Hello Ladies,
If you missed it on my socials, I recently just celebrated my 1st year natural anniversary.
I will say dealing with my natural hair has been a learning curve but not as difficult as I envisaged. All I did was tweak my texlaxed hair regimen along the way and got some products to address my present hair issues, one of them being having low porosity hair.
Low porosity hair simply means that the cuticles of your hair (the protective outer layer) lay flatter than normal which makes moisture more difficult to penetrate to the hair cortex. The reverse is high porosity which means the cuticles are raised allowing moisture in and out of the hair cortex at will. Having low porosity hair is much less a problem than having high porosity hair which is considered to be damaged hair in all honesty.
However because most 4c naturals do not use the right products, leaving their hair perpetually dry causing breakage, low porosity hair has gotten a very bad name over time in our community.
So these are the tips I have been applying on my low porosity hair to ensure my hair does NOT stay feeling dry and crunchy and prone to breakage...
1. I clarify my hair once a month- because with low porosity hair, the hair is also prone to buildup since the cuticles are flat, so the moisture that manages to get in keeps building up. A clarifying shampoo session with WARM WATER to raise the cuticles will lift all that build up at least once every month to give you a clean slate to work with.
2. I always deep condition with heat...the difference is crystal clear with my hair when I just condition and when I deep condition with heat. It's like night and day. Deep conditioning hair masques are packed with ingredients that will nourish the hair shaft and cortex and the heat will help ensure that the masque gets infused deep into all those parts of the hair strand.
3. I use humectants...humectants will attract moisture to the hair and when you use them as your moisturizer(the first product you apply to your hair for moisture), you are setting the stage up for balancing out your porosity...look out for vegetable glycerin (avoid in the winter), aloe vera gel or juice, propylene glycol and silicones in your leave in conditioner, moisturizer or hair detangler.
4. Finally to seal, I avoid heavy oils...remember what was said about the buildup? Using an oil like coconut oil or castor oil as a daily sealant will be too much for low porosity hair and will cause even more dryness. Use light oils like grapeseed, almond, avocado to produce a nice oil blend for the ends of your hair as well as your scalp for nourishment without the build up.
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So ladies with low porosity hair that feels dry all the time, all it takes is being deliberate about infusing moisture into your hair with these steps, I know since I started following them my hair has felt much better.
Thanks as always for stopping by,
Xxx
Dabs
