Written By Taiwo Kazeem
Can Black People Have Low Porosity Hair?
Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture, this also determines how your hair responds to products. Hair porosity can be high, medium or low. With low porosity, hair has a limited ability to absorb and retain moisture because the hair’s cuticles are tightly packed blocking off moisture and nutrients. This type of hair is prone to frizz, matting and dryness.
Can Black People Have Low Porosity Hair?
Yes, black people can have low-porosity hair. Hair porosity is determined by genetics and environmental factors rather than ethnicity. Low porosity hair slowly absorbs and sometimes resists moisture and nutrients.
Black or African people can have low, medium, or high porosity hair. Low porosity hair, however, is prevalent due to black and African hair being tightly coiled/kinky, curly, and wavy. These hair textures have tightly packed cuticles that make it difficult for moisture to penetrate the scalp (characteristic of low-porosity hair).
As someone with low-porosity African hair, caring for your hair must have put you in a constant loop of testing different products and spending a lot of money while at it.
In this guide, we will answer all the questions you have on black hair low porosity and low porosity African hair putting you on the right track to having the best black hair regimen.
What Ethnicity Usually Has Low Porosity Hair?
All ethnicities can have low porosity hair. Hair porosity is not determined by ethnicity even though some ethnicities might have a higher tendency to have a particular kind of hair porosity. For example, people of black or African descent tend to have low-porosity hair. However, this doesn’t mean that every member of the black community has only low-porosity hair.
In fact, members of the same family may have varying hair porosity levels, even on the same head of hair.
Furthermore, hair porosity is determined by the structure of the hair cuticles heavily influenced by genetics, environmental factors, and hair treatment. So, if your hair’s cuticles are tightly packed, you have low porosity hair, loosely packed equals high porosity hair and in between is medium porosity.
Alongside genetics, your hair porosity may change over time due to the following factors- harsh treatments like extreme heat and chemical treatments and environmental factors like humidity and pollution may lead to higher hair porosity.
Can Low Porosity Hair Cause Hair Loss?
Low porosity is hair but with low porosity, which basically is tightly packed cuticles. So, low-porosity hair on its own doesn’t cause hair loss. The only time you may experience hair loss due to porosity is in the following instances:
- It is improperly cared for leading to hair breakage and loss.
- Tight cuticles block out most of the moisture, causing breakage from dryness.
- Heavy products cause buildup and weigh the hair down making it brittle.
- Excessive heat styling increases the chances of hair loss.
Strikingly, the tightly packed cuticles of low porosity hair protect your hair, internally and externally. Externally, it protects your hair from environmental damage, and internally it prevents moisture from escaping after absorption.
Is Low Porosity Hair Good or Bad?
Once again, low-porosity hair is just hair and has nothing to do with being good or bad. As long as you care for it properly, your hair’s overall health can and will be excellent.
The pros of low porosity hair are:
- Retains moisture for longer periods.
- Forms a protective barrier protecting your hair from external damage.
The cons are:
- Hair has a waterproof feature making it difficult for water to penetrate leading to dryness and roughness. Products also stay on the surface of the hair leading to heaviness and greasiness.
- When water/products finally do get in, it takes a long time to dry due to the closed-off cuticles.
- Tangles easily
- Hair is sensitive to protein making it appear brittle.
- Resistance to chemical treatments like relaxers and hair dyes due to difficulty penetrating the hair roots.
- Lower elasticity may lead to increased breakage especially when it’s handled roughly.
How to Get on the Good Side of Low Porosity African Hair
Caring for your low-porosity hair can help you make the most of it. Here are the steps to care for low-porosity hair:
Washing and Shampooing
Washing your hair with the right products is a way to care for your low-porosity hair. Get a clarifying shampoo as it can be very helpful in clearing product buildup that has matted your hair. With buildup cleared, relevant products can penetrate the hair easily.
If you cannot get a clarifying shampoo, you can get a sulphate-free shampoo. Why sulphate-free? Well, sulphates can be quite drying, and this may be harmful to hair that already struggles with water retention. You can also opt for shampoos that contain light moisturizing ingredients.
Regardless of the type of shampoo you choose, you should wet your hair before applying your shampoo for easy penetration.
Wash with warm water to open your pores.
Conditioning
After shampooing comes conditioning. Opt for a lightweight conditioner, preferably water-based, to prevent another onset of product buildup right after your washday. If you cannot get a water-based lightweight conditioner, you can mix it with a little bit of water. Apply your conditioner while your hair is still wet (not soaking wet).
Deep Conditioning
You can deep condition right after conditioning for added effectiveness. However, deep conditioning should not be done as frequently as conditioning – once or twice a week should be enough.
Notably, heat is one of the vital processes of deep conditioning and is especially effective for low porosity hair. Heat helps open the hair cuticles, making it easier for products and moisture to penetrate. You can use warm water, a steamer, a hair dryer (not too hot), a heat cap or a simple shower cap (after using warm water).
After applying heat to your hair, rinse the conditioner off with cool water (if the conditioner isn’t leave-in). Rinsing with cool water locks the products in the cuticles.
Keep Your Hair in Twists
Black hair texture apart from being low porosity is prone to tangling. Keeping your hair in twists ensures that you prevent drying and tangling that may lead to breakage. Before putting in twists, section and thoroughly moisturize each section before twisting. This ensures that moisture is locked in with the twists.
Satin Accessories
When you are going to bed, put on a satin bonnet to lock in moisture and protect you from friction-related damage like tangling and frizz. Additionally, invest in a satin pillowcase if you cannot do a satin bonnet as this will repel rather than absorb moisture from your low-porosity African hair.
Beyond Products and Procedures
- Limit harsh heat styling methods and when you do use heat, use a heat protectant to shield your hair. Steam instead to open your pores and allow for easy penetration.
- Avoid harsh drying with towels after washing, use softer fabrics.
- Use a lot of moisturizing products, especially lightweight oils and humectants.
- Avoid harsh chemical treatments like bleaching or dying too frequently.
Final Thoughts
Caring for black with low porosity hair doesn’t have to be difficult. The first step is always determining the problem you have. Afterwards, follow these hair tips and your hair will thank you.
But remember that the tips are just suggestions, feel free to explore all of them but only stick to what works for you. It might take some time to get results but slowly but surely you will. We wish you all the best in your journey to healthy gorgeous locks.