How to care for hair with low porosity?

[Estrid]

Hello,

I know I'm not new to these forums, but apparently I'm still lost. How do you care for coarse, low porosity hair?
I haven't examined my hair under a microscope, I've probably not done all the tests there are, but products tend to just sit on top of it instead of going into the hair, and the strands do float.

A few things that I've noticed with my hair:
1. it likes jojoba oil, I can apply that when my hair is wet or even a little when it's dry, adds some slip and shine (and helps my hair to clump)
2. type of shampoo doesn't seem to matter as long as there's nothing heavy in it
3. normal conditioner does nothing or makes things worse
4. protein is the devil
5. I got one leave in conditioner that works well if I only add a tiny drop to my very ends when they're damp (makes them less dry-looking)
6. my hair is extremely tangle-y at this length, a long knotty mess, and brushing/combing doesn't help, if anything, it seems to make it worse (at least if I brush/comb it when it's dry, when it's wet it does... nothing?)

I suppose what I dream of is hair that would just stop knotting, that I could actually have loose for a few minutes or even an hour without it being a bird's nest, but how am I supposed to make my hair not knot up? Is it possible to make the hair strands just stay in place in clumps instead of dancing with each other individually?

I've heard of pre poo, and I've thought about trying that with jojoba oil (I've just been lazy), I've also heard about using heat to make hair masks work better, I'm not sure how to make that happen though, could I wrap a warm and damp towel around my hair, or would that get cold too fast? I've seen that you can buy heat wraps, but they seem a bit small ...


Anyone got any suggestions? Maybe someone with similar hair to me that has found a routine that works?


Thanks to you all :blossom:

[hayheadsbird]

When did you last clarify? Sounds like build up could be part of the issue, my hair turns course strands turn in to a knotty ratty mess if I need to clarify. Build up would also contribute to the ends looking dry

Our hair types are similar, I find strong sulphate shampoo dry my hair out, and silicone conditioners build up really quick ( as in one wash okay, second wash not,) so am cone free, use mild shampoos and occasionally shampoo my length to remove build up with a stronger shampoo 😊

[Estrid]

When did you last clarify? Sounds like build up could be part of the issue, my hair turns course strands turn in to a knotty ratty mess if I need to clarify. Build up would also contribute to the ends looking dry

Our hair types are similar, I find strong sulphate shampoo dry my hair out, and silicone conditioners build up really quick ( as in one wash okay, second wash not,) so am cone free, use mild shampoos and occasionally shampoo my length to remove build up with a stronger shampoo ��

A week ago, maybe? It didn't really make any difference, I'm not using anything that would cause buildup other than oils and such that a normal sulfate shampoo should get rid of.

[florenonite]

When you say "normal conditioner", do you mean with cones or cone-free or both? My hair is fine, not coarse, but it's also low-porosity and prone to knotting and I find cone-free conditioners like this one (https://www.herbalessences.ca/en-ca/discover-products/collections/charcoal/replenish-white-charocal-conditioner) work well. You might also want to try squish to condish; I have a lot more success with that than with just slapping the conditioner on my hair, though unlike a lot of curlies who use this method I rinse very thoroughly.

I think your problem might be more to do with your curl type than with your porosity level. Low porosity hair is generally pretty easy to care for compared to higher porosity hair, at least when it comes to tangling. Once you get the moisture in there, it's there to stay. 2a hair, on the other hand, seems to want to grab onto all the hairs around it (I've noticed an increase in really bad tangling since I started encouraging my waves instead of combing them out while my hair was still wet). I think there are some things you can do to encourage clumping while your hair is still wet, so it might be worth looking into those and seeing if that helps keep the clumps together as it dries.

You mention heat to make your hair masks penetrate better. I think you could do something similar to what I do for henna, which is put on a plastic shower cap (you can also use cling film, but it's more of a pain) and then a woolly hat. The plastic keeps the henna wet, and the woolly hat traps all my body heat, keeping it warm. That might be a good place to start, as it's easy to do and most likely doesn't require you to buy anything new.

[Estrid]

When you say "normal conditioner", do you mean with cones or cone-free or both? My hair is fine, not coarse, but it's also low-porosity and prone to knotting and I find cone-free conditioners like this one (https://www.herbalessences.ca/en-ca/discover-products/collections/charcoal/replenish-white-charocal-conditioner) work well. You might also want to try squish to condish; I have a lot more success with that than with just slapping the conditioner on my hair, though unlike a lot of curlies who use this method I rinse very thoroughly.

