LESSON 7: HOW TO TEST YOUR HAIR POROSITY AND ITS ACCURACY

There are many methods to test the porosity of your hair. In this post, we'll cover 3????

A. FLOAT TEST: Take some strands of freshly washed hair( hair products can alter the results), and drop them in a bowl of water. Let them sit for a few mins. If your hair floats after the time is up, you have low porosity hair. If hair sinks = high porosity, if it floats somewhere in the middle = medium/normal porosity.

ACCURACY: This is sometimes inaccurate because hair may float up to 70% of the time giving false results due to the natural oils that may be present on the hair strands even after washing. It also depends on how dense one's hair is.

B. SLIP N SLIDE TEST: Take a strand of hair and slide your fingers up towards your scalp. If you feel small bumps along the way, you have high porosity. If the shaft is smooth, you have low porosity hair.

ACCURACY: Going upwards against the hair strands will make the hair rough. How clean the surface is will also affect the efficiency.

C. WATER (Spray bottle) TEST: Take a portion of your hair and mist it with a spray bottle. Watch closely: if the water beads up on your hair, then its low porosity. If it absorbs quickly, high porosity. If you notice the water sitting on your hair for a couple mins before absorbing in, you have medium porosity hair.

???? You can also observe this when washing your hair, does your hair drink up the water as soon as you pour it = high porosity, does it take time to absorb the water when washing it that you feel you have to push the water into your hair, low porosity. Somewhere in the middle, medium/normal porosity.

ACCURACY: this test is a more trusted method because the results are more constant.

????Relaxed hair is going to be more porous than virgin hair.

Whats your hair porosity level?????

HAIR POROSITY is about your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture. The porosity of your hair affects how well oils and moisture pass in and out of the outermost layer of your hair known as the CUTICLE. It is divided into low, medium and high porosity ????

A). LOW POROSITY: It has cuticles that are bound very close together( tightly shut cuticles). It makes it difficult for moisture to penetrate but also difficult for moisture to escape, once it's in your hair.

B). MEDIUM POROSITY: Cuticles are slightly raised( slightly less bound). Moisture can easily enter and would not escape too easily.

C). HIGH POROSITY: Hair cuticles are raised so much(more widely spread out). It allows moisture to easily pass in and out.

???? Porosity is determined by genetics but can be altered by external factors like heat and chemical processing.

????People with a low po hair tend to stay away from grease and heavy oils and butter because they sit on the hair which leads to build-ups. It easily gets dry when not properly moisturized.

????People with high po use heavy butters and oils when moisturizing to seal in the moisture. When not properly moisturized, the hair is usually frizy and experiences excessive dryness.

Are we together?????

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Hair types can be classified into 3: curl pattern, hair width(check previous posts) and volume (hair density).

HAIR DENSITY refers to how close your hair strands are to one another or the number of strands on your head and how closely those strands are packed together on your head. It is categorized into 3: Low(thin), medium(normal) and high(thick)????

????Do not confuse it with hair width(check previous post).

HOW TO MEASURE THE HAIR DENSITY

A.) PONYTAIL TEST: Smooth your hair into a ponytail then measure the circumference of the end of your ponytail. if less then 2 inches = low density, if it's 2 to 3 inches = medium density, if its 4 or more inches = high density.

???? The more hair you have, the more hair mass you'll have.

B). EXAMINE YOUR SCALP: Take a look at the hair and part a little. If you can see the scalp = low density, if you see a little of your hair = medium density, if you did not any part of your scalp = high density.

????The thickness of hair is usually dependent on the density of your hair.

C.) COUNT THEM: The best way to do this is to count the number of hairs in one square inch of your scalp (or a half square inch). On average, each person has approximately 2200 strands of hair per square inch on their scalp so counting can be a tedious task.

WHY DOES DENSITY MATTER????

Knowing your hair density will help you make good and smart choices concerning the products you use and styling. Using light products for low density is helpful as not to weigh the hair down or lifeless, light leave-in conditioner is best suited for medium densed hair while thicker gels and creams is good for high density hairs.

So far so good, how well do you know your hair????

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We discussed about hair type and how they can be classified by curl pattern(check last post), hair strand thickness(hair width) and volume(hair density).

????HAIR WIDTH is the measure of thickness or circumference of the individual hair strands. It simply is the width of each strand of hair on your head. It is categorized into 3: fine, medium and coarse.

????Its important not to confuse the word "coarse" with the way hair feels).

FINE HAIR: they have small width and when held up to light appears thin and barely there. These strands tend to be weak and easily damaged ????

MEDIUM HAIR: Have a circumference between that of fine and coarse strands.

COARSE HAIR: Have the largest circumference, width and the most strength. When held up to light, the strands are very visible and when pulled on do not snap easily.

????Hair width is so important when discussing our hair because it plays a major role in determining the strength of it, its susceptibility to damage and therefore your ability to retain length.

????HOW TO MEASURE -- THE THREAD METHOD

A). To begin, gather shed hair from comb or brush to examine.

B). Take a strand of thread

( You can tape A and B on a piece of white paper ensuring that they are pulled taut)

C). Once done, you compare your hair strands to the strand of thread.

RESULTS ????

If hair is thinner than the thread= fine hair

If hair is around the same thickness= medium hair

If hair is thicker than the thread = coarse hair.

Hmm we're getting somewhere ????...so with all this, what's your hair width?????

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Hair type is the pattern of your natural hair as it grows out of your scalp, not altered in any way or form. Determining your hair type is a starting point to finding the right products and styles for your hair.

