Kinky hair porosity: the water glass test proves almost nothing

A single strand of hair, a glass of water: if it floats, your porosity is low; if it sinks, it is high. The test has been around for years; it is simple, free, and proves next to nothing.

Porosity, however, is very real, and it explains why two women following the same routine do not get the same result. The key is knowing what it measures, how to observe it without equipment, and above all, what it really changes in your daily routine. The sequence itself does not change: our six steps are detailed in the step-by-step tutorial.

What porosity measures

Everything happens on the surface of the hair. The fiber is covered with flat scales that overlap like the tiles of a roof, and this outer layer is the real barrier: it determines the speed at which water enters the hair, and the speed at which it leaves (Wolfram, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2003). Porosity is nothing more than the condition of this roof.

When the scales are tightly closed, water takes a long time to pass through, but once inside, it stays for a long time: this is low porosity. When they open and close normally, water enters and stays: this is medium porosity, the most comfortable situation. When they are raised or damaged, the fiber drinks everything in a few seconds and empties almost as quickly: this is high porosity.

One point that classification charts often forget: one head frequently has two porosities. Recent roots, still intact, and ends that have been out for several years, tested by heat and handling. You are then treating two materials at once, which explains many half-hearted results.

Why the water test proves nothing

The test is appealing because it gives an immediate answer. Yet it poses three problems. A hair that has received cream, oil, or gel floats for reasons that have nothing to do with its scales. The surface tension of the water holds a fine hair for several minutes, regardless of its porosity. Finally, the hair you take is a fiber, not a head of hair, and it says nothing about the others.

The result is that the same person gets contradictory verdicts from one day to the next, and builds their routine on a number that means nothing. Two observations made over several washes are better than one spectacular test done once.

In practiceTwo observations that are better

The first is done when you wet your hair. Watch how the water penetrates: on low porosity, it glides and takes an astonishing amount of time to pass through the mass, to the point that you have to insist for the lengths to be truly wet. On high porosity, everything is soaked in a few seconds.

The second is done afterward. Time, without precision, how long your hair takes to air dry, without product. Hours, and often half a day, indicate low porosity. Barely an hour, high porosity. Make this observation two or three times, on different washes, before drawing a conclusion.

A third piece of information comes for free, with use: the way your hair behaves with a treatment. A cream that stays as a shiny film on the surface points toward low porosity. A head of hair that drinks everything and becomes dry again in the evening points toward high porosity. If doubt persists, a professional decides in a few minutes during a hair diagnosis.

What it changes, and what it does not

Here is the point where most guides mislead their readers. Porosity does not change the steps of the Texture Ritual®, nor their order, nor the pace of seven to ten days. It does not change the application time of the Repair Mask any further: ten minutes, under a shower cap if you have one, regardless of your fiber.

The fine adjustment of the application time according to porosity exists, but it is a salon technique, which we reserve for hairdressers trained in our method. It requires an assessment done on clean hair, in hand, and a controlled heat source. Transposed to the home based on the faith of a water test, it mostly produces masks left on too long, which brings nothing more to the fiber.

What porosity changes, on the other hand, can be summed up in two words: the texture of the products and the quantity you use. It is little, and it is enough to make the difference between a routine that works and a routine that disappoints.

Level 1Low porosity: get it in before holding it

Here, the difficulty is not keeping the water, it is getting it in. Everything that is rich tends to stay sitting on top, to weigh down the strand and give that coated hair feeling that does not move.

Three reflexes are enough. Apply your treatments to truly soaked hair, not just damp: the more the fiber is gorged with water, the more the cream has something to hold. Choose light textures, and apply them in small quantities, even if you have to go over the ends a second time. Finally, never skip the gentle clarifying cleaning that opens the complete routine: on a fiber that already lets little pass, the slightest film of residue closes the door for good.

Level 2High porosity: slow down the exit

The situation is the opposite, and it is more frequent on hair that has experienced coloring, straightening, or years of iron. Water enters without resistance; everything depends on the time it stays.

The answer lies first in the texture: a richer cream, applied generously to damp hair and massaged into the lengths. The Styling Cream helps maintain the hydration brought by the wash, and it is the one that holds this role, not an oil or butter placed on top. The so-called LOC method, which stacked greasy layers, weighed down the fiber without holding anything more.

The night counts double on high porosity. A cotton pillowcase pumps the water you just brought, and you start each morning with a little less than the day before: the lengths combed, a silk scarf and a silk pillowcase change the game in a few days. The rest depends on the way to make hydration last between two washes, which we detail in hydrating and making water last.

What increases it

Porosity changes, and almost always in the same direction. Three causes come back: chemical treatments, coloring and straightening first, which permanently open the cuticle; heat applied to a bare fiber, stationary device on a dry strand; and repeated handling, forced detangling included.

Drying, on the other hand, is not to blame as long as it is protected: The Styling Cream applied before the device, small strands, the device always in motion. It is not the heat that damages, it is the stationary heat on a hair without anything on it. Between two routines, the open air is very suitable.

An established porosity does not go down: treatments soften it, only the cut removes the most damaged portions. What remains in your hand is not to make it worse.

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Sources

• Wolfram L. J., « Human hair: a unique physicochemical composite », Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2003, vol. 48, n° 6 (supplement), p. S106-S114.