PDA

View Full Version : Healthy hair is low porosity?



proo
May 18th, 2017, 08:35 PM
Thoughts ?

littlestarface
May 18th, 2017, 08:41 PM
No, everyone has different porosity naturally. Some people have hair thats high porosity and its just naturally like that.

pailin
May 18th, 2017, 08:44 PM
Well, from what I read, low porosity hair can actually be dry and difficult to get moisture into. That's hardly ideal. High porosity does seem to be associated with damage, but I haven't seen people specifically associate medium porosity hair with damage. My understanding is medium is basically normal, and the easiest to work with.

Aredhel
May 18th, 2017, 08:48 PM
Definitely untrue. You can increase the porosity of your hair by damaging it, but high porosity hair doesn't automatically mean it's damaged. :) One of my best friends has 3b/3c curls, her 8 y/o daughter has 4a curls, both of them have incredibly healthy hair but their hair drinks up absolutely everything they put in it.

My hair is damaged, but is still very low in porosity.

spidermom
May 18th, 2017, 08:56 PM
High porosity hair here.

lapushka
May 19th, 2017, 04:03 AM
I would say healthy hair is normal porosity. Mine is normal, so I'm not complaining. It's only low if your hair can't take chemical services like perms chemical straightenings, or color or some things of that nature.

spidermom
May 19th, 2017, 07:36 AM
High porosity hair here.

I didn't finish my thought. It absorbs conditioning treatments well, but nothing I did or didn't do could ever stop it from splitting like crazy.

H o n є y ❤
May 19th, 2017, 07:46 AM
No, not always. I think this is the exact reason so many people feel the need to claim low porosity. I don't see too many people claiming medium or high. There's nothing wrong with the other two porosities if they're innate to your hair.

proo
May 19th, 2017, 08:50 AM
Thanks for the replies
I ask because my porosity has changed from high to low as the health of my hair has improved-
mostly from not using heat anymore and low manipulation-
I've stopped coating my hair with product too, micro dust weekly so have a clear bead on it's natural state

Anje
May 19th, 2017, 02:48 PM
Depends on the person. My hair, when healthy, seems to be on the low side of normal -- it certainly doesn't absorb much when I apply things to it. But there are plenty of people with very healthy hair that just drinks up oils, creams, you name it. The trend is probably that curlier hair is more likely to be higher porosity even when healthy, but you have to go by what's normal for the individual, because there are going to be a lot of people with healthy hair that deviate from that.

meteor
May 20th, 2017, 11:39 AM
I think one of the issues that makes this question difficult to answer is the very definition of "low" or "medium" or "high" as applied to hair's porosity. There isn't any scientifically defined specific range for total pore volume, pore-size distribution per surface area to qualify for low/medium/high porosity that I'm aware of. All we know is that hair is porous (but not too porous, like a sponge), that it's naturally pretty hydrophobic when its integrity is fine, and it becomes more porous and more hydrophilic as it is exposed to more damage (e.g. photo-damage, oxidative dyes, etc, etc...). For example, it can absorb around 30% of its weight in water when it's in good condition, but around 45% of its weight in water when the hair is damaged and its integrity is compromised. (http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/topic/topic_sousrub.aspx?tc=ROOT-HAIR-SCIENCE^PORTRAIT-OF-AN-UNKNOWN-ELEMENT^WHAT-WE-DO-SEE&cur=WHAT-WE-DO-SEE)

It also appears that some hair is genetically more likely to show lower inter-scale distance (average distance between two successive cuticle scales), more cuticle layers, wider cuticle cells, steeper cuticular inclination, narrower cuticular intervals (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21951315, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12789163, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16957811), which would make it lower porosity naturally, compared to others, at least at the roots, assuming no chemical treatments or other sources of damage.



Thanks for the replies
I ask because my porosity has changed from high to low as the health of my hair has improved-
mostly from not using heat anymore and low manipulation-
I've stopped coating my hair with product too, micro dust weekly so have a clear bead on it's natural state

That is actually pretty common, especially for longer (older) hair. (I had this, too, since I stopped highlighting hair. I think it's a case of new growth showing natural, genetically programmed porosity, not influenced by external factors - in this case, bleach, which increases porosity.) If you check out reports (hair analysis under microscope) from Goosefootprints (Science-y Hair Blog) here or on the Naturally Curly forum, you'll see that a lot of people have higher porosity on their lengths and ends compared to their roots, simply because the ends have sustained more damage. And this corresponds to the research I've seen on the subject (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18503441, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387693/, Robbins CR. Chemical and Physical Behavior of Human Hair. 4th ed. New York: Springer; 2013).

One of the ways damage shows is chipped cuticles, microcavities, etc., which is why many people enjoy oiling and applying heavy conditioners to ends only or only to specific damaged areas, for example.

There is also some interesting research that measured the speed of pore formation when exposed to some damaging environments:
True porosity measurement of hair: a new way to study hair damage mechanisms - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18818850

Chemical damage (oxidative bleach) nearly triples the hair surface area in the first minute of bleaching due to the increase in the number of pores, followed by a sudden drop after 10 min of bleaching from smaller pores breaking down into larger ones. In contrast, UV damage shows an immediate loss in surface area in the first 200 hr of exposure and a gradual increase as exposure time continues.

Hairkay
May 20th, 2017, 12:13 PM
False. Hair can be healthy any porosity though some high porosity hair is attributed to damage. I'm low porosity, my daily washes work out best for my hair. I've noticed that the last 3 inches feel the driest. That's because that's the oldest hair so the porosity at the tips may be high porosity.

