porosity under a microscope: heck if I can tell!

[AuNaturel]

So apparently the float test is a terrible way of gauging porosity?

http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/hair-porosity-how-to-measure-sort-of.html


I looked at my (very very dry, curly coily, color-treated) hair under a microscope, and heck if I can tell what it means. I assumed that, because I have my hair dyed these days since going grey, that it is high porosity. But it's hard to tell, honestly! Also wow, all the scruffy weird things going on, man. Poor hair, lol.

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/entry.php?b=139457


My actual question: Is it true that all dyed hair is porous? I'm going to keep going along with the assumption that my hair is dry, damaged, porous, and needs moisture and protective styling if I want to grow it long. (See the rest of my blog for photo details; it used to be MUCH longer when I was 30, and despite no chops, is much shorter now in my 40s, which brings me great angst.)

[jane_marie]

I'm not sure what these photos indicate or the answer to your question. I'll leave that to the experts.

That said, I am a major lab nerd and think this is an awesome idea for a thread. :)

[AuNaturel]

Yes! Post your microscope pics and everybody weigh in! I would love to hear what people think I should do with this scrappy splitty crackle-cuticle hair of mine, lol. (Am I indeed high-porosity and damaged, as I assume? The cuticle didn't look like the online photos. But I dye, so I assume that means porous.)

Everybody, feel free to jump in with your own pics!

I washed a strand of my hair in dish detergent, to get rid of any product, and then I got it wet and laid it across a slide (wet so it would stick to the slide - the curly end kept popping up otherwise; straight hairs may not have to get it wet).

Then I simply held my phone up to my kid's microscope eyepiece and took pics. Try it, everyone! It works!

[jane_marie]

Have you looked into the SMT thread yet? A lot of people swear by it. I would think that it might help you too. :)

[AuNaturel]

Yes, I love SMTs! I have been concentrating on deep treatments with Olaplex and protein, but I think I'm doing to drop the protein for a while and see what happens. Maybe I need more moisture. (I already use ALL THE MOISTURE but it's possible I'm overloading on protein because my hair is SO SO DRY by day 3-4.) I do a crazy extra version of LOC where I just keep piling on the moisture and sealing butters because my hair keeps sucking it up.

My next idea, to prevent my ends from breaking (because why is my hair so much shorter now than it was 10 years ago???) is to maybe start using hair wax on my curl ends, as a protective coating. I dunno. We'll see.

[jane_marie]

I just saw your hair photos! You have really gorgeous curls! I recently started using flax seed gel and I'm in love with it for my waves. It seems to be something that's absolutely adored by a lot of people with hair in the 3s and 4s because it gives hold and moisture. If you haven't that might be something to look into as well. :)

I hope you find some help!

[AuNaturel]

Thank you! You are not the first person to suggest a flax-based layer, to serve as a protective casing around the ends -- I will definitely look into those products! I have a bunch of custards and puddings in my bathroom, I just forget which are flax and which are marshmallow based.

[Fimu]

Interesting topic!

Having split ends is an obvious sign to me that the ends are high porosity such that the cortex also got damage.
Dyeing your hair removes the lipid layer of your cuticles (18-MEA) so it acts more hydrophylic, but it doesn't mean for every person that the cuticle also is more prone to cracking and chipping. So I believe there are at least two different types of "high-porosity".
I'm not a microscopic expert, so I cannot judge it but it is possible to use a higher zoom? Also, what is your strand thickness on a microscopic level?

Do you have a lot of split ends and white dots when looking with the naked eye?

[squirrrel]

I recently saw a video from a hairdresser referenced in a porosity related thread. She talked about four or more levels of porosity and how you could work that out based upon touch. It might be worth looking at if porosity is something you are interested in.

[Firefox7275]

All permanently dyed hair is more porous than the equivalent virgin hair (on the same head). Some damage to the outer f-layer and cuticle is inevitable, or the colour molecules could not penetrate the hair.

If hair is lightened (persulphate bleach or peroxide only or sunlight) it will be high porosity. This is because destroying the melanin pigment 'blows holes' in the inner cortex of hair as well as damaging the outer f-layer and cuticle.

If the virgin hair was low porosity AND is dyed a similar shade and not visibly lightened AND only chemically treated once it could still end up medium porosity. If, however, that hair is treated more than once (eg. pulling the dye through the lengths for the last five mins to 'refresh') it will end up high porosity.

Adding to this ALL hair gets damaged in daily life, through normal haircare practices (which LHCers seek to minimise) and environmental factors. This 'weathering' accumulates over time so older ends are more 'weathered' than new root growth. Hair that is already damaged (by chemicals, high heat, sunlight) 'weathers' faster than completely virgin hair.

