your heat protectant.
The silicones in the heat protectant will create a seal barrier over the cuticle to limit the amount of damage heat can cause.
7. Wrong Usage Of Sealants
We have been advised to seal our hair with oils to slow down moisture evaporation but all oils are not sealants.
Yes girl, read that again!
Oils with a higher fatty acid content can actually penetrate the hair shaft which doesn’t provide a barrier to preventing moisture evaporation at all.
Choose sealing oils such as castor oil, argan oil, or grapesed oil. These oils are better at locking in moisture since they don’t penetrate the hair shaft.
If your hair is very dense, then you can get away with substituing oils for butters.
Which tip will you add to your hair care regimen?