Hair Porosity 101 | What You Need to Know

April 18, 2025

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Originally published on April 18, 2025 | Last updated on April 18, 2025

Those with curly hair and who are part of the natural hair community have most likely heard of the term “hair porosity” before. Despite this, many don’t know about the topic in-depth, or even why it matters. In today’s post, you’ll find out why it’s important to know your hair porosity, the three different types, and the best products to use to address your hair’s needs.

What is Hair Porosity?

Hair porosity refers to how well your hair is able to absorb and hold moisture. The outer layer of the hair strand (called the cuticle) is responsible for how long moisture stays in your hair. There are three levels of porosity — low, medium, and high. Your hair’s porosity is determined by how lifted the cuticle layer is.

Why Does Hair Porosity Matter?

Each level of porosity comes with its own challenges, so understanding your own hair type is very important. This is because when you know your hair, you’ll know exactly how to take care of it and the types of products that will work best. As you pay more attention to its needs, your hair will become healthier, hydrated and strong.

Determining Hair Porosity

There are three popular ways to find out your hair’s porosity:

Floating Test: Place one strand of your hair into a glass of water. Let it sit for a few minutes. If the hair strand floats, you have low porosity hair. If it stays in the middle, you have medium porosity hair. If it sinks to the bottom, you have high porosity hair.

Strand Test: Take a strand of hair and slide your fingers up and down to see how it feels. If it’s smooth, you have low porosity hair. If you feel bumps or if it breaks off completely, then you have a high porosity hair type.

Water Test: Spray a small section of hair with a spray bottle. If you notice that water beads just sit on top of the hair, then you have low porosity hair. With medium porosity hair, it will absorb some of the water and bead much less. High porosity hair types will immediately absorb the water.

Low Porosity Hair Care

Due to its tightly sealed cuticle, it’s difficult for liquids to enter or stay in low porosity hair. Those with this hair type often find that products seem to sit on the hair instead of being absorbed. As water isn’t easily absorbed, washing and drying can take a very long time and it can be hard for the hair to get fully wet. Once your hair does manage to get wet, it can take ages to air-dry. Seeing as low porosity hair tends to be drier, it can be tempting to pile on products trying to saturate the hair with moisture. However, as the cuticles are very tight, not much product will penetrate. In fact, it will just cause major build-up instead.

With low porosity hair, it’s important to use products that contain ingredients that will penetrate your hair more easily. In addition, moderate heat is actually great for this hair type. Heat can lift the hair cuticle, allowing moisture to better penetrate hair strands. Because of this, it’s best to apply products when your hair is warm and damp. When deep conditioning, use a heat cap or hooded dryer to help the conditioner penetrate through your strands.

Low Porosity Hair Product Recommendations:

Shampoos: Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Shampoo and Maui Moisture Curl Quench+ Coconut Oil Shampoo.

Conditioners: Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Conditioner, Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Conditioner and Camille Rose Coconut Water Leave-In Treatment.

Styling Products: Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Camille Rose Curl Love Moisture Milk.

Oils: John Masters Organics 100% Argan Oil and Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil.

Medium Porosity Hair Care

Medium porosity hair requires the least amount of maintenance as the hair cuticle isn’t densely packed and it’s not too lifted either. Medium porosity hair is easy to style, retains moisture well and tends to look healthier. The main goal with this hair type is to maintain the hair’s health.

Medium Porosity Hair Product Recommendations:

Shampoos: Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex 10 in 1 Renewal System Shampoo.

Conditioners: Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex 10 in 1 Renewal System Hair Masque and Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex 10 in 1 Renewal System Conditioner.

Styling Products: Curlsmith Hold Me Softly Style Balm and Curlsmith Moisture Memory Reactivator.

Oils: John Masters Organics 100% Argan Oil and Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil.

High Porosity Hair Care

With high porosity hair, the cuticle layer is lifted and often has holes in it. This could occur due to genetics or damage from heat, colour, chemicals, or over-manipulation. Although moisture absorbs into the hair very quickly, it doesn’t stay in the hair for very long because it’s highly porous. Those with this hair type tend to find that their hair is dry, frizzy, dull and prone to breakage. Many may find that they have to keep reapplying products over and over again to keep their hair feeling moisturised. However, without proper sealing, the moisture will just evaporate from the hair.

The main aim with this hair type is to reduce damage to the cuticle and seal the moisture in. It’s extremely important to avoid damage from blow drying, flat ironing, chemicals and over-styling. With high porosity hair, it’s best to apply products to soaking wet or damp hair. Deep condition more frequently and regularly rehydrate your hair to keep it healthy and moisturised. High porosity hair loves heavier products, such as butters and thick oils, so use these to seal moisture in.