Hair is a collection of dead cells that have been arranged in a three-layer arrangement.
- The cuticle: This is your outermost layer. Each cuticle is layered like tiles on a roof.
- The cortex: It is the thickest and middle layer. It is made up of fibrous proteins and pigments, which give hair its color.
- The Medulla: The central, innermost layer of the hair shaft.
Low porosity hair tends to have the cuticles overlapping each other and being tightly packed together. It is difficult for water and products such as oils and conditioners to reach the hair shaft because there is no space between the cuticles.
Low porosity hair is usually due to genetic factors.
Low hair porosity is not usually caused by chemicals or heat.
High porosity hair is more likely when heat or styling causes damage to the cuticle layer. This means that the cuticles are higher and have more space between them. This can make it difficult for the hair shafts to retain moisture.
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What characteristics are low porosity hair?
· Low porosity hair may cause hair products to stick to your hair rather than being absorbed.How to use Rice Water for Hair
· You might apply oil to your hair’s ends. You may find that the product remains on your hair after half an hour. You can feel it on your fingers.
· Most likely, your hair absorbed very little of the product if any.
· It takes more time to wash and dry.
· Low porosity hair can make washing and dry more difficult than you might expect. Water is not easily absorbed, so it may be hard to get your hair wet enough to allow the water to penetrate your hair.
· Once your hair is damp, drying it can take quite a while. It may take longer to dry your hair than for someone with the same length or thickness of hair as you.
How to take care of low porosity hair
Low porosity hair may lead you to use more products or multiple products at once to try to get your hair saturated.
Because the cuticles are so close together, it is unlikely that any product can penetrate.
It is important to choose products with low porosity. These products will be able to penetrate your hair more effectively.
A second important tip is to only use products on hair that are damp and warm. The heat can lift the hair cuticle and allow oils and moisture to penetrate the shaft more easily.
Here are some recommendations for products and ingredients that work well with low porosity hair.
Shampoo
You want shampoos that leave no residue. Honey and glycerin are good options. These ingredients penetrate hair cuticles more effectively than oils.
These shampoos characteristics may be good for you:
- This shampoo does not contain any residue and can be used daily.
- Glycerin is used to add moisture to the shampoo. This shampoo doesn’t contain silicones or sulfates that could strip hair of its natural moisture.
- Honey is a key ingredient in this shampoo for dry, damaged hair.
- Clarifying shampoo should be used once per week to clean your hair. Low porosity hair can accumulate residue.
Conditioner
When you apply conditioner to your hair, dilute it with a little water. This will make your conditioner more absorbable and less likely just to sit on your hair.
Deep conditioner
Sometimes, your hair might need extra moisture. Weekly deep-conditioning treatment is one way to achieve this.
You can use a heat cap, steamer, or hooded dryer to condition your hair.
You can also put a shower cap on your hair after you have applied deep conditioner. After that, heat your hair with a blow dryer using the warm setting for a couple of minutes. This will open your cuticles.
Protein treatment conditioners are not recommended for low porosity hair. Hair breakage can be increased by protein formulas that tend to strip moisture from the hair.
These are some great options for hair with low porosity:
- Briogeo Repair, Don’t Lose! Deep Conditioning Hair Cap System. The deep-conditioning duo includes a cap with conditioning ingredients and a conditioner that you can apply before the cap is put on.
HOW TO MOISTURISE LOW POROSITY HAIR
These are some tips to help you.
1- PRE-POO
Before you wash your hair, make sure to pre-poo. You can make your pre-poo recipe by adding oils like Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba oil, and grapeseed oil together with other ingredients.
These can be applied to your hair with the greenhouse effect described above.
2- RENEW YOUR HAIR PERIODICALLY
Your hair will absorb more moisture if you wash it every two weeks or weekly. To seal in moisture, wash your hair with warm water first to open the cuticles. Then rinse it with cold water.
3- MOISTURIZE YOUR HAIR MIDWEEK
Your hair needs to be moisturized every other week. You could notice that your hair becomes dry and brittle by the end of the week if you don’t moisturize it. This is not what you want.
You don’t need to do a lot of work for midweek moisturizing. A little leave-in conditioner can be added to your moisturizer. Spray bottle mixes it with water. Spray it every time you style your hair.
Aloe vera Gel You can also seal in moisture with juice or aloe vera. A little bit of aloe can be added to a spray bottle and mixed with water.
4- SEAL IN MOISTURE
Always remember to seal in you are moisturize a low-porosity oil such as baobab.
5- COVER YOUR HAIR
Make sure you have a bedsheet when you go to bed. You can use a Satin headscarf a Satin Pillowcase.
Satin is a way to ensure that the moisture you apply to your hair won’t be absorbed by cotton or other materials. Satin is not able to absorb moisture, so it’s great to use at night or whenever you need to lie down.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Low porosity hair can make it difficult for oils and moisture to penetrate the shaft. Your hair may take longer to get saturated after washing it. Your hair may take longer to style and process.
Some ingredients make hair with low porosity easier to maintain. It can make a big difference in how manageable and healthy your hair is.
