Over-moisturized low porosity hair? Is it possible?

[CarrotTop]

It seems pretty clear to me that I have low-porosity hair: not only do I fit all the criteria in every porosity test I've seen, I've never done any real chemical or heat damage that might lower the porosity. For a long time, my hair was chronically dry, and thick, oil-based products would, at best, cause buildup, and, at worst, make my hair a sticky, waxy mess. I cut out products with protein a long time ago, since everything I read said that low-porosity hair needed moisture more. I eventually started WCC with a silicone-free and then a coney conditioner, and at first, it made my hair SUPER soft. But now, I'm beginning to worry if it's over-moisturized. A wet strand will stretch to six times its original length before breaking, but stretch it even three times its original length, and it won't bounce back. I have a tendency to get distracted and take very long showers, so my hair often might get 10+ minutes with the cone-free conditioner in it. Is this maybe causing my problems? What should I do to get my hair less stretchy? Is it even a bad thing my hair is this stretchy? :confused: This is the first time I've encountered this, so any and all advice would be appreciated! :)

[Decoy24601]

Leaving conditioner in for 10+ minutes won't harm your hair. In fact, people do SMTs all the time (including myself and I have low porosity hair), which is conditioner + aloe + honey.

You might try treating it with a product that has protein one time and see what that does. I know my hair does benefit from protein every once in a while.

When you tried stretching your hair was it fully dry? I know my hair gets a lot more stretchy and "gummy" when it's not fully dry.

How often do you get your hair fully wet in the shower, regardless of if you use shampoo or conditioner? I know my hair doesn't like getting wet every day (I try to stretch it 3 days). YMMV

[diddiedaisy]

Over stretchy wet hair needs some protein. :)

[Johannah]

Answer on your question: yes, it's possible, it happened to me as well (thanks to CO-ing for a long time). Low-porosity hair is hard to moisturize, but when the moisturized is locked in, it's LOCKED IN. And then it can go wrong pretty easily. Try the gelatin treatment. This is a cheap, easy and effective protein treatment. Leave the WCC for what it is and just S&C. You also might want to find a conditioner with protein in it for the next couple of weeks to balance it out.

Protein *is* moisturizing by the way, because it functions as a humectant. You might want to inform yourself on these humectants since it's a great way to moisturize your low porosity hair without the waxy feeling products might give.

Here are some articles:
Gelatin treatment: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.be/2014/04/gelatin-protein-treatment-recipe-update.html
Humectants 1: http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/the-ultimate-guide-to-humectants-and-hair/
Humectants 2: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.be/2014/07/film-forming-humectants-what-they-are.html
Low-porosity hair: http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.be/2014/07/moisturizing-low-porosity-hair.html
Protein as a moisturizer: http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2010/03/moisture-issue-proteins-and-moisture.html

[lapushka]

Low porosity hair withstands chemical services (I'm getting on my soapbox here :lol:) so it's impossible to take color or perms or things like that. So I very much doubt the "low porosity" label in general (I'm not saying specifically you).

I'd try and clarify or just start S/C as normal for a while to start afresh, if I were you. Maybe WCC is too much and you can just do with S/C.

[Johannah]

Low porosity hair withstands chemical services (I'm getting on my soapbox here :lol:) so it's impossible to take color or perms or things like that. So I very much doubt the "low porosity" label in general (I'm not saying specifically you).

I'd try and clarify or just start S/C as normal for a while to start afresh, if I were you. Maybe WCC is too much and you can just do with S/C.

Well, I think "low porosity" is a dimension, not a static feature if that makes sense. Some low porosity hair reacts differently than others. I think it's just a thing you need to be aware of, and find out what works and what doesn't.

[lapushka]

Makes sense, Johannah. But still I think "low porosity" is overused. Seems like nobody has normal porosity, it's either low or high, so that doesn't make much sense to me either. Something is up with that!

[Johannah]

Makes sense, Johannah. But still I think "low porosity" is overused. Seems like nobody has normal porosity, it's either low or high, so that doesn't make much sense to me either. Something is up with that!

Yeah, guess you're right about that! But on the other hand, there are *a lot* of people who visit this forum because of damage, so they call it 'high porosity'. Which is true, for the parts that has been damaged, off course. Guess that's the reason why we hear this a lot. Not to forget there are a lot of "tests" for low porosity... But I don't really believe in them. The only way to find out if your hair is low porous, is a science-based test (which means a microscope).

