What kind of hair products are right for me? Should I use oils or serums for my hair? These are a few questions I’ve asked myself when treating my own hair. In this article, you’ll get to find out what kind of products you need to use based on your hair porosity including a few hints on how to take care of your hair overall.
Shower Care
Before actually washing your hair, you need to soak it in water, right? Well, if you have low porosity hair, you should turn your shower to warm water since this will open your hair cuticles in order for the ingredients in the hair products to penetrate the strands of your hair. However, if you have high porosity hair, you should bathe in cold water so the hair cuticle seals up and traps the ingredients within the already open hair cuticles.
When it comes to low porosity hair, you should always use protein free shampoos and conditioners because the proteins weigh down your hair. Since it’s already difficult for low porosity hair to let moisture into the cuticle already, those products with more ingredients would simply sit on top of your scalp and not penetrate it. Therefore, you should use lightweight products like water based shampoos and conditioners that don’t impact your hair in a negative way like those with heavier ingredients. When it comes to high porosity hair, however, a protein based moisturizing shampoo and conditioner is right for you! These typically have butter that nourish this type of hair since it’s already difficult for it to retain moisture altogether. Deep conditioners and shampoos are your go-to product if you have low porosity hair since most of them already have the butter and oils high porosity hair needs. Lastly, microfiber hair towels are excellent to dry your hair after a nice shower. These minimize hair frizz and lower your risk of hair breakage compared to if you use a regular towel to dry it.
Post Shower Treatment
Let’s talk hair serums: what do they do? These styling hair products help with flyaway, frizzy hair and give your hair a lustrous shine! For those with low porosity hair, of course the lightweight formulas are key to a healthy set of hair. You don’t want serums with too many ingredients that’ll end up not helping your cuticles at all. For high porosity hair, hair serums with intense saturation are critical if you want to prevent your hair from getting excessively dry.
Oils are a bit trickier for low porosity hair. If you have this hair type, I personally recommend you stay away from oils because most of them are heavy, which weigh down on your hair… unless they’re lightweight oils, similar to the serums. On the other hand, most hair oils are great for high porosity hair since this hair type is more prone to frizziness and dryness due to it being hard to contain moisture. Leave-in conditioners that have humectants help retain moisture for low porosity hair so it doesn’t simply sit on top of your scalp while leave-in conditioners with deeply hydrating ingredients like shea butter or oils are excellent for high porosity hair since the extra hydration prevents it from staying dry and brittle. Lastly, use a satin or silk pillowcase to bed. These reduce friction to the hair and, on top of that, absorb less moisture from your skin and hair than regular polyester pillowcases. Keep your strands healthy.
Now you know!
There are so many other hair products out there besides the ones in this article that are used to style, tame, and keep your hair silky smooth and healthy. Though just remember that, if you have low porosity hair, use protein free, lightweight, and/or water based products on your hair so it doesn’t cause any unnecessary build up. For high porosity hair, protein rich, deep, and moisturizing products are the right choices for you!