We have 4 types of hair: straight,wavy, curly and kinky(each type has subdivisions a,b,c which shows how the hair curls in each type).

????It can also be classified by curl pattern (straight, wavy, curly and very curly/coily), hair strand thickness (fine, medium and coarse) and volume (thin, normal and thick).

TYPE 1(Straight Hair): Usually the most oily hair texture of all. Hard to manage and immensely difficult to curl these hair texture.

TYPE 2(Wavy Hair): More likely to become frizzy than straight hair. It ranges between straight and curly hair.

TYPE 3(Curly Hair): Also known to have a S-shape(may resemble a lowercase"s", uppercase"S", lowercase"z" or uppercase"Z" depending on the subdivision). This type is usually voluminous, climate dependent(humidity=frizz) and damage-prone. Lack of proper care causes less defined curls.????

TYPE 4(Kinky Hair): Tightly coiled curl pattern that is often fragile with a very high density. It shrinks when wet and is more susceptible to damage (respect to all the 4c hair queens ????...it ain't easy, I tell you????).

????You can have more than one hair type.

????If relaxed, you can't determine your hair type.

So lovelies...whats your hair type?????

So are we getting ready to learn from each other ????..

My Hair Story

I barbed my hair throughout my secondary school days, So after that I started growing my hair out. Around March 2020, we started the covid-19 lockdown. So most supermarket were locked and I couldn't get anything for my hair.

I used the little I had at home but my hair was very dry, bristle, suffered breakage and was not growing the way it should.

To cut the long story short, I used that period to learn every inch of my hair which I'm going to be sharing. My hair was 6 inches long( 2019 June- 2021 October).

I bigshopped November 13th 2022 and I've been learning and working with my hair ever since. It is now more manageable, less dry, no breakage and more softer.

I'm 4 months now and counting ????

So share your hair story in the comments and what you think about striving for healthy hair????

Stay tuned for more....you can also suggest what you like to see from my page????

So we talked about the hair root yesterday (check previous post) and said it widens ro a round hair bulb(where new hair cells are constantly being made). So these cells stick together and harden because these new hardened cells keep on attaching to the hair from below, it is gradually pushed up from the skin.

In this way, hair grows at a rate of about 1cm ( an inch) a month. Facial hair, eyelash, brows and body hair grows at a slower pace.

As long as new hair cells continues to grow in the hair bulb, the hair continues to grow longer ????

???? Hope we're following ????

HAIR GROWTH CYCLE

A.) ANAGEN PHASE(Growth): the phase where the hair is actively growing. Depending on where on the body a hair grows,the growth phase will last longer or shorter. Example, the growth phase of hair on your head can last for several years (2-6years, if you don't cut it out or it doesn't break off), the growth phase is short for eyelashes, eyebrows, nasal hair etc (they lasts for 100-150 days) so they can't grow that long.

B). CATAGEN PHASE (Transitional): the hair prepares to shed as growth is being stopped. Usually lasts about 2-4 weeks).

C). TELOGEN PHASE (Resting): the hair is gradually pushed out of the skin and eventually falls out. Usually lasts for several months.

New hair cells starts to multiply at the base of the "empty" hair follicle to form a new hair and the growth phase of the hair growth cycle starts all over again.

????So from all this, we can see that our HAIR GROWS and is always growing. The reason we don't see the length is because it breaks and grows at the same time, so we need to learn to retain the growth and that it doesn't keep breaking and then we'll be able to see length ????

BONUS: WHAT CAUSES INCREASED HAIR LOSS

A healthy adult may lose 70-100 hairs on their head per day but because new hairs are always growing and replacing them, this natural hair loss isn't noticable.

Rate of hair loss may increase noticably if the hair roots are damaged during the growth phase or a lot of hairs go into the resting phase at the same time. If no new hair grows and replaces the hair, the part of the skin becomes bald (referred to as ALOPECIA)

HAIR is a non-living body structure composed primarily of a protein called KERATIN that is produced by organs within the skin called HAIR FOLLICLES.????

It is also a protein filament that grows from hair follicles found in the DERMIS.

(Okay too much grammer right ????,I'm not teaching biology but they are important to know so we'll learn from scratch and won't get confused???? ????)

PARTS OF HAIR

A). HAIR SHAFT: the part of the hair follicle that fully exits the surface of the skin. It consists of the cuticle,cortex and medulla. The CUTICLE is the hair's outer protective layer and how it lays determines what your porosity is. Followed by the CORTEX which is responsible for giving hair it's strength and durability and it determines the colour of hair because it contains melanin. Lastly is MEDULLA which is the innermost region of the hair shaft and is not always present.

B). HAIR ROOT: the part of hair embedded in the hair follicle. It has a whitish colour and can be seen when hair sheds anywhere in the body.

C). HAIR FOLLICLE: the part where hair grows from.

????Are we following ????...( who's making noise at the back????)

D). DERMAL PAPILLA: the part that contains arteries which supplies blood that regenerates the hair follicle and nourishes the hair.

E). SEBACEOUS GLANDS: small oil-producing glands connected to the hair follicle that secretes an oily or waxy substance called SEBUM which lubricates the hair and skin.

F). ARRECTOR PILI: a tiny muscle connected to each hair follicle and the skin. When it contracts,it causes the hair to stand erect and a "goosebump" forms on the skin.

So that's all for today's class????????...hope we all learnt something????(tell me what you learnt in the comments section below and contribute)

Will continue tomorrow,do well to share this post with family, friends even your enemies ???? so we'll all learn together.