Dark40
May 20th, 2017, 02:32 PM
I agree with lapushka. My porosity is normal too. I have no complaints either. My hair can take any chemical services. Like, relaxing and coloring, and it is still very healthy.

lapushka
May 20th, 2017, 03:47 PM
I agree with lapushka. My porosity is normal too. I have no complaints either. My hair can take any chemical services. Like, relaxing and coloring, and it is still very healthy.

Yeah, I do mean hypothetical chemical services. My hair isn't chemically treated in any way, hence: normal porosity. The chemical services, if you have had any will make your hair higher porosity.

Ondine11
May 20th, 2017, 04:19 PM
It all depends on why the hair has high porosity! Type 4 a-c hair tends to be naturally very porous. Even when it is unprocessed, virgin hair in a very healthy person: it is a genetic trait that is normal. It also tends to be prone to dryness & frizzing. Some people with very straight A1 hair, with very low porosity have dry, rope-like hair naturally. Again, it can be a normal genetic trait. I'm anywhere from a 2c-3b depending upon where on my head you choose to look,& the weather that day. Us 3 rangers often have 3 different textures. I call mine AAUUGGHH!!! Textured: Mother Nature was feeling indecisive when she zapped up my hair.

Mine naturally is medium porosity. It only became high porosity years ago, when I chemically fried it by repeatedly experimenting with different products, often overlapping processes. NO, this was NOT smart.

proo
May 21st, 2017, 07:12 AM
Thanks again for all the info-
The consensus appears to be that natural porosity is genetically determined and encompasses a pretty wide spectrum.
However it can be changed by a variety of things:
Heat, bleach, weathering, contact with porous fabric-
I've done all those except for bleach.
Its great to know that my hair has the ability to recover completely.
I also practice a modified SO routine and believe my sebum is a significant part of lowering my porosity.

It's surprising to hear that 4a-c texture is predisposed to high porosity as I thought it was the opposite based on YouTube tutorials of that type.

zashin66
May 21st, 2017, 10:51 AM
My hair must be high porosity and thus more prone to damage.

Dendra
May 21st, 2017, 05:08 PM
I've noticed that after having done about 7-8 coconut oil DTs in the past couple of months my hair has stopped drinking up the oil like it used to, and I'm actually using a lot less oil than I did at first.

This to me suggests that I might have helped my damaged mid-lengths and ends travel a little towards the lower porosity end of the scale.

likelikepenny
May 21st, 2017, 06:51 PM
I think low porosity hair is healthy, but that doesn't discount other porosities from being healthy as it seems to be genetically determined. My hair is very low porosity and doesn't require a lot of upkeep at all. Oils slide right off, conditioners get diluted 3 to 1, and I have very few splits.

I think the reason why low porosity hair is "difficult" is the same reason why curly hair is "difficult". Hair products aren't really catered to low porosity as most people blow fry their hair everyday, making their hair high porosity. Once you realize what low porosity hair needs, it's one of the easiest things to take care of IMHO. My only problem is I have course strands that I'd like to weigh down, but my low porosity hair doesn't like heavy products. :/

Dark40
May 21st, 2017, 07:00 PM
Yeah, I do mean hypothetical chemical services. My hair isn't chemically treated in any way, hence: normal porosity. The chemical services, if you have had any will make your hair higher porosity.

Oh, I see now. That's true. Because, of the chemical services done on it. I bet you are glad that you don't get any chemical services done on your hair. I wish that I didn't have to have them but my hair is more manageable with them. Then, without it.

Dark40
May 21st, 2017, 07:04 PM
I know for a fact that my hair is very healthy with low porosity. Because, I don't get any split ends or damage hairs at all. Even though I chemically treat it. I also keep it up with oil treatments and deep conditioning, and protein treatments.

hayheadsbird
May 21st, 2017, 11:55 PM
I suspect mine is on the lower side of normal. oil and products don't make much difference, very few splits ect. The drying is strange, the clumps of waves take longer and if it's up in any way will still be damp 24 hours later, but if it's down to dry it's done in a couple of hours. Water doesn't seam to penitrate very easily, but the ends don't get excessively dry either. If a run my fingers up the hair shaft the only difference from down is a slight squeaky noise. It makes hair care cheaper though - most products make very little difference so there no point it buying them!

Andthetalltrees
May 22nd, 2017, 12:28 AM
I suspect mine is on the lower side of normal. oil and products don't make much difference, very few splits ect. The drying is strange, the clumps of waves take longer and if it's up in any way will still be damp 24 hours later, but if it's down to dry it's done in a couple of hours. Water doesn't seam to penitrate very easily, but the ends don't get excessively dry either. If a run my fingers up the hair shaft the only difference from down is a slight squeaky noise. It makes hair care cheaper though - most products make very little difference so there no point it buying them!

Sounds a lot like my hair!

proo
May 22nd, 2017, 07:24 AM
Might we agree that relative to its natural predisposition, hair becomes less porous as it becomes healthier?

ghanima
May 22nd, 2017, 09:48 AM
In the Curly-Girl-method community it's often reported that after a while the hair doesn't quite need the same amount of products as before to stay moisturized.

Anje
May 22nd, 2017, 12:43 PM
Might we agree that relative to its natural predisposition, hair becomes less porous as it becomes healthier?

I'd be more comfortable reversing it. Damaging hair makes it more porous.