Hair porosity help, please...

[StephanieB]

If one's hair is very porous, it dries faster; if it's less porous, one's hair dries slower... right?

My hair dries very fast.
Now, it's baby fine and it's rather on the thin side - granted - but is this drying time normal or does it mean that my hair is either damaged or needs/is lacking something pretty badly???

Stepping out of the shower - after having washed and conditioned my hair, and after having squeezed excess water our with my hands carefully/gently - I wrap it in a Diva Darling towel, and let the Diva Darling sit on my hair for about 10 minutes while I dry off and set the bathroom back to rights. (rinsing off shampoo and conditioner bottles, rinsing out a wide-toothed detangler comb, hanging up the bathmat to dry and cleaning out the tub of soap residue, etc.)

I then pat my hair carefully with the Diva Darling and hang it up to dry out, and proceed to detangle carefully with the wide tooth comb.

Within half an hour, the length of my hair is totally 100% dry, and my hair near my scalp is still damp-ish. Another 20 minutes, and my scalp hair is also completely dry. This is true in wintertime, as well as in summertime, btw...

Is there something wrong with my hair?

I mean, I hear most LHCers complaining about length of time to dry their hair, and I hear everyone try in vain to schedule enough time to wash and dry one's hair before bed or inn the morning before work/school.

So why is it not a problem with my hair?!

My hair is baby fine, rather on the thin side of thin/normal, and just about BSL.

Is my hair lacking something (protein, or whatever?); Is that why it's so darn porous?
Or is it damaged somehow (dunno what might have dried it out to damage point, though - I don't color or heat style); Is that why it's so darn porous?

What should I do for my poor hair so it's normal, and as everyone else's hair???

[SoulOfTheSea]

I do not know very much on the subject, but I will give your thread a bump so that others who do know may help you. :)

[headtrip_honey]

I'm not sure that this isn't normal - I have very fine hair that is on the thin side of normal, and that's pretty much the drying time for me as well.

[gthlvrmx]

It may not be that it's very porous, you just have less hair so that the air travels in much more easily and helps dry your hair. Madora has this method of fanning that you can ask her about, try it, it helps dry your hair faster because of the air circulation. Thicker hair (and coarser) tend to take longer time drying. My hair is porous due to it's curliness and always wants a little more moisture but it takes a while to dry if i dont go outside (2-3 hours)

[Siiri]

People with curly hair tend to have more porous hair naturally, I think. I can't really help you a lot, if it's porous I would just do moisture and protein treatments regularly.

[rhosyn_du]

No need to panic! There's not actually anything wrong with naturally porous hair, and like Siiri mentioned, it's pretty common for curlies to have more porous hair than people with straight hair.

The reason people associate porous hair with damage is that certain types of damage (particularly chemical damage) can make more hair more porous than it was before the damage. This does not mean that hair that starts out porous is damaged!

It sounds like your hair is just naturally porous, so unless it's showing some other signs of damage, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy your lovely, fast-drying curls.

[Crystal2010]

I'm a wavy, and I'd second what others have said about porosity not always being damaged related. The new hair on my scalp and the baby hair underneath dry very, very quickly for me yet the length can take overnight. I think it is to do with the fineness of the hair.

I did read of a couple of tests for porosity - not sure if they're accurate, but put a strand in water. If it floats it's low porosity, if it sinks, it's higher. The second is to grasp a strand at the bottom with thumb and index finger and then run the other thumb and index finger against the 'grain' of the hair. Feels smooth (or squeaks?!?) - low porosity, feels like your fingers are catching - high porosity. Like I say, not sure how reliable these are!

[gthlvrmx]

I'm a wavy, and I'd second what others have said about porosity not always being damaged related. The new hair on my scalp and the baby hair underneath dry very, very quickly for me yet the length can take overnight. I think it is to do with the fineness of the hair.

I did read of a couple of tests for porosity - not sure if they're accurate, but put a strand in water. If it floats it's low porosity, if it sinks, it's higher. The second is to grasp a strand at the bottom with thumb and index finger and then run the other thumb and index finger against the 'grain' of the hair. Feels smooth (or squeaks?!?) - low porosity, feels like your fingers are catching - high porosity. Like I say, not sure how reliable these are!

