Hi curly babies! I hope you’re all as excited as I am for today’s post. Today’s all about understanding your hair. Before we dive into the wash days, the hair treatments and the do’s and don’ts, it is very vital you understand what hair your dealing with first.
Let’s talk about hair textures. Do you know your hair texture? There are three different textures of hair that you need to know. Fine, medium, and coarse/thick hair. Now let’s go into detail and determine what YOUR hair texture is.
Fine Hair – This is the most fragile and can easily be damaged. Fine hair tends to be oilier than other hair types and usually cannot keep a hairstyle up for long without the hair falling flat. It tends to look thin as well as stringy when weighed down with heavy products
Medium Hair – This is the most common hair type and often covers the scalp very well. It’s not as fragile as fine hair and hence, can be made into styles easily. Medium hair usually looks thick and is not prone to breakage unlike fine hair.
Thick/Coarse Hair – This texture is said to be the strongest due to its three hair layers. Now I’m not here to go all technical and science on you because that’s boring lol. Anyways, this hair texture usually takes longer to dry than other textures and can (CAN, personally not advised) be resistant to various chemical treatements such as hair relaxers. This hair texture tolerates heat (personally, use as little heat as possible 😊) and resists breakage when taken care of properly. Thick/coarse hair appears full and holds styles very well and can (CAN o lol) be resistant to hair coloring.
Let’s talk about hair porosities. Porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb moisture and is broken down in to three categories: Low, Normal, High. Today’s focus will be on low and high porosities. Do you know your hair porosity? If not then today’s your lucky day! Just follow the link below to answer a few simple questions that would help determine your hair porosity. https://www.curlsbot.com/porosity/
Normal Porosity Hair Maintenance: This means you’re not in the red zone! When you have normal porosity, it means your hair is able to hold moisture and shine for a long period of time. This hair porosity is often desired but hardly achieved and hence if you have this hair porosity, stick to a healthy hair care regime to maintain the normal porosity of your hair. REMEMBER, if you use heat often, your hair porosity may change over time.
High Porosity Hair Maintenance: Now if you either took the test to find out or already know you have high porosity hair then this the section for you! Having high porosity hair means your hair is able to absorb products quickly but loses the moisture just as fast. High porosity could either be a natural property of the hair or a result of damage from chemical processing and environmental damage. Even bathing, swimming and shampooing can create more damage. Here are some tips to help manage your highly porous hair:
Deep condition often
Include Protein treatments
Avoid using HEAT & HOT Water
Avoid Chemical treatments & Hair dyes as much as possible
Use Butters & creams to style
Use Aloe Vera religiously!
Also rinsing your hair regularly with an apple cider vinegar mix can help manage high porous hair. There is no way to completely repair high porous hair but you can manage it from more damage!
Low Porosity Hair Maintenance: If you just found out or know you have low porous hair, this section is for you! When you have low porosity hair it means your cuticles are a little tight and pretty resistant to receiving water and moisture. People with low porous hair cannot absorb products easily either. Here are some tips in which you can take care of your low porous hair:
Deep Condition with a hair steamer
Clarify you hair to remove buildup
Use warm water to open cuticles
Use cold water to close cuticles
Use less proteins
Use light/thin oils
Use humectants religiously! (Coconut oil, honey and water based products)
What’s your hair texture??? If you have several, what is the dominant one? Join me next time for more exciting tips and tricks to achieving healthy and well defined curls!
I hope today’s post was helpful for all you curly babies! Until next time! ☺️🧚🏽♀️🧚🏽♀️