How To Find Your Hair’s Porosity

Porosity is your hair’s ability to hold and maintain moisture as is defined by three levels: low, medium, and high. 


Low porosity hair means the cuticles are sealed down, making it very hard for moisture to come in. Medium porosity means the hair is able to receive and retain the right amount of moisture into the hair cuticle. High porosity means the cuticles are torn, creating pores along the hair strand which allows moisture in, but it does not retain the moisture. 


Not sure about your hair’s porosity? There are a couple of tests that you can do at home!


The Float Test
Drop a strand of hair that has shed into a glass of water.
Floats = low porosity
Sinks slowly = medium porosity 
Sinks immediately = high porosity 
Things to note about this test. You want to use clean hair because oil on the hair strand can cause it to float. You also want to use room temperature water because warm to hot water will cause the hair’s cuticles to open and too cold water will close the cuticles.

The Spray Test
Spray your dry hair with a spray bottle and see if your hair absorbs the water or if beads of water form on top of the hair. If it absorbs the water, you might have high porosity hair. If you see beads of water, you might have low porosity hair.

It’s important to know which porosity type your hair is because it’s how your hair takes in and retains moisture. Knowing your porosity type comes in handy when trying to figure out the best products for your hair.

 

Click here to read our tips on how to pick out the best products for your porosity type.