JULY 26, 2020
A common mistake Naturals make is only describing their hair based on curl pattern.
Knowing whether your hair is type 3B, 4A, 4C or a mixture is useful in some cases,
However, the truth of the matter is that your 4C hair can look slightly different to someone else’s 4C hair, this is because there are many other important factors that make our hair what it is.
- Porosity
- Hair Density
- Texture (degree of fineness or coarseness of the hair strands)
Knowing your hairs Porosity, Density and Texture could be what could help your hair reach its fullest potential. As a hair care specialist, I prefer to use this way of hair-typing versus the traditional 1A-4C hair type system as it actually will help you understand what products to use and how to style appropriately without too much trial and error.
In this post, I'm going to focus more on Hair Porosity, lookout for a blog post on Hair density/Texture that will be out soon.
Your Hair Porosity can help you make better decisions when it comes to purchasing hair care products:
Do remember that Porosity is like a spectrum you can lie anywhere on the spectrum and they are no set categories. For example, you can have low-medium or medium-high hair porosity.
If you have Low Porosity Hair: I recommend Deep moisturising treatments, LO or LC method to moisturise and seal, also clarify your hair with a deep cleansing shampoo at least monthly to ensure that there is no product build-up on your hair. your products will be able to properly penetrate your hair and not just sit on top of it.
Avoid being heavy-handed with your products, focus more on allowing your hair to better soak up the product you do use to moisturise and hydrate it. A great way is to use indirect heat or steam, this will help relax your tight hair cuticles, and allow the product to penetrate more easily.
If you're more on the High end of the Porosity spectrum: I recommend Protein treatments, LOC, LCO method to moisturise and seal. The closer you are to the high porosity side, the less protein sensitive your hair is, so look for products with real protein in them to help manage your hairs porosity. Butters and more viscous oils are very ideal for high porosity hair types, they coat the hair strands which in turns help lock in moisture and keep hair hydrated for longer. What you're essentially trying to do is avoid your hair becoming too dry, which can lead to breakage, so you want to keep the moisture locked in as much as possible.
I hope you found this post helpful and informative, on my next post I'll be discussing Scalp Health and why cleansing your hair is so important.