How to Determine Hair Porosity

Co-authored by Kana Ishii and Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: January 14, 2022 References

Porosity is a fancy term for how much moisture the strands of your hair can take in and retain. It really comes down to the cuticle, which is the outermost layer of hair that’s constructed with thin, overlapping cells.^{[1]
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Research source} If your cuticle cells are snug and tight against one another, you likely have low porosity hair, meaning that each strand has difficulty naturally absorbing moisture. When your cuticle cells are separated, it means that your hair has high porosity, and absorbs more moisture.^{[2]
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Research source} There’s no right or wrong hair porosity to have, but it’s important to know your hair type so you can make your hair regimen as effective as possible. Here’s how to properly test your hair porosity so you can make better choices for hair products and get beautiful, healthy hair!

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Testing with Water

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1
Pour some room temperature water into a glass. Take a drinking glass and fill it up halfway. Make sure that there’s enough water to observe a strand of hair floating or sinking. If the water is cold initially, wait a few minutes so it can settle to room temperature.^{[3]
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- If you don’t have a glass on hand, consider using something tall and see-through, like a large glass bowl.
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Place 1 strand of your hair into the glass. Stroke a comb or brush through your hair to remove some hair without needing to pull it out. Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of loose hair, since you only need one strand for the float test. Take a single strand and drop it into the glass.^{[4]
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- Make sure that you’ve washed your hair with dry shampoo and nothing else. And there is no product on your hair.^{[5]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Kana Ishii
  Licensed Cosmetologist
  
  Expert Interview. 22 December 2021.} If you’ve conditioned your hair with a lot of products, then the results of your float test could be negatively affected.^{[6]
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Watch the hair to see if it floats or sinks. Keep an eye on your hair to see what it does. If your hair floats, it likely has low porosity—in other words, your cuticle cells are tight and don’t have a way to quickly absorb the water in the glass. High porosity hair, on the other hand, will rapidly absorb the water and fall to the bottom of the glass.^{[7]
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Expert Source

Kana Ishii
Licensed Cosmetologist

Expert Interview. 22 December 2021.} Medium porosity hair won’t immediately soak in or reject the water, causing it to fall more slowly.^{[8]
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- The float test isn’t always conclusive. If you want more in-depth insights to your hair porosity, consider taking this test: https://www.curlsbot.com/porosity.
Spritz some water over your hair if you don’t have time to do a full float test. As a rule of thumb, low porosity hair won’t absorb any of the water right away, leaving the droplets to sit on top of the hair. High porosity hair, however, will absorb the water immediately. Medium porosity hair falls somewhere in the middle, and tends to absorb water at a moderate pace.^{[9]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Caring for Your Hair

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Apply heat to low porosity hair to make it easier to condition. Use a dryer or heat cap when adding a deep conditioner to your hair. If you don’t want to take those extra steps, try conditioning your hair in the shower with hot water. If there’s more heat present, it’ll be easier for low porosity hair to absorb any conditioners.^{[10]
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- Heat forces the cuticle cells to separate, which makes them soak in more conditioner.
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Invest in natural, lighter products to wash and condition low porosity hair. Purchase shampoos, conditioners, and other products that contain natural oils like grape seed, argan, and almond. These oils naturally provide a lot of moisture to low porosity hair, which helps to condition your hair more effectively.^{[11]
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- Since an excessive amount of hair product might leave some gunk in your hair, try using an apple cider vinegar mixture to cleanse your scalp.
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Use a mix of moisturizing and strengthening products for medium porosity hair. Don’t worry about changing your hair care routine if you have medium porosity hair. Keep your hair products well-rounded, and be sure to have an equal amount of conditioners and protein-heavy strengthening products.^{[12]
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- Talk to a salon specialist if you have any questions about striking the perfect balance with your medium porosity hair.
Wash out any products thoroughly using cold water, as the colder temperature helps the conditioning and moisturizing products to have a more lasting effect. Unlike hot water, cold temperatures force your hair cuticle cells to close, which keeps the newly-added conditioner inside of each hair strand for longer.^{[13]
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Purchase a variety of moisturizing products if your hair is high porosity. Buy a number of items ranging from conditioning butters to moisturizing hair creams. When purchasing a new shampoo and conditioner, look for products containing coconut oil. Additionally, aloe vera gel is another great moisturizing agent that you can use to rub through your hair.^{[14]
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- Aim for products that have a lot of protein in them—this helps your high porosity hair become stronger.^{[15]
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Things You’ll Need

Testing with Water

Glass
Spray bottle
Water
Hair strand

Caring for Your Hair’s Porosity

Blow dryer
Heat cap (optional)
Shampoo
Conditioner
Apple cider vinegar (optional)
Deep conditioner
Hair strengthener

Tips

If you want a more in-depth look at the makeup of your hair, consider ordering a lab test.^{[16]
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Warnings

Applying a lot of heat to your hair with curlers and straighteners can damage and raise the porosity of your hair. Keep this in mind whenever you go to use heating devices on your hair.^{[17]
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