I've been questioning the low-porosity thing on myself a lot as well lately. It would explain a lot and all the "tips and tricks" to moisturize this kind of hair works for me like a charm, but still. I'm going to do a hair analysis (https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/158218594/hair-analysis-physical-properties-of?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=hair%20analysis&ref=sr_gallery_1) soon, then I know :lol: I wanted to do this for years now, but I never got to it. Now I took the plunge :lol: I can reward myself for my school results, right...? haha!

[Anje]

Agree -- porosity normally isn't a thing people have to worry about. It doesn't really figure into working out what your hair needs.

If your hair feels stretchy, especially if you try to comb it when wet, it definitely will benefit from protein. I'd try a protein treatment and then follow it up with moisture, and see how that turns out.

Because it ended up that way, I'd also suggest you get a conditioner with protein and a conditioner without protein. Use them both. Use the no-protein one more if your hair starts feeling overly stiff or hard. Use the protein one if your hair feels too soft or stretchy. You'll hit on a sort of balance sooner or later, and there's nothing wrong with picking your products day-to-day based on what you want out of your hair.

[Lanalavallama]

CarrotTop, it sounds as if a protein treatment will benefit your hair. I like elasticiser(sp) treatments every once in a while; it's a moisturising/strengthening treatment. My hair doesn't like protein too much, and the elasticiser treatments are a nice compromise.

[CarrotTop]

Thank you all! :o I don't know if my hair would qualify as "low porosity" in the strictest sense– I've never dyed my hair or chemically processed it, so I don't know how resistant it would be. And goodness only knows how wildly inaccurate the "porosity tests" I see online are! By "low porosity" I more meant that, despite it normally being very dry and its coarse texture, it's very easily weighed down and doesn't (usually) seem to want to absorb anything.
Thank you in particular for those links, Johanna! I'd read things along the lines of that before, but those laid it all out very clearly for me! I'll definitely try the gelatin treatment, too! :)
Right now, I tend to wash my hair anywhere between every other day and every fourth day. I forgot to mention it in my original post, but I should probably lay off the 24-hour-or-more damp braiding after every wash. I've been doing it since I was eight, but it might not be doing me any favors anymore. (At first, I had f/i hair that, in a single braid, would dry thoroughly by morning. Now, with c/iii hair, it takes 24 hours or more in two braids.)
Final conclusion: I should do a gelatin treatment, not condition for quite as long, and try to S/C with a conditioner with protein. Thanks for all the advice! :D

[Ana H.]

Protein really, really, really helped my hair when it was like this! I think it was Anje who recommended the ApHogee two step protein treatment to me. It worked like a charm. The ends felt a little crunchy at first but after the second wash and deep conditioning it was completely back to normal. I’ve tried gelatin treatments and they work pretty well but from my limited experience I don’t think they’re as strong as the ApHogee. Maybe if you find that your hair responds well to the gelatin but is still not quite normal you could try a stronger treatment. Good luck! :)

[CarrotTop]

Thanks for the recommendation, Ana H.! :) I'm going to try the gelatin next time I wash my hair, probably tomorrow. If my hair is still really stretchy after gelatin, I'll might pick up the 2-step treatment. Even if the gelatin works well, I might get the ApHogee 2-minute Keratin treatment for "maintenance," since that might be easier for me to use than mixing up gelatin. (Whenever I make DIY mixtures, I somehow always manage to use a dozen different utensils and spill half on the kitchen counter... :rolleyes: )

[florenonite]

Low porosity hair withstands chemical services (I'm getting on my soapbox here :lol:) so it's impossible to take color or perms or things like that. So I very much doubt the "low porosity" label in general (I'm not saying specifically you).

I'd try and clarify or just start S/C as normal for a while to start afresh, if I were you. Maybe WCC is too much and you can just do with S/C.

I think in a way it's become a short-hand for certain characteristics of hair. I mean, I'm not 100% certain I have low porosity hair, but my henna gloss faded, Sun-In did nothing, and it took a long time to bleach the indigo in a strand test. My hair also takes ages to dry (at shoulder blade-length, upwards of 8 hours), really doesn't like any oils or other filming products when wet, also really doesn't like humectants, never absorbs my sebum like normal hair, etc. Essentially, it behaves like low-porosity hair, and so if I describe it as such to others then it works as a short-hand for how my hair behaves and what it likes and doesn't like, KWIM?