Both these tests contradict each other, you'd have to do a strand test on clarified hair. I tried both but sometimes i got hairs that just sank but felt super smooth(usually my finer hairs, lighter colors) which is supposed to be low porosity. Curly hair is more porous because of how the hair bends, it actually elongates those little openings wider and longer.
In the end i think maybe the water test is a better test but a better test might be seeing how well your hair reacts to moisturizing treatments and how long it goes until it get's closer to being over-moisturized(though please don't get to that point)

[StephanieB]

Hmmm. Maybe I do just have naturally more porous hair - it's curly and it's baby fine, and it's thin.

I don't need to sit and do Madora's fan-drying method. lol My hair is already the fastest-drying hair around!

If I wanted to curl my hair with rags for more pronounced curls, I'd have to keep re-wetting my hair, because it dries just too fast for me to put it up in rag curls. If I want to dry my hair faster than it's usual drying time, all I need to do is put it up into a second Diva Darling (microfiber towel) ad blot more. That would dry my hair in about 20-25 minutes flat!


If, however, my hair is naturally porous, does that mean that I do not need more moisture or more protein?
I do a caramel treatment every so often, when I have nothing better to do but honestly, it's never made much difference other than to make my hair a bit softer and more slippery. Does this mean that my hair does not need more moisture?
And I've never given it any particular protein, so does that mean that it doesn't need more than whatever it gets from my usual shampoos and conditioners?


IF this ^ is so, then ..... WOW! My ugly and horrible hard-to-work-with hair has finally done something nice for me. (It's about time, after 50 years.)

[sibylla]

Hi!Stop using the micro fiber towel!Allways rinse with cold water after you finished normal rinsing.This will help the hair to hold the moist in.When my hair is well conditioned it takes long to dry.Good luck!

[StephanieB]

Hi!Stop using the micro fiber towel!Allways rinse with cold water after you finished normal rinsing.This will help the hair to hold the moist in.When my hair is well conditioned it takes long to dry.Good luck!

What's wrong with using Diva Darling towels?

I always finish with a stone-cold rinse of my hair.

I'm not looking for moisturizing my hair. Didn't you read the first post of this thread?

[gthlvrmx]

Hmmm. Maybe I do just have naturally more porous hair - it's curly and it's baby fine, and it's thin.

I don't need to sit and do Madora's fan-drying method. lol My hair is already the fastest-drying hair around!

If I wanted to curl my hair with rags for more pronounced curls, I'd have to keep re-wetting my hair, because it dries just too fast for me to put it up in rag curls. If I want to dry my hair faster than it's usual drying time, all I need to do is put it up into a second Diva Darling (microfiber towel) ad blot more. That would dry my hair in about 20-25 minutes flat!


If, however, my hair is naturally porous, does that mean that I do not need more moisture or more protein?
I do a caramel treatment every so often, when I have nothing better to do but honestly, it's never made much difference other than to make my hair a bit softer and more slippery. Does this mean that my hair does not need more moisture?
And I've never given it any particular protein, so does that mean that it doesn't need more than whatever it gets from my usual shampoos and conditioners?


IF this ^ is so, then ..... WOW! My ugly and horrible hard-to-work-with hair has finally done something nice for me. (It's about time, after 50 years.)
Well since it is finer hair, it probably might need more protein (not an expert on this, but it should be the opposite from coarse hair). The protein will give extra strength and might make those porous holes smaller, keeping some moisture in longer i suppose. I heard it's best to follow a protein treatment with a moisturizing treatment, that way you benefit from both.
You could also just try sealing the ends with a little oil(or the length)Coconut oil is known to help retain protein in the hair. Oils make the drying process take longer because of how it works, it helps retain moisture. Though like cones, they don't let extra moisture in unless washed off.
Usually naturally porous hair needs more moisture since it can't retain it on it's own, but if it's already really fine i think logically, its not going to take in as much as a coarser hair, right? Since it has less layer on the individual hairs and less room to have moisture inside. I need Igor here!

I found this article in the archives, it's true! Fine hair tends to dry faster!
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/archive/index.php/t-52173.html

So yeah, i suppose that protein treatment followed by the moisturizing treatment wouldn't hurt.

Im kind of jealous though, your hair dries so fast! In one hour or less :p

[Boudicca]

My hair dries very quickly too, even at thigh length, which I believe is due to a high level of porosity. I tend to avoid silicones in my shampoo and conditioner, but I do have a cone hair mask I like to use (Origins Rich Rewards), and I notice that my hair takes much longer to dry when I have used it.