Do you have curls or coils that struggle to hold moisture? You may have low porosity curly hair. It took me years to figure out the porosity of my hair. Then how to care for my low porosity 4B/C fine coils.
Knowing your hair porosity can help you understand why your hair cuticles are making it hard for water, oils, and conditioners to penetrate and deliver moisture to your hair. It also helps with keeping your hair hydrated in between wash days. In this article, I will explore what low porosity hair is, how to care for it, and ways you can open up the cuticles and allow for the best products to absorb better through different treatments. So let’s get started!
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read full disclaimer here.
Contents
Your Hair Layers
Let’s go through the basics. Your hair is a collection of dead cells arranged in a specific, three-layer pattern:
- the cuticle layer is the outermost layer of your hair. It comprises individual cuticles that overlap each other, like roof shingles
- the cortex is the middle and thickest layer. It contains fibrous proteins and pigments that give your hair its color
- the medulla is the central, innermost layer of the hair shaft.
What is Hair Porosity?
Your hair porosity is a determinant of how your hair behaves to moisture. The different types of porosity are measurements of the hair’s ability to absorb and hold moisture. If you have low porosity hair, it doesn’t easily allow for moisture to be absorbed into the hair strands. Medium porosity hair allows for moisture to reach inside the shaft easily, but it’s not lost too quickly. High porosity hair also allows for moisture to enter the hair cuticle seamlessly but isn’t able to retain moisture.
How To Test your Hair Porosity?
Take a clean unconditioned hair strand and drop it in a glass of water. Let it sit for about 15 min and if it floats you have low porosity hair. If it sinks, your hair is more likely to be high porosity hair.
Low Hair Porosity and Its Characteristics
You’ve tested your hair and discovered it’s low porosity. Here are a few things to know about the porosity of your hair.
Low porosity hair is characterized by tightly packed cuticles that can make it difficult to deliver moisture to your hair strand. Since there is no space between the cuticles, it is harder for low porosity hair to absorb water, oils, and conditioning agents because the gaps between the cuticles are so small that these products cannot penetrate the shaft. There are different characteristics associated with each porosity hair type. Low porosity hair characteristics include:
- Water doesn’t fully penetrate the hair and takes longer to get really wet.
- Hair can take a long time to air dry.
- Hair products tend to sit on top of hair instead of being absorbed. Have you ever added oil to your hair and then touched it an hour later and it feels greasy? That’s probably because it didn’t absorb much, if any, of the product.
- Your hair has little to no elasticity or bounce. It tends to not return to its original shape or curl pattern after being stretched out.
- It can look dull and frizzy due to its lack of moisture.
I wouldn’t consider low porosity hair a negative because once you get the moisture in, it holds moisture once sealed. The downside of having high porosity hair is that it can sometimes mean your hair is damaged. The cuticle no longer lays down, and chemicals, coloring, or too much heat may have disrupted the cuticle.
Tips to Manage Your Low Porosity Curly Hair
If you’re unsure of how to manage your low hair porosity there are some tips and tricks you can use that will help you create more moisture retention.
Water Is Your Best Friend
Start by using sulfate-free hair products that are specifically made for low porosity hair when washing. Water is your best friend, so focus on water-based products that cleanse, strengthen, and nourish dry hair.
When the first ingredient is water for any product you use, it’s safe to assume that 50-90% of the formula is water. Products with ingredients that include fatty acids with a low saturated fat content, like avocado, and hydrating humectants, like aloe vera and honey, are products that will be more likely to penetrate the cuticle layer and moisturize low porosity hair.
Heavy oils, and butters with high saturated fatty acids like shea butter, coconut oil, or castor oil (which is different from Jamaican black caster oil due to its more acidic makeup vs JMCO which is alkaline) can produce build-up and not absorb into your hair shaft.
Protein or Not To Protein
Over-using protein treatments and protein-based hair products can cause an adverse effect on low porosity hair. Healthy low porosity hair already naturally contains its own natural protein, keratin. Because low porosity hair is resistant to moisture, it can also be protein-sensitive.
Because of how sensitive low porosity hair can be, it’s best to stay away from protein-based products if you have healthy hair. Too much protein can create protein overload and leave your hair feeling dry, brittle, and weak, and cause split ends and dreadful breakage.
