Hair Porosity

After a wonderful conversation with fellow bloggers Shelli of Hairscapades and M of hair and other stuff, I got really interested in discovering the porosity of my hair. I still have to do the water test (which I will explain after I do it and figure out my results), but in the meantime I did some research so I could have a better understanding of hair porosity, so I thought I'd share that here. :)


What is hair porosity?
It is how easily your hair is able to absorb and retain moisture. This depends on how the cuticles are arranged on your hair shafts. The closer and more tightly situated they are, the lower the porosity of your hair and the more difficult it is for your hair to absorb and retain moisture. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the farther apart the cuticles, the higher the porosity of your hair.


How does knowing the porosity of your hair help you care for it?
The lower the porosity of your hair, the more you have to do to help your hair absorb and retain the moisture that you give it. I read that you do this by using warm water on wash days and using heat during deep conditioning treatments. 


The higher the porosity of your hair, the more it is prone to frizzing. This porosity of hair benefits from protein-rich products which give it more structure.


So what is my hair's porosity like? Thanks to Shelli I learned that, just as a head of hair can have different textures, it can also have varying levels of porosity. My guess is that the crown of my head is the most porous because it tends to frizz the easiest, and the front is similar, while the nape and sides of my head seem to have normal porosity. 


I'm going to put my research results to the test by finding and incorporating a protein conditioner into my regimen to see if I notice an improvement in my highly porous areas. Stay tuned ;)