elle, this is one of the most helpful explanations of porosity i’ve come across. i think i have low porosity hair based on many of the things you described especially the parts about products sitting on your hair. your advice about glycerine and water based products is a good one. lately i’ve been using more of those (through experimentation) and it’s been really helpful. the key for me is to “lock it in” by sealing but then i also don’t want hair that is greasy to the touch. so still trying to figure it all out but thank you!! oh one more question, i bought porosity control (because someone said it’s great) but i’m thinking it probably won’t help me as much since i don’t have high porosity hair. what do you think about this? are you familiar with that product?
Yo yo, I personally would not use porosity control unless I dyed my hair or something and used it after. The purpose is to close the cuticle and it has a rather low pH (I think it’s like 4 or 4.5?) to stabilize the hair after chemical processes. It may not hurt but I don’t think it would really help either.
luvmylocs says:
ah makes sense. you’re so smart! i might try to return it because of course i bought 2 bottles, lol. i do want to experiment with some color though. maybe i should hold on to it. that makes me wonder. does low porosity hair have fewer issues with color. hmm.
Yes, coarse and LP hair both have less issues with color. Although I will say, it is more difficult for color to “take” on LP hair. I’ve had to leave my color on for twice the time advised to get it to lift my color.
Cindra says:
This was a very helpful post. My hair used to absorb a lot of moisture fast. It’s better now that I know what to do to balance out that moisture. My hair loves silicone and oil. It is at it’s best when I use a lot of products. When I do wash & go’s I use a leave – in, a curling enhancer like curl activator or a curling smoothie, then wet it again with a litte water to loosen the product I just put on it, then use a spray oil. It really leaves my hair moist most of the day, but there are days when my hair does dry out and I will use my IC leave-in conditioner spray that I make with oils. It doesn’t happen very often though. I try not to put water on it but every 3 – 4 days. I notice water dries out my hair.
luvmylocs says:
hi, i just had a natural stylist tell me that plain water dries your hair out. it sounded counterintuitive but maybe that’s because without anything else the moisture of the water is zapped from your hair plus anything else you had so it’s drier than before but a water based product with something else in it has a greater chance of not vanishing from the hair. maybe elle will weigh in on this one.
I definitely have low porosity hair, but what about the density of one’s hair? How does that affect the products you put in your hair? Your hair is gorgeous in this vid also, so what did you use here?
Density doesn’t affect products, you would just have to use more product to distribute through your hair and it will take longer for your hair to dry b/c it’s more difficult for air to reach the underlayers of your hair. And thanks, I used Mixed Chicks Kids LI condish and Curl Junkie Curl Queen.
Basi says:
I think porosity is not well understood, but it explains a lot. I think I have high porostiy. It feels like my hair is like a sponge and I have to moisturize it daily. If you don’t understand your hair’s porosity you think there is something wrong with your product choices, but regardless of what I use, my hair is still going to need constant doses of moisture or it will frizz out and feel rough. One thing that has worked really well for me is doing cocounut oil prepoos (at least 2 hours before washing), when I take the time to do this my hair really thanks me for it.
Great topic and thanks.
renee032@juno.xom says:
Elle, this video was sooooo helpful. I’ve read about porosity before but you really broke it down and now I really understand it. I have low porosity hair so this explains why I get the lil white beads when I add moisturizer like hair dew to my hair. Eventually it absorbs but it takes a while and it takes a while for my hair to get wet in the shower too. Thank you for enlightening me.
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
elle, this is one of the most helpful explanations of porosity i’ve come across. i think i have low porosity hair based on many of the things you described especially the parts about products sitting on your hair. your advice about glycerine and water based products is a good one. lately i’ve been using more of those (through experimentation) and it’s been really helpful. the key for me is to “lock it in” by sealing but then i also don’t want hair that is greasy to the touch. so still trying to figure it all out but thank you!! oh one more question, i bought porosity control (because someone said it’s great) but i’m thinking it probably won’t help me as much since i don’t have high porosity hair. what do you think about this? are you familiar with that product?
Yo yo, I personally would not use porosity control unless I dyed my hair or something and used it after. The purpose is to close the cuticle and it has a rather low pH (I think it’s like 4 or 4.5?) to stabilize the hair after chemical processes. It may not hurt but I don’t think it would really help either.
ah makes sense. you’re so smart! i might try to return it because of course i bought 2 bottles, lol. i do want to experiment with some color though. maybe i should hold on to it. that makes me wonder. does low porosity hair have fewer issues with color. hmm.
Yes, coarse and LP hair both have less issues with color. Although I will say, it is more difficult for color to “take” on LP hair. I’ve had to leave my color on for twice the time advised to get it to lift my color.
This was a very helpful post. My hair used to absorb a lot of moisture fast. It’s better now that I know what to do to balance out that moisture. My hair loves silicone and oil. It is at it’s best when I use a lot of products. When I do wash & go’s I use a leave – in, a curling enhancer like curl activator or a curling smoothie, then wet it again with a litte water to loosen the product I just put on it, then use a spray oil. It really leaves my hair moist most of the day, but there are days when my hair does dry out and I will use my IC leave-in conditioner spray that I make with oils. It doesn’t happen very often though. I try not to put water on it but every 3 – 4 days. I notice water dries out my hair.
hi, i just had a natural stylist tell me that plain water dries your hair out. it sounded counterintuitive but maybe that’s because without anything else the moisture of the water is zapped from your hair plus anything else you had so it’s drier than before but a water based product with something else in it has a greater chance of not vanishing from the hair. maybe elle will weigh in on this one.
I’m gonna answer this in the QOTD tomorrow!
I definitely have low porosity hair, but what about the density of one’s hair? How does that affect the products you put in your hair? Your hair is gorgeous in this vid also, so what did you use here?
Density doesn’t affect products, you would just have to use more product to distribute through your hair and it will take longer for your hair to dry b/c it’s more difficult for air to reach the underlayers of your hair. And thanks, I used Mixed Chicks Kids LI condish and Curl Junkie Curl Queen.
I think porosity is not well understood, but it explains a lot. I think I have high porostiy. It feels like my hair is like a sponge and I have to moisturize it daily. If you don’t understand your hair’s porosity you think there is something wrong with your product choices, but regardless of what I use, my hair is still going to need constant doses of moisture or it will frizz out and feel rough. One thing that has worked really well for me is doing cocounut oil prepoos (at least 2 hours before washing), when I take the time to do this my hair really thanks me for it.
Great topic and thanks.
Elle, this video was sooooo helpful. I’ve read about porosity before but you really broke it down and now I really understand it. I have low porosity hair so this explains why I get the lil white beads when I add moisturizer like hair dew to my hair. Eventually it absorbs but it takes a while and it takes a while for my hair to get wet in the shower too. Thank you for enlightening me.