[Johannah]

Thanks for the recommendation, Ana H.! :) I'm going to try the gelatin next time I wash my hair, probably tomorrow. If my hair is still really stretchy after gelatin, I'll might pick up the 2-step treatment. Even if the gelatin works well, I might get the ApHogee 2-minute Keratin treatment for "maintenance," since that might be easier for me to use than mixing up gelatin. (Whenever I make DIY mixtures, I somehow always manage to use a dozen different utensils and spill half on the kitchen counter... :rolleyes: )

Here is how I do it:

Put +/- 120 ml of water and +/- 7.5 gr of gelatin in a bowl (you can change this to whatever you want. If you have shorter hair, I would use less water and if you want a stronger protein treatment I would use more gelatin)
Put it in the microwave until hot
Mix it with a spoon so there aren't any clumps left
Leave it in your kitchen until normal temperature
Leave it in the refrigerator until it's thick
Voila!


In the shower:

Wash your hair (or even clarify)
Put the gelatin in your hair
Leave it in for 15 minutes (mild treatment) or longer (medium treatment) or even blowdry until it feels hard (strong treatment)
Rinse
Use *a lot* of a moisturizing conditioner and rinse
Voilà!

[school of fish]

I think in a way it's become a short-hand for certain characteristics of hair. I mean, I'm not 100% certain I have low porosity hair, but my henna gloss faded, Sun-In did nothing, and it took a long time to bleach the indigo in a strand test. My hair also takes ages to dry (at shoulder blade-length, upwards of 8 hours), really doesn't like any oils or other filming products when wet, also really doesn't like humectants, never absorbs my sebum like normal hair, etc. Essentially, it behaves like low-porosity hair, and so if I describe it as such to others then it works as a short-hand for how my hair behaves and what it likes and doesn't like, KWIM?

This is rather how I see porosity in a practical sense as well - as a set of characteristics that influence how hair behaves. I also look at porosity as a spectrum, not a hard and fast set of definitions, just like texture typing ;)

In my case my hair will take henna (although it takes several applications build up the colour) and it will take conventional dye but it won't absorb oils AT ALL. The tiniest amount of oil takes days and multiple washings to remove. It's very hard to moisturize and builds up extremely quickly from anything, whether from product or my own sebum. It's like nothing can get inside under the cuticle, so what sits on top has to be cleaned off regularly.

Although my hair may not technically fit every 'requirement' for low porosity, it sure as hell acts like it in every practical sense for its daily care demands ;) And since I've found so many helpful tips from low-porosity threads that I've been able to make my hair look, feel and behave better, I'm sticking with the low-porosity descriptor ;) So yes, I'm using the term as shorthand too.

As to the OP's original question, yes I think it's possible for low porosity hair to get overmoisturized just like any other hair type - it just may take more to get it to that state, that's all. And the conventional LHC wisdom holds on treatment - if hair is weakned and too elastic from moisture then some strengthening from protein is likely in order.

For maintaining moisture on my own builduppey-won't-absorb-anything hair I've found consistent rinse-out moisture treatments (CO washing, regular SMTs) with conditioners and humectants to be way more effective than any leave-ins, or oil treatments. Anything that's meant to soak in just sits on top and looks and feels terrible, so it's best for me to use stuff that rinses off, and to use it often and rinse it off often :)

[lapushka]

I think in a way it's become a short-hand for certain characteristics of hair. I mean, I'm not 100% certain I have low porosity hair, but my henna gloss faded, Sun-In did nothing, and it took a long time to bleach the indigo in a strand test. My hair also takes ages to dry (at shoulder blade-length, upwards of 8 hours), really doesn't like any oils or other filming products when wet, also really doesn't like humectants, never absorbs my sebum like normal hair, etc. Essentially, it behaves like low-porosity hair, and so if I describe it as such to others then it works as a short-hand for how my hair behaves and what it likes and doesn't like, KWIM?

