Hey, curlfriends!

After watching five hours of Youtube tutorials and going to the local beauty supply store then pre-pooing, washing, deep conditioning and styling your hair it comes out HORRIBLE! We’ve all been there before, we’ve all followed the tutorial just as the Youtuber did it but somehow our hair looks completely different than theirs. Why is that? During my hair care journey, I discovered something called hair porosity. It pretty much explains why your hair behaves the way it does and understanding what your hair porosity is can help you make better decisions when it comes to products and styling.

So what exactly is hair porosity? Porosity is a measurement of your hair’s ability to absorb and hold moisture. Porosity is determined by the structure of your cuticle- the outer layer of your hair. Porosity is determined by genetics but can be altered by external factors like heat and chemical processing.

  • Low porosity hair has a tightly bound cuticle layer, making it difficult for moisture to penetrate (but also difficult for moisture to escape, once it’s in your hair.)
  • High porosity hair has gaps and holes in the cuticle, allowing moisture to easily pass in and out.

The NaturallClub has a great blog on how to test your hair’s porosity, you can find it here. Personally, I’ve done their float test and discovered I have low porosity hair and even started incorporating more liquid-based products to avoid product build-up as they said. NaturallClub has great tips on how to care for your type of hair porosity.

I believe truly understanding your hair porosity and how to care for it is such a gamechanger. Once I understood I had fine, low density, low porosity hair it really changed how I treated my hair and my curls began to POP!