What Helped Me In My Curly Hair Journey (Porosity, Density, Strand Thickness) Curl Type Didn'T!

Hey everyone welcome and welcome back if you're new, i'm alexa and my channel focuses on curly hair. So in today's video i do want to talk about porosity, hair density and also hair strand thickness. These are three of the most important things that do matter when it comes to picking out products for your hair and also deciding how to style your hair. I do want to do this video, because i got a lot of questions from people just telling me things like hey alexa. I have 3a curled or 3b curls. What products do you recommend for me and the truth is. I can't really do much with that information, because the porosity of your hair matters also your density and also your hair strand thickness. If i know these three things about your hair, then i can give you better advice on how to style your hair or what products to use - and i know when i started my curly hair journey. I honestly did not know about those three things and i only focused on curl pattern. So i was go on instagram for hours and try to find girls that had a similar curl pattern to mine, and the thing is when i tried products they recommended for their routines many times. I had really bad hair days and that's because someone can have the same curl pattern as you, but their porosity density and hair strand thickness can be completely different. So in today's video i am really hoping that i can help you try to discover what those three things of your hair are: i'm going to try to delve deep, really really. Well, i'm going to try to make this simple for you, because i know it can be a little bit confusing to understand. So i will be breaking this video down into sections. I'M also going to put time stamps down below. If that's something that you are interested in, so without further ado, let's get started, let's begin with porosity, so porosity is basically your hair's ability to absorb or retain moisture and let's begin with the first type of porosity, which is high, porosity hair. So this type of porosity has cuticles that are really open, so it's really easy for water and moisture to get into your hair, but since the cuticles are really open, it can also be really easy for that moisture to leave and usually high porosity hair can be Heat damaged, it can also be chemically treated, but it can also be inherent and an easy way to tell if you have high porosity hair is if, when you do, go wash your hair in the shower, if your hair gets wet really fast, then that most likely Means that you do have a high porosity hair, because all of that water was easily able to get into your hair. Now, let's go on to low porosity, which is the type of porosity i can relate to so low porosity. Hair has cuticles that are really shot, and it is really hard for water or moisture to get into your hair and usually since the cuticles are really shut, you do need things like steam to how products got into your hair. I know when i deep condition. I really need steam because if i don't apply steam and i'm using a hair treatment or something it's literally like i didn't put anything into my hair and also since the cuticles of your hair are really shut for low porosity hair. Once all that moisture is in your hair, it's really hard for it to leave. One way you can tell if you have low porosity hair and it's just a simple way, is if you go and you get in the shower. If your hair takes a long time to get wet, then that probably means that you have low porosity hair just because, since your cuticles are really shot, your hair is just really stubborn into letting all of that water in there. I know when i wash my hair. I literally need to wet my hair for four to five minutes until i feel that my hair is actually really wet, and now the third type of porosity is medium porosity. So personally, i feel like medium porosity is the easiest type of porosity and that's basically when your cuticles are not too open and they're not shut, but they're kind of open. So it easily does la moisture and water into your hair, and it also has the ability of retaining that moisture in your hair really well. As you can see, there are three different types of porosity, low, medium and high porosity hair, and each of these do work differently, and why is this important? So, knowing your porosity can help, you determine what to do when applying products to your hair. It can help you determine how to style it and also what ingredients to use more of or lots of, and also it just helps maintain the overall health of your hair. Before i go more in depth into each type of porosity, i want you to keep in mind. Everyone'S hair is different. Someone'S hair could be really low, porosity or not too low, porosity and kind of closer to medium porosity. It can definitely change from head to head and we also need to consider hair strand thickness when we think about porosity. So it's not like it's just porosity, there's a lot of things that come into play with this. Let'S start off with learning a little bit more about low porosity, hair, so low porosity benefits a lot from using steam one deep conditioning, because if you don't use steam many times it can feel like. You literally didn't use a deep conditioner, a hair mask or a treatment, and also we need to keep in mind. Not all low porosity hair is protein sensitive. I do recommend many low porosity people to start off with small proteins, maybe