Hair Type And Porosity

Hair Type And Porosity Play A Major Role In Hair Growth

Your Unique Curl Pattern

Everyone has their own unique curl pattern and requires different techniques and products to keep it healthy. As an African American woman who cares and wants to take care of her hair to the best ability, she must be knowledgeable of her kinky hair. Natural hair can be very tricky when it comes to how it should be cared for. In reality, it may feel as if it’s a difficult task because you may be lacking knowledge on the specific practices you need to implement in order to see hair growth. In this article I will discuss hair type and hair porosity. It is important to know why hair type and hair porosity play a major role in hair growth.

Hair Type

What is hair type? The hair typing system is about your hair’s curl pattern. The hair type system starts from type 1 hair (straight hair). Type 2 which has a wavy curl pattern. Type 3 hair is curly and type 4 is kinky/coily hair. The hair type chart was created by Andre Walker. He is also Oprah Winfrey’s hair stylist. I appreciate the hair typing system because it helps you to know and get to understand your texture. It also helps to teach you what your hair needs and what products may or may not work with your hair. The key is knowing that everyone’s hair is different and no head of hair is the same. Hair also does not require the same techniques, care and natural hair care products.

When you understand your hair type it will save you frustration and having hair growth set backs. For example, coarse hair (4c hair) requires lots of deep conditioning, gentle combing and moisture. By implementing these steps in your natural hair care routine you’ll notice how much hair growth you will retain. Someone with coarse hair cannot take care or have the same hair regimen as a person who has 3 type hair. A woman with 3 type hair(looser curls) may be able to comb her hair more often, skip out on deep conditioning and be able to use more heat.

Hair Porosity

Hair Porosity is also important when referring to healthy hair growth. Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to retain and absorb moisture. One’s hair porosity can range from low, normal or high. When you have learned about your hair porosity you have the ability to pick the proper hair care products and regimen that will give you beautiful results.

Checking Your Hair's Porosity

There are several ways that you can check your hair’s porosity if you are unsure of what it is. I will go over the options that are available but my favorite way of testing is through the shed hair method. Take a piece of shed hair and drop it into a glass of water. If the hair floats you know that you have low porosity hair, if it starts to sink slowly your hair is normal porosity and lastly if it sinks right away your hair is high porosity.

Second Option To Checking Your Porosity

Secondly, you can also do the “strand test”. You first stretch the hair and run your fingers from the tip of the hair strand down towards your scalp. If it is easy to run your fingers through the strand and it has a hard and dense texture it’s low porosity. If the texture is smooth the porosity is normal. Hair that feels dry, rough and breaks is high porosity.

Third Option

Lastly, you have the H20 test. For this method all you need to do is spray a section of your hair with water. Pay attention to how your hair reacts to the water. If the water absorbs quickly you have high porosity hair. Water that sits on top of the hair indicates a low porosity level.

Applying The Knowledge

Now that you have learned about hair type and hair porosity you know why it plays a major role in hair growth. The bottom line is to follow and listen to how your hair reacts to your hair care techniques and products. Personally, I have learned so much about hair type and hair porosity. It has taught me how to properly care for my natural hair, what techniques I should use for my hair regimen and natural hair care products to use.

Create Your Own Lane

For myself and butta babee, whipped shea butter and natural oils for hair work wonders because it helps to lock all of the moisture in (which is what low porosity hair lacks..(moisture). When we use whipped Shea butter and natural oils for hair it keeps the hair healthy and gives it an amazing shine. Never follow what you see someone else doing to their hair. Their natural hair care products may be working for them because it is compatible with their hair type and porosity. This does not mean that the same routine will work for you. It’s all about trial and error. Now that you know the basics you have somewhere to start and be on your way to tons of growth.