If you have high porosity hair, your hair cuticles are raised and open, and your hair is more prone to breakage, dryness and frizz. This post lists the best high porosity hair products to help tame and strengthen porous locks.
High porosity hair is able to easily absorb water and oil but not able to retain the moisture. This is because the hair cuticles are open and so water can easily enter and leave the hair shaft.
High porosity hair is prone to a condition called hygral fatigue. This is where so much water has entered and left the hair cuticle that the hair becomes damaged and looses its elasticity.
If you have high porosity hair, your hair will not take long to dry and is often prone to frizz and dryness. In this post I look at everything you need to look after high porosity hair, including the best shampoos, conditioners, masks and styling products.
High Porosity Hair Products
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What is Hair Porosity?
Your hair porosity indicates how well your hair is able to absorb and retain water and oil.
Low porosity hair has cuticles that are close together. This hair type finds it more difficult to absorb moisture, and is prone to dryness.
High porosity hair has cuticles that are raised and open. It can absorb and loose moisture easily, making this hair type prone to frizz.
The image below shows what high, medium and low porosity hair looks like. You can see the higher the hair porosity, the more the cuticles are raised and the larger the holes in them.
High porosity hair could be down to genetics, or it could be due to damage. If you regularly perform chemical treatments on your hair, use flat irons or use excessive heat, this can cause the hair to become more porous.
How Do You Test Hair Porosity?
One way to test whether you have high porosity hair is by placing a piece of your hair in a glass of water. If your hair sinks, this is an indicator it is high porosity since it is easily able to absorb water. The image below illustrates this:
Another way to determine your hair porosity is by taking my quiz!
What are the Characteristics of High Porosity Hair?
High porosity hair tends to have the following characteristics:
- Often frizzy
- Looks and feels dry
- Breaks easily
- Dries fast
- Absorbs hair products well
- Looks dull
- Rarely shiny
- Easily tangled
There are different degrees of porosity, so if you have medium to high porosity hair, you may find you have some of these characteristics, but not all.
How To Care For High Porosity Hair
If you have high porosity hair, you have three goals:
- Seal the hair cuticle
- Retain more moisture in the hair
- Reduce and reverse damage
If your hair has become more porous due to chemical processing or excessive heat styling, you should use products that help to reverse this damage, as well as protective treatments to prevent further damage.
If you have naturally porous hair, there are products and natural ingredients that seal the cuticle and help the hair to retain moisture for longer.
Good Ingredients for High-Porosity Hair
The best ingredients for high porosity hair include proteins, heavy butters and oils, and humectants.
Heavy oils, butters and proteins help to seal the cuticle, and nourish, moisturise and repair very porous hair. Humectants help to retain moisture in the hair strands. This is important since high porosity hair looses moisture easily.
The following ingredients work well for high porosity hair:
Good Oils for High Porosity Hair
- Olive oil
- Jojoba oil
- Coconut oil
- Avocado oil
- Babassu oil
- Rice bran oil
- Castor oil
- Hemp seed oil
Good Butters for High Porosity Hair
- Shea butter
- Mango butter
- Cupuacu butter
Proteins for High Porosity Hair
- Keratin
- Wheat
- Silk Protein
Humectants for High Porosity Hair
- Glycerin
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Urea
- Propylene glycol
- Honey
- Aloe Vera
Best Products for High Porosity Hair
When I was looking for products for my own hair, I was reluctant to use too many heavy oils or butters since my hair is thin and fine and I didn’t want it to look weighed down.
If you have thicker hair you may prefer products with heavier ingredients such as shea butter or coconut oil, but if you have fine curly hair like me, I’d recommend you look for lighter ingredients like aloe.
L’Oréal Elvive Hydra Hyaluronic Acid Range
If your hair is similar to mine, one range I had great results with was the L’Oréal Elvive Hydra Hyaluronic Acid range. It includes a shampoo, conditioner, mask and serum. I found it did an excellent job at reducing frizz, enhancing my natural curl pattern, and making my hair healthier.
The main ingredient in this range is hyaluronic acid, which is a humectant and is great for retaining moisture in high porosity hair. There are no heavy ingredients in these products, which is why they worked so well for my fine curls.
This range is designed specifically for dehydrated hair, and high porosity hair tends to be dehydrated! In the video below I demonstrate how to use the products, and show you the results on my own hair!
Maui Moisture Shea Butter Shampoo
If your hair is thicker than mine, you may prefer to use products with heavier oils and butters. Maui Moisture make some great moisturising products which contain shea butter. Their shea butter shampoo (pictured below) is specially designed for dry and damaged hair.
The Maui Moisture Shea Butter Shampoo contains rich coconut oil, macadamia oil and shea butter to help seal the hair cuticle and improve moisture retention. The formula is designed to nourish and repair dry and damaged hair, and is a good choice for high porosity hair types.
If your hair is curly, this shampoo will help to add moisture, reduce frizz, and enhance your hair’s natural curl pattern. It’s a great shampoo for curly hair types with high porosity, frizz prone locks.
Recommended places to buy this product: Boots or Look Fantastic
- Sulfate free repairing hair shampoo that helps strengthen dry damaged hair
- Aloe vera and shea butter infused shampoo for intense long lasting moisture
- For moisturised hair thats up to 80% stronger after just two uses
- Will leave hair soft, smooth, shiny and healthy feeling
- Vegan shampoo
Last update on 2022-06-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Related: 21 Best Curly Hair Products that Contain Shea Butter
Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Conditioner
SheaMoisture make some excellent products for high hair porosity. Their Strengthen & Restore Conditioner contains the perfect mix of ingredients including heavy oils and butters such as jojoba oil, coconut oil, castor oil, and shea butter, as well as rice protein.