If you have build up of 'occlusive' ingredients (oils, butters, waxes, silicones) your hair may in some ways act lower porosity than it is naturally. It may take longer to wet down in the shower for example.

A lot of ifs and buts basically!

[Jane99]

I have 1b hair so our hair types are totally different... damaged ends that I can make at least *feel* better with various products... until I look at them and see the endless splits and white dots... and there’s something about the dots that I *want* to break them off so then I just put the hair up and try to leave it alone.
But the main reason for commenting is, wow, how cool that you took pictures of your microscoped hair!
Sciency-hair blog recommends the flax gel too. I see it get recommended for the curly haired people. I’m sure it would benefit my damaged hair too, but I have used gel about 2 times in my life and wouldn’t even know what to do with it.

[ynne]

That's so interesting! I wish there were better visual references of different porosity strands & different ways damage shows, because hair articles usually use extreme examples to drive the point home (of hair strands that look completely wrecked; in comparison, yours are nice and even, with no random thinning and only small bumps), and the sciency blog examples are hard for me to tell apart (I would not be able to point out low or moderate porosity, even after reading the descriptions, the difference seems to subtle!).

What porosity do you get based on other factors, like how fast it absorbs water & how it feels to the touch? You mentioned your hair just eats up products and dries out a few days after washing (mine too, and I don't use protein treatments), so that does sound like high porosity, which I assume mine to have as well, but it's not from damage. As for protein/moisture, what happens when you do the stretching test with a wet hair strand, is it elastic?

[AuNaturel]

Yes, I suspect since I have it dyed back to my childhood color, which is red, that it's porous just because of the size of the dye molecule. My virgin hair (5 years ago) used to take a long time to dry -- but now if I leave it clean without product, it dries very quickly. The stretch test has always confused me - it seems like it's right in the middle, stretches for a while before snapping. I got worried about protein overload for a while and concentrated on moisture-only, but I've started doing a once-weekly protein masque the SheaMoisture yogurt one) after reading that all dyed hair is porous and needs protein.


My main update for this thread is that I ordered a hair analysis kit from http://mymanebio.com -- I'll let everybody know what the results are and whether I think it was worth the money! I'm going to do a clay masque to chelate, and then shampoo with a sulfate, before sending my sample in, so the hair is clean. Excited to hear what someone more professional and with a better microscope says! (Maybe it will end up being a waste of money and I won't learn anything that helps drive my product and care choices, but hey, it's quarantine, lol.)

[ynne]

Ah, if it's somewhere in the middle, is it possible your hair is balanced? It sounds fairly good, from your description; after stretching, does it return to its original state? But I guess you'll find out soon! Rhe website sounds promising, fingers crossed they provide you with some new insights :)

[Fimu]

My main update for this thread is that I ordered a hair analysis kit from http://mymanebio.com -- I'll let everybody know what the results are and whether I think it was worth the money! I'm going to do a clay masque to chelate, and then shampoo with a sulfate, before sending my sample in, so the hair is clean. Excited to hear what someone more professional and with a better microscope says! (Maybe it will end up being a waste of money and I won't learn anything that helps drive my product and care choices, but hey, it's quarantine, lol.)

MyManeBio is a good start to have better knowledge about the porosity development throughout your length and knowing what your actual strand size is (for example, many people misinterpret they hair as "fine" while they have more medium-sized strands).

I would be careful with clay rinses, because they usually have a very high pH, which can be damaging for some hair textures (you already dye your hair at very high pH environments). How often do you do those clay rinses?

An ACV rinse diluted to 1 or 2% concentration would be a safer choice to remove hard water build-up. If you do DIY/herbal rinses, I suggest to use pH strips (or a digital pH meter) to check what pH it has. I suggest you to take a look at these blog articles for more info about pH and your hair:
* http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/ph-of-common-homemade-rinses.html
* http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/ph-and-your-hair-little-redox-to-make.html

Since you're dyeing your hair, do you also do Olaplex treatments at the salon? I've heard it might help to reduce the color damage effects on the hair shaft to a certain extent.

[AuNaturel]

Very interesting, thank you! I've never done a clay mask before. I just learned that our water is super hard, so I was hoping a clay mask would be gentler than a chelating shampoo, to remove mineral deposits. Now I'm going to go read about ACV instead. I do have them do Olaplex at the salon, and I use the #3 at home weekly. I used to use the Olaplex overnight, but now I'm waffling about hygral stress and not letting the hair spend too much time wet, so I've started doing an hour before wash days instead.