I didn't say it was true for everybody, just that there is something up when perfectly "normal" hair is classified "low porosity". And that happens, because I never see *anyone* classify their hair as "normal porosity". I classify mine as such, but I think I might be the only one. Make sense? :)

[florenonite]

I didn't say it was true for everybody, just that there is something up when perfectly "normal" hair is classified "low porosity". And that happens, because I never see *anyone* classify their hair as "normal porosity". I classify mine as such, but I think I might be the only one. Make sense? :)

Ah, I gotcha now :) Yeah, I don't remember ever seeing anyone describe their hair as normal porosity, yourself excepted.

[CarrotTop]

I never see *anyone* classify their hair as "normal porosity".
I think this might be because people with normal porosity don't bother typing or thinking about their porosity at all. People with lower or higher porosity notice problems related to porosity, so they bring it up more.

[lapushka]

I think this might be because people with normal porosity don't bother typing or thinking about their porosity at all. People with lower or higher porosity notice problems related to porosity, so they bring it up more.

Possible! :)

[school of fish]

I think this might be because people with normal porosity don't bother typing or thinking about their porosity at all. People with lower or higher porosity notice problems related to porosity, so they bring it up more.

That totally makes sense to me too :) The ones who are at the outer edges of the porosity spectrum will likely find they have issues to contend with that the ones in the centre don't have to think about at all... would therefore make sense that the lows and the highs would feel the need to type themselves as such, where the normals wouldn't need to bother :)

[H o n є y ❤]

You know when I didn't have my regimen quite figured out yet I described myself as being low porosity. Now that I have found a regimen that works well I feel like I'm normal porosity because I'm not having anymore problems with moisture. So now I just label myself as "normal to low porosity" :p

[Ana H.]

Thanks for the recommendation, Ana H.! :) I'm going to try the gelatin next time I wash my hair, probably tomorrow. If my hair is still really stretchy after gelatin, I'll might pick up the 2-step treatment. Even if the gelatin works well, I might get the ApHogee 2-minute Keratin treatment for "maintenance," since that might be easier for me to use than mixing up gelatin. (Whenever I make DIY mixtures, I somehow always manage to use a dozen different utensils and spill half on the kitchen counter... :rolleyes: )

Haha! I’m glad I’m not the only one who makes a mess!:)

[CarrotTop]

So I tried the gelatin treatment, and it definitely helped my hair become less stretchy! :happydance: The results weren't super dramatic, so I'll probably do it again next time I wash my hair, in a couple of days. If my hair's still pretty mushy, I'll probably go to a store-bought treatment. Also, I'm thinking it would probably be good for me to get a regular conditioner with protein in it to use more often. Thank you all for helping me! :flower:

[Johannah]

So I tried the gelatin treatment, and it definitely helped my hair become less stretchy! :happydance: The results weren't super dramatic, so I'll probably do it again next time I wash my hair, in a couple of days. If my hair's still pretty mushy, I'll probably go to a store-bought treatment. Also, I'm thinking it would probably be good for me to get a regular conditioner with protein in it to use more often. Thank you all for helping me! :flower:

Yeey! :cheese::cheese:

[lapushka]

You know when I didn't have my regimen quite figured out yet I described myself as being low porosity. Now that I have found a regimen that works well I feel like I'm normal porosity because I'm not having anymore problems with moisture. So now I just label myself as "normal to low porosity" :p

The labels are *hard* and I don't like them that much. I remember when my hair was out of whack once, when I did henna / bleach, boy that was high porosity if ever I saw it because I colored it with chemical dye after and the dye uptake was so fast I got black hair instead of light brown (and a chemical cut & burn). That was about the only time my hair was high porosity.

[Ana H.]

YAY! I’m glad the gelatin helped =)!

[Vanilla Mint]

I'm really sleepy, so I'm sorry if someone already suggested or mentioned this, but have you tried a good clarifying wash and *then* following that with your choice of protein? For me, my hair will get stretchy and mushy when it's super coated with product (and for some reason, at one point it took an ACV rinse to really fix the problem. Weird stuff.), and if I were to just slap protein on top of that, my results would be really hindered. Hope you figure it out!

[CarrotTop]

Thanks for reminding me, Vanilla Mint! :) Right now, I've been washing my hair with a silicone-free shampoo (White Rain Kids Watermelon 3-in-1), but it's pretty gentle, so I might want to try something a little more clarifying tomorrow. I do think some of my issues might have to due with it being coated with products–*the first time I recall my hair being mushy was a time when I was using a cheapie hair masque, which had more "coating" ingredients than "soaking in" ingredients.