This strengthening conditioner helps to detangle the hair and restore hydration. It’s recommended for hair that’s been damaged from colouring, straightening or perming, as well as curly or wavy natural styles. The ingredient list includes peppermint oil which is known to stimulate the hair follicles and encourage growth.
Recommended places to buy this product: Boots or Look Fantastic
- A strengthening conditioner that detangles and restores moisture without weighing hair down
- Nourish and strengthen damaged, brittle hair, reducing the appearance of breakage and shedding
- Formulated with jamaican black castor oil and certified organic shea butter
- Helps those who regularly colour, straighten or perm their hair as well as kinky, curly and wavy...
- Useful for hair types: 3A 3B 3C 4A 4B 4C
Last update on 2022-06-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
OLAPLEX No.7 Bonding Oil
See my full review of the Olaplex N°.7 Bonding Oil here
The Olaplex bonding oil helps to strengthen and repair hair that has been damaged from over styling or colouring. All Olaplex products contain an ingredient called bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate which helps to repair any broken disulfide bonds in the hair.
Olaplex is great for damaged or highly porous hair since it repairs the bonds which give hair its structure. This makes the hair smoother, stronger and shinier. The Olaplex Bonding Oil contains a heat protectant to prevent further damage and leave the hair shiny and strong.
Recommended places to buy this product: FeelUnique , Look Fantastic or Cult Beauty
- Repairs damaged and compromised hair
- Strengthens and protects hair structure
- Increases shine, softness, and vibrancy
- Model number: 20140640
Last update on 2022-06-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Related: Why Olaplex is Good for Curly Hair
OLAPLEX No.6 Bond Smoother
In my hair care routine I use both the Olaplex Bonding Oil and the Bond Smoother. The bond smoother is a cream that I apply to damp hair before drying, and then I follow with the oil on dry hair. It’s a great way to reduce hair breakage and promote healthy hair.
The Olaplex Bond Smoother is one of my favourite products since it reduces frizz for up to 72 hours and leaves the hair amazingly smooth, soft and shiny. You can apply it to either dry or wet hair to prevent moisture loss and protect the hair strands.
Recommended places to buy this product: FeelUnique, Look Fantastic or Cult Beauty
- Reparative styling cream
- For all hair types and textures
- Smooths, strengthens, hydrates and protects hair
- Heat protectant
- Only a small amount needed
Last update on 2022-06-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
HAIRBURST Volume & Growth Elixir
The Hairburst Volume & Growth Elixir contains both coconut and avocado oil. It helps improve the volume and fullness or the hair, as well as reduce shedding. This spray improves the strength of the hair, and helps to protect it from UV rays, heat and pollution.
The Hairburst Volume & Growth Elixir is available on Amazon, but if you live in the UK there is a special discount for readers of UK Beauty Room! Click here and then enter the promo code BEAUTYROOM10 which will give you 10% off the entire store excluding complete kits!
Related: Hairburst Recommended Products and Discount Code
- Feed Your Hair - Our hair elixir is enriched with a powerful combination of naturally derived...
- Reduces Hair Loss - You can now brush your hair with confidence knowing The Hairbust Elixir contains...
- Overall Protection - No need to worry about the elements damaging your hair as this product provides...
- Thicker looking hair - Our hair volume spray contains Polymers and hydrolysed wheat protein which...
- Free From & Vegan Certified - We care about your hair and therefore our formula is proudly Vegan...
Last update on 2022-06-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Advice and Resources for Low Porosity Hair
If you have low porosity hair you are better off using lighter oils such as Argan oil or pumpkin seed oil. Shampoos and conditioners designed for low-porosity hair are less likely to cause product buildup, and better able to penetrate the hair shaft. If the float test showed your hair was low porosity, you may find the following posts helpful.
FAQs on High Porosity Hair
What products are good for high porosity hair?
Products containing heavy oils and butters are good for high porosity hair. This might include coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil or shea butter. You should also look for products containing protein such as keratin or silk amino acids.
What helps high porosity hair?
Thick oils and butters help to seal the hair cuticle and improve the hair’s ability to retain moisture. Since high hair porosity is often caused by over styling, chemical processing or excessive heat, it would be a good idea to use protective treatments to prevent further damage. Protein treatments also help high porosity hair.
Does high porosity hair need protein or moisture?
High porosity hair needs both protein and moisture. Protein helps to seal the hair cuticle and increase the amount of moisture in the hair. Good hair products for high porosity hair will contain a mixture of protein and heavy oils and butters to seal the hair shaft and lock in moisture.
How do you moisturize high porosity hair everyday?
Using a good curl cream, oil or butter every day can help to keep high porosity hair moisturised and healthy. It may also be a good idea to invest in a silk pillow case or wear a satin bonnet at night to prevent high porosity hair becoming dried out and frizzy while you sleep.
Is Jamaican black castor oil good for high porosity hair?
Jamacian black castor oil is a thick and heavy oil which makes it excellent for high porosity hair. It’s one of the best oils to strengthen, seal and moisturise highly porous hair.
This post was a list of the best high porosity hair products
Thank you for reading my post about the best high porosity hair products. If you have tried any of the products recommended in this post, please leave me a comment below and let me know how you got on. If you have porous hair it’s important you use the right types of products for your hair. This is the best way to achieve your hair goals and get healthier looking tresses.