I think your problem might be more to do with your curl type than with your porosity level. Low porosity hair is generally pretty easy to care for compared to higher porosity hair, at least when it comes to tangling. Once you get the moisture in there, it's there to stay. 2a hair, on the other hand, seems to want to grab onto all the hairs around it (I've noticed an increase in really bad tangling since I started encouraging my waves instead of combing them out while my hair was still wet). I think there are some things you can do to encourage clumping while your hair is still wet, so it might be worth looking into those and seeing if that helps keep the clumps together as it dries.

You mention heat to make your hair masks penetrate better. I think you could do something similar to what I do for henna, which is put on a plastic shower cap (you can also use cling film, but it's more of a pain) and then a woolly hat. The plastic keeps the henna wet, and the woolly hat traps all my body heat, keeping it warm. That might be a good place to start, as it's easy to do and most likely doesn't require you to buy anything new.

I suppose I wouldn't have this much issues if my hair had been type 1a, but some people have type 2 hair that's not like this.

Conditioners have never worked that well for me, and I haven't used cones in years, but I honestly don't notice much of a difference. I don't know what conditioner I would try for a new technique since I haven't found one that I like. I've heard of squish to condish, I can't remember if I've tried it or not, but I suppose it's worth a shot (if I can find another conditioner to try out).
I've tried some different products to make my hair clump better, but mostly they just add some sticky layer on top or weigh it down, I would like to find something, but I'm not sure what would work. I'm quite sick of buying products that don't work and that I end up tossing. Feels so wasteful :undecided

My hair never tangled at all when it was shorter, it was after APL or so that it started getting worse and worse. My hair has always been quite messy, so I suppose maybe it just needed length to get knotty? I don't know.

Could try the plastic shower cap and hat, I think I have a hat somewhere.

[GrowingGlory]

I found two good shampoos after years of trial and error: pipette baby shampoo+wash and V05 Pomegranate Bliss Moisturizing Shampoo. Conditioners don't help.

[Dark40]

Hello,

I know I'm not new to these forums, but apparently I'm still lost. How do you care for coarse, low porosity hair?
I haven't examined my hair under a microscope, I've probably not done all the tests there are, but products tend to just sit on top of it instead of going into the hair, and the strands do float.

A few things that I've noticed with my hair:
1. it likes jojoba oil, I can apply that when my hair is wet or even a little when it's dry, adds some slip and shine (and helps my hair to clump)
2. type of shampoo doesn't seem to matter as long as there's nothing heavy in it
3. normal conditioner does nothing or makes things worse
4. protein is the devil
5. I got one leave in conditioner that works well if I only add a tiny drop to my very ends when they're damp (makes them less dry-looking)
6. my hair is extremely tangle-y at this length, a long knotty mess, and brushing/combing doesn't help, if anything, it seems to make it worse (at least if I brush/comb it when it's dry, when it's wet it does... nothing?)

I suppose what I dream of is hair that would just stop knotting, that I could actually have loose for a few minutes or even an hour without it being a bird's nest, but how am I supposed to make my hair not knot up? Is it possible to make the hair strands just stay in place in clumps instead of dancing with each other individually?

I've heard of pre poo, and I've thought about trying that with jojoba oil (I've just been lazy), I've also heard about using heat to make hair masks work better, I'm not sure how to make that happen though, could I wrap a warm and damp towel around my hair, or would that get cold too fast? I've seen that you can buy heat wraps, but they seem a bit small ...


Anyone got any suggestions? Maybe someone with similar hair to me that has found a routine that works?


Thanks to you all :blossom:

Sounds like it to me that you need a good deep conditioning treatment using heat sitting under a hooded dryer once a week, and you can also....Have you tried a detangling spray? The deep conditioning once a week, and the detangling spray helps me with my MBL hair. I know my hair isn't as long as yours but I've had hair at that length when I had extensions, and it does get matter and tangled all of the time!

[GrowingGlory]

My hair only tangles if it is damaged, so a haircut is the best solution.

[Estrid]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I'll see if I can find some products to try out these other methods with. Not sure how it will go, but hopefully I find something that does something good.