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Healthy Hair Series

10/21/2020

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Quick Guide to Know Your Hair Porosity!

Porosity, Protein & Moisture Balance

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@truemineral_earth
The most important thing to take away from this post is to listen to your hair & understand what it wants. You might have heard this before, but do you know what this really means? Basically our hair is so unique to us, what works for one person might not work for another due to your unique hair type. 
To better treat and nourish your hair and reach your hair goals you must first know your porosity and your hair type. Through that you will be able to get a better idea of how to treat and take care of your hair. I'm hoping that you will be able to learn something new and start finding a regimen system that helps flourish your locks!
Check out the easy chart down below to better understand the three hair porosities. 
Check out the hair course I collaborated with  Henna Sooq  Click Here for more info :)
The Ayurvedic Method to Waist Length Hair

Hair Porosity 

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There are three types of Hair Porosity: Low, Medium & High. we are quickly going to discuss. these and give you the basics along with hair type.
Low Porosity- Many, like to call this type protein sensitive hair. To be honest it's not a sensitivity because that would mean you're allergic to protein. What this really means is that this porosity doesn't need as much protein. Protein treatments are meant to strengthen your hair, but if you strengthen too much and too often your can feel straw like, brittle and break which will cause more harm then good. Thats why you really want to keep a protein and moisture balance. In this porosity, the cuticles of the hair are closed making it difficult to get adequate moisture, hydration and nutrients into the hair. To get the cuticles to open you need to use heat to help the cuticles absorb your product. Ways to incorporate this is getting a heat cap. Similar to a hot bean bag that you can microwave for a few seconds and place over your shower cap when you are doing a hair treatment. You don't want this to be too hot either just warm to allow the cuticles to open. Another way to apply heat is to use saran wrap or a shower cap only. This isn't as warming as the heated cap but it will allow you hair to self warm. Other ways is a heated wet towel, and warming up your treatment before you put it on like using hot oil treatments. 
​Since I have this porosity I know how hard it is to keep my hair hydrated. What many of us don't realize is that moisture and hydration are two totally different things. Think of hydration as water and moisture as sealing in that water (oils and butters). So for example if you want to do an oil treatment and your low porosity you want to wet your hair first so that the water will not be blocked by your oil treatment. You can use just water, shampoo your hair first or use a hydrating rinse. I personally like to use rinses for this. One rinse I use on a regular is 1 Tbsp of Honey, 2 Tbsps of ACV & Aloe, I fill the rest of the jar up with warm shower water and pour it all over my head and hair and ring it out. Once my hair isn't drenching wet I will apply my oil treatment. I leave my oil treatments on for at least 1hr then shampoo twice, deep condition the length and apply my conditioner over the top.

Medium Porosity- I'm jealous if this is your porosity! This type is known as the easy Porosity to maintain. Your cuticles are not constantly closed like Low Porosity and are not always open as High Porosity (we will be discussing this porosity next). For Medium cuticles are not too close together, but aren't too open either. For this type it's able to hold on to hydration & moisture effectively with ease. Although this type seems to be the easiest of the three to take care of, it still needs a proper regiment to keep is healthy and strong. When apply treatments to this hair type you don't necessarily need to "prep" your hair like Low Porosity. Apply oils on dry unwashed hair for at least 1hr, deep condition at least. 1x every 2 weeks and use some type of strengthening mask 1x a month. This Porosity is more desired because of the ease of getting the nutrients of the treatments to absorb correctly and receive the maximum benefits from each treatment.

High Porosity- Is the exact opposite of Low Porosity in the aspect that the cuticles are always open. This porosity too easily takes in water and easily lets go of moisture. Oiling treatments are amazing for this porosity by applying on dry hair so it will block water from absorbing too quickly. I know you have heard countless times to help with frizz and keep your hair shiny you want to finish with cold water after you apply your conditioner. Well that is mainly for High Porosity, this helps close the cuticles and will reduce frizz and create a more sleeker look. When applying other treatments like deep conditioners or masks, you don't have to worry about applying a hot cap or heat to lock in the moisture since the cuticles are already open. You want to try your best of not using heat on this porosity because it can easily damage your hair and make your hair straw like. Typically this Porosity does particularly well with consistent protein treatments (about 2x a month, maybe more if your seems to like it more frequently but not more then 1x per week). For Hydration treatments you don't want to go to crazy with this one because to much of this type of treatment can make your hair feel gummy and oily. Your two best friends are oils, protein treatments and deep conditioning masks.
Can You Have Multiple Porosities?
I recently found that although a person is born with a type porosity, it can be changed slightly. For Low Porosity, you can be both Low & Medium and same with High Porosity it can be High & Medium. If you have Medium Porosity you can turn it into High by damaging it with bleaching, chemicals, and heat. This is why the porosities can be very confusing. With consistency of a regimen you are balancing your porosity and this is what turns it into being a mixed porosity of Medium & either High or Low! To make things more confusing, you can have multiple porosities throughout your hair as well. usually the ends of your hair are more on the High Porosity side. They get damaged easily so go easy on your ends especially with heat.

Water Porosity Test

This test is more of a guide to understand what hair type you have:
1. Grab a couple of clean strands of hair from your brush and place them in a cup of water
2. Wait 5 minutes
3. Check if the hair is still floating on the top, in the middle of the cup or if it sank to the bottom
4. Check your results in the chart below

Favorite Tools

​Hot Heads Cap
Wooden Bristle Brush
Rat Tail Comb
Scalp Massager
Microfiber Hair towel

Satin Sleep Cap
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