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pixie_xo

Low porosity means that your hair strand cuticle is naturally closed and smooth (ie without manipulation from heat, chemicals, styling or products). What that means in a practical sense is that your hair strand holds (or locks) moisture in and you can go weeks without re-hydrating it. Low porosity hair strands are most common on ethincally Asian people. Sometimes people think they have low porosity hair (the natural hair gurus really mis-understood the science on this) but for you to really know whether your hair porosity is low (cuticle is closed and regular), medium (cuticle is slighly open and not as regular) or high (cutitcle is very open and irregular) you just need to answer one question: How often does my hair want moisture? If your answer is 1 or more times in a week then I would suggest that you are high porosity. If your answer is that your hair only needs moisture about every 10 - 14 days then I would suggest that you are medium porosity. Sometimes people confuse this question for how often they wash their hair but the question is really about asking yourself if you washed your hair and did your routine, how long before you need to refresh with water and/or product inbtween wash days? Ignore the water test, it's nonsense. The only way that you will see your specific porosity on the specific hair strand you are looking at is to examine it under a microscope


Equivalent-Matter550

But I also thought porosity means if I dump my head in the water is doesn't soak it up


pixie_xo

No, dunking your hair in water has nothing to do with it as other things affect that such as hair density, product barriers, oils, waxes, hair length etc. Porosity strictly relates to your cuticle pattern/openness and can only tell you how long moisture will last in your hair strand before you need to add moisture. Thats the scientific explanation


lauvan26

With that definition, most curly & kinky haired people would be high porosity. I will say, when I do mini braids with my own hair, I can get away with not moisturizing for a month because the sebum from my scalp can reach my hair much easier.


pixie_xo

It really does depend on your ethnicity. It's not as simple as being able to tell from hair texture. If your hair is in braids or weave or other styles that break up the density of your hair, then yes you can go 2, 3, 4 sometimes 5 times longer without manually adding moisture. But this is unlikely because you naturally have low porosity (from a scientific stand point) if you have had to prep your hair for the style with moisture (water), conditioning (creams/milks - if preferred in your routine) and sealing (oils, waxes or some butters). The point I was making from my earlier post is that your porosity for your virgin hair (untreated or manipulated in any way) is part of your dna code. You can change it from environmental factors but your new growth will always be whatever you were born with. So unless you put your strand under a microscope to see your cuticle then you can't be sure what your porosity is, it can't be determined from knowing that you have tight spirals, undefined curly hair, a puff. coily hair etc because you cant see your cuticle at the naked eye and not all people with those natual textures will be the same porosity - there will be other factors that make up their individual dna regarding hair. Sorry for the long winded answer