What on earth is porosity?

[illicitlizard]

I've seen it mentioned a few times, tried to find more info but can't get my head around it. I understand the basic gist is more porous hair absorbs more product, but how important is porosity in influencing which products you use? Is one level of porosity better/worse for certain styles than others? How on earth do you know how porous your hair is? Do you even need to know or is it possible to just go on your merry way never knowing?

Apologies if this has been covered in depth elsewhere, thanks for the help in advance!

[akurah]

Porous hair doesn't absorb more or less product--porosity is in reference in the ability to retain moisture.

https://www.naturallycurly.com/texture-typing/hair-porosity
This article should explain it a bit more clearly.

[illicitlizard]

Porous hair doesn't absorb more or less product--porosity is in reference in the ability to retain moisture.

https://www.naturallycurly.com/texture-typing/hair-porosity
This article should explain it a bit more clearly.

This is why it's so confusing! I saw multiple people saying that it absorbed product better, but I assume it was just ambiguous phrasing -_- Thank you for the source!

[illicitlizard]

So, using that there source I tried the float test but literally couldn't see my hair in the water because it's relatively light and quite fine. But running fingers down it in the wrong direction is relatively smooth so I guess we're looking at low porosity? Honestly I think I'm gonna forget about it until my haircare routine no longer works well rip

[lapushka]

I think safe to say is that most people have somewhat normal to low porosity, if your hair is virgin, you don't dye, or bleach, I think it is fairly normal.

If you dye, bleach, do heat styling, well the more you do it, the more your hair goes towards being porous.

You can have it tested, I think a few places on Etsy test strands of hair.

The float test is particularly flawed, it needs to be hair that is product-free, dry, and then still the test can go wrong!

[akurah]

So, using that there source I tried the float test but literally couldn't see my hair in the water because it's relatively light and quite fine. But running fingers down it in the wrong direction is relatively smooth so I guess we're looking at low porosity? Honestly I think I'm gonna forget about it until my haircare routine no longer works well rip

I missed that in the article, either it was sneaky or I linked the wrong one. The “float test” is complete bunk and bad science, for reasons that are so long and so many I don’t care to list them out on my phone because typing on the phone sucks. And when i say bunk science, I mean there is NOTHING that can be done (by anyone) to make it legit, it’s a load of crock. Not clean hair, not dirty hair, none of that. Ignore it, it’s worthless for hair care purposes.

Your hair is most likely normal porosity, or medium porosity. High porosity tends to be curly hair or people with processed hair. I’m not sure who typically has low porosity hair off the top of my head.

[akurah]

This is the actual article I meant to link:
https://www.curlcentric.com/hair-porosity/

[Groovy Granny]

Ah...it finally makes sense ...thank you :thumbsup:

[illicitlizard]

HAHAAAA omg again, this is why it's so confusing. Well, glad it's bunk science, I kinda wondered what the thought behind that was, what with the surface tension and my hair being ridiculously fine and ya know, scalp oils.

Thanks lapushka for the clarification, my hair is currently virgin so I guess somewhere around low porosity it is.

And that second source mentioned something I'd never considered, uv damages the cuticle! Makes sense but I'd never considered it.

[lapushka]

Thanks lapushka for the clarification, my hair is currently virgin so I guess somewhere around low porosity it is.

I have to agree with akurah that low porosity is rarer than we think. I think virgin hair is more a standard normal porosity than anything, especially if you have no issues with products (and you use regular warm water to wash and wash your products out).

[akurah]

High/medium/low porosity is more likely tied to your ethnicity and hair type than how virgin your hair is. Someone with curly virgin hair is almost always high porosity, for example.

[lapushka]

High/medium/low porosity is more likely tied to your ethnicity and hair type than how virgin your hair is. Someone with curly virgin hair is almost always high porosity, for example.

I know plenty of curly virgin hairs that claim to have normal to low porosity. Look around on YT, for instance; they are out there.

[akurah]

I know plenty of curly virgin hairs that claim to have normal to low porosity. Look around on YT, for instance; they are out there.

I’m not saying people with curly hair can’t have low porosity hair, I’m saying the odds, with how curly hair works, is that someone with curly hair is more likely to have high porosity hair than medium or low porosity.

[MoonRabbit]

Yeah I've always been confused by this. I have some old heat damage and other types of damage in my hair which should make me on the higher end. I experience frizz and dryness as well. Yet conditioners never seen to absorb and it takes around 5 to 6 hours for my hair to dry. Which is signs for low porosity....eesh.

Yet my partner with wavy hair, has virgin and almost no damage, zero frizz and his hair dries in less than an hour after the shower.

I'm so confused 😕

Also his hair is twice my thickness!