When you decide to rock your hair the way it grows out of your head and start looking for products that will complement your beautiful tresses, you often go through TONS of products before you figure out what works. Most times, the reasons for that is because you aren’t taught what you SHOULD be looking for when it comes to your hair. The most you might know is your hair texture (4a, b, etc).
You look at the products and they talk about dry or brittle hair, or moisture and protein but the average product doesn’t discuss porosity or density and definitely not width of strands. The average woman (or man) doesn’t know their hair pH or how much that affects how their hair responds to products and that’s why I’m here.
Let’s Start with Hair Width.
Hair width is the thickness of each individual strand of hair. Fine width has a very small circumference and is very delicate and easy to damage. Medium width consists of strands that are strong and elastic, and neither too thin nor too thick. Coarse hair are very wide in circumference, making them the strongest of all hair textures. Coarse hair strands retain hair length the best.
Then on to Hair Porosity.
Porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb moisture and is broken down into three categories: low, normal and high. To figure out the porosity of your hair, simply pluck a strand of clean hair and drop it into a glass of water. If the hair falls immediately to the bottom, that means your hair is highly porous. If it lingers in the middle, it is normal and if it stays to the top for a while before it starts to fall, it has low porosity.
The goal is to achieve normal porosity. How do we do this? Well there’s this little thing known as pH. The pH of your hair is very integral in your hair health. It’s the starting point in directing you down the road to flawless curls/coils. I’m sure most of you know how pH works. It’s a scale from 0-14. 0-6.9 is acidic, 7 is neutral, 7.1-14 is basic. Your hair and scalp oil, sebum, has a pH balance of between 4.5 and 5.5. This natural hair acidity prevents fungi and bacteria in the hair and scalp, and keeps the cuticle closed and healthy. As you can see, the more alkaline your hair is, the more open the hair cuticle is which makes it more porous. This means you should look for products more acidic to help close cuticles so that your hair retains moisture and isn’t as prone to tangle. If your current or future products do not indicate the pH of the product, purchase some pH strips* and test the products to see how it’s affecting your hair. If the product falls anywhere between 4-7 on the pH scale, you should be good to go!
Hair density refers to how closely those strands are packed together on your head. The easiest way for someone to get a good idea of their hair density is to part a section of your hair and look at it from different angles. If you can easily see your scalp, it’s low density. If you can moderately see it, it’s medium density. If you can barely or not see your scalp at all, it is high density.
With knowing these integral things about your hair, it can help you improve your regimen tenfold thus stopping you from turning into a product junkie.
IxoraBB offers these hair products:
For all hair types: Aloe Vera & Rose Hydra Mist
For Dry Hair/Scalp: Cupuacu & Mango Hydrating Hair Souffle
Thick/High Density Hair: Macani Miracle Butter
Thin/Low Density Hair: Avomur Nourishing Butter
Styler/Light Hold: Loc & Twist Butter
Affiliate link*