Wash Day For Low Porosity Hair
Use warm water or hot water when washing your curls or coils. When I first started my natural journey most of my stylists told me to use cold water to rinse my hair when shampooing and conditioning. When you have low porosity hair, warm to hot water, and heat aid in opening up the cuticles to allow all of the nutrients and moisture from shampoos and conditioners to absorb into the hair shaft.
Cold water can further tighten the cuticles, making it even harder for them to absorb moisture and products. For years, I could never understand why my hair was so dry a day after getting it done. Once I did a bit more research and switched up my routine, the results were night and day.
Pre-poos and clarifying shampoos help with buildup and maintaining a healthy scalp. One thing I do now with my locs is pre-poo with all natural Aloe Vera gel and sit under a steamer for about 10-15 min. I then wash my hair in the shower with a good clarifying shampoo mixed with Aloe Vera juice (this helps to ease the effects of hard water which has low pH levels due to aloe vera being alkaline which has higher pH levels) from a spray bottle to penetrate my scalp. It has done wonders when I have had bouts of seborrheic dermatitis.
Conditioning Low Porosity Hair
Use a deep-conditioner and leave-in conditioner to add extra moisture and protection when styling your curls and coils. But don’t sleep on DIY leave-in conditioners where you can add natural hydrating ingredients like humectants that pull moisture from the environment and into your hair to the recipe.
The most simplistic and natural humectants like aloe vera gel and honey are great for adding that extra layer of hydration after shampooing and conditioning your hair. If DIY is not for you, gravitate toward products that have humectants like sorbitol, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid in their mix of ingredients.
Can’t Beat The Heat
After washing, treat curls and coils with care when removing excess water by using microfiber cloths or an old T-shirt. The fibers from these items are gentler on wet hair and won’t pull on hair strands.
Don’t be shy about using heat caps, natural heat, steam, hooded dryer, or deep conditioning treatments. This will help open up the cuticles so that conditioning and styling products can better penetrate your locks. It can be as simple as placing a shower cap on damp and conditioned hair for an hour or longer to help trap body heat and retain moisture.
Before styling, I’ve seen success with using steam treatments for an extra 20 min once a month in the winter after applying my moisturizing products and oiling my scalp to help absorb more hydration. This is especially helpful in very dry climates.
To Touch Or Not To Touch?
Use a wide-tooth comb or your fingers instead of a brush when detangling curls and coils. This will help to reduce breakage and keep the cuticles intact. Though you may be using your fingers to help detangle your hair during and after washing, it’s best to keep your hands out of your hair in between wash days.
The constant touching and pulling of low porosity hair can accelerate the loss of moisture, accumulate grease and dirt on your hair, and lead to breakage and hair loss.
Trap Moisture
Lastly, avoid using too many styling products that have heavy silicone, waxes, or other ingredients that can coat the curls or coils and make it even more difficult for them to absorb moisture. I personally only use products that are silicone-free, mineral-oil-free, and no parabens with natural ingredients.
If you follow the LOC (liquids/leave-in, oils, creams) or LCO (liquid/leave-in, creams, oils) method, lightweight is the name of the game, and products like revitalizing mists, light water-based mousses, lightweight oils like baobab and grapeseed oils can obtain the results you are hoping to achieve.
The opposite goes for high porosity hair. Heavy creams, butters, and oils help to seal in the gaps and provide a protective layer. Because the cuticle is open, typically these heavier ingredients work will for highly porous hair. For low porosity hair these heavy hair products can cause product buildup over time.
Conclusion
Caring for curls and coils with low porosity can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be an impossible task. I consider my low porosity hair as a natural girl a good thing. It lets me know my hair has minimal damage and with the right routine, I don’t have to do much to add moisture to it in between wash days and maintain healthier hair.
There is still a lot to consider like the thickness, texture, and density of your hair, in addition to the climate where you live, your physical health, hair health, age, and nutrition. Following these tips will help you manage low porosity curls or coils so that they can reach their full potential.
You may need to experiment with a few different methods to see what works best for your hair. But the important thing is to keep them healthy, moisturized, and figure out the best hair care routine for you. Good luck!