Do I have low porosity hair?

[natural80]

I thought I had high porosity, so I used the aphogee 2 step a week ago. After I used it, my hair felt like butter. Now, nothing seems to keep the moisture in my hair. Before I did aphogee 2 step, I clarified to make sure it took well. Since I've been natural, I've always had problems with my moisturizers sitting on top of my hair. I wanted to like shea butter, but it does nothing, even when mixed with other oils.

What I've used as moisturizers:

Taliah Wajiid Protective Mist (regular and medicated) good
Hollywood Beauty Olive and Carrot Creme (sit on top my hair and creates flakes)
Shea Moisture leave in conditioner ( does the same as hollywood beauty products)
Shea butter and coconut oil mix ( does nothing)

Oils:
EVOO: good
Vatika oil: good
Castor oil: allergic
Grapeseed oil: good

I just clarified with V05 Kiwi Shampoo and dc'd with Suave vanilla conditioner for 2 hours with a cap and plastic bag.

What other products can I use to help my hair? Thanks.

[Roscata]

I recommend coconut oil. Here are some interesting links:
How to Use Coconut Oil for Hair Moisturizing and Conditioning (http://www.healthy-oil-planet.com/coconut-oil-for-hair.html)
Coconut Oil for Hair: Your Chemical-Free Way to Truly Healthy Hair (http://www.coconut-oil-central.com/coconut-oil-for-hair.html)
The uses of coconut oil (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53786&highlight=coconut+oil)
Effect of mineral oil, sunflower oil, and coconut oil on prevention of hair damage (http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc2003/cc054n02/p00175-p00192.pdf)

I use it as a pre-wash heavy oiling, here is a before and after photo: click here (http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1q9fsLdLJ1r8s15to1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&Expires=1333592180&Signature=EMDLflmyjR%2BMskR0FcpWDOnQMQ0%3D).

I hope you find something that works for you! :)

[julliams]

Sometimes taking a break and using very simple and few products for a while is the best remedy.

[natural80]

Thanks, ladies. I was going to get some coconut oil, but I wasn't sure how well it would work. Right now, I'm only using moisturizing conditioners and moisturizers.

[UP Lisa]

My understanding is that only damaged hair is high-porosity.

[heidi w.]

Thanks, ladies. I was going to get some coconut oil, but I wasn't sure how well it would work. Right now, I'm only using moisturizing conditioners and moisturizers.

You can conduct a strand test for porosity. You could find a licensed stylist that work only with coloring hair and ask them to conduct a porosity strand test. It's best not to guess with these things.

You also do not share what your hair type is, and that's very important in this discussion to know.

This briefly discusses porosity, but I don't know if that test based on how hair feels is very reliable.

http://www.hairfinder.com/hairquestions/hairporosity.htm

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-porosity-and-curly-hair
This is a fairly comprehensive read. It relates porosity to protein and tensile strength, among other things.

ETA: There's a lot of info under Black hair care websites on the internet concerning the subject of hair porosity. A quick google search will reveal all kinds of hits. END ETA

heidi w.