one at a time i'll list. Some right here and just see how it works on your hair. I know that's how i figured it out for my hair and i found out what proteins my hair did like. Also, we need to consider hair strand thickness when it comes to this. A low porosity person who has fine hair might need more protein, but a low porosity person who has coarser hair like myself, might not need too much protein. All the time and also low porosity is prone to fairy knots, it's prone to build up in the hair. A lot quicker than other porosities, so it's really important to clarify your hair since low porosity hair tends to retain moisture for a long period of time. This is why styled hair can usually last a longer period of time compared to other porosities. It'S also important to be mindful of ingredients you're using depending on how your hair reacts to each and low porosity can also have difficulty taking in things like hair dye, and it can also love a lot of different humectants, a lot more compared to other porosities. Now, let's move on to medium porosity, i feel, like medium porosity, takes characteristics from low porosity and also high porosity, so it does need both moisture and protein. It can also benefit from steam when deep conditioning it gets very knots, but not as many as low porosity, and one thing i didn't mention earlier is one way you can find out. If you do have medium porosity, hair is if your hair doesn't take too long or a little bit of time to get wet. So it might take like a minute for your hair to get wet and it also benefits from clarifying hair. Dye can be taken in easily and also styles do last for a good amount of time. Let'S move on to high porosity, so since high porosity accepts moisture easily, you don't really need the help of steam for like deep conditioners, and you can easily just use like a shower cap and your body's heat will do the job for you. Also. It doesn't need to be clarified so frequently and it does benefit a lot from co-washing, but keep in mind. You should clarify your hair once in a while. It might just range from porosity to porosity. Also, protein is needed frequently in high porosity hair, but be careful not to get protein overload so always make sure your hair is protein and moisture balance, and you know, since high porosity hair tends to lose moisture easily and protein easily. These are two things that you will be using a lot in many of your routines. It'S also important to steal, high porosity hair. That way the moisture won't be lost so easily, and you can even also notice, when dying, high porosity hair, that it takes hair dye. Really easily now that we've talked about the different types of porosities a little bit. I do want to put out there that your porosity can change depending on the chemical treatments you do to your hair. So if you dye your hair, your porosity can increase. Also, the amount of heat you put in your hair environmental factors, so these things can definitely change your porosity and, just as you get older another question that i tend to get a lot is: can you have different types of porosities on your hair and the answer To this question is yes, this is possible, one strand of hair might be another porosity. Then another strand of hair, the more your hair grows and like the more um virgin it is, the porosity will be lower. So your porosity at the top of your hair, can be lower than the rest of your hair, and i feel like that's something that i personally do relate to a lot now. Two ways i think you can easily find your porosity is one make sure your hair is clarified and it does not have any build up, take one strand of hair and feel it up and down. If you feel a lot of bumps, that means you have high porosity hair if you feel some bumps, but not too many. Possibly you have medium. If you don't feel any bumps at all and it feels really smooth, then you have low porosity, hair and another way is, if again make sure your hair is clarified. Um go in the shower, wet your hair and analyze. How long it takes for your hair to get wet if it takes a long time to get wet like four to five minutes that will be low, porosity hair if it takes like a minute that might be medium and if it gets wet really fast, then that Is most likely high porosity hair? Now i think this is one of the simplest ways again make sure your hair is clarified and just take a spray bottle, start spraying water on your hair. And if your hair forms beads like mine is then that means you have low porosity hair, especially if the beads are not really absorbing into your hair and you notice. It takes a long time and again if you notice that it's going in really fast, then that's most likely high porosity anything in between that's medium porosity. Now, let's move on to hair density, and i think this is the easiest thing to understand. So basically, your density is the amount of hair. You have per square inch on your scalp, so we're kind of looking at these individual strands of hair as a group on your scalp and there are three different types of densities: let's start with the first one and that's high density, and that's the one that i Can relate to so with high density hair. Honestly, a good way to tell is when you can't barely see your scalp, and you probably do need to part your hair down the middle, really well to kind of see your scalp. And now there is low density, and this is when you don't have as many individual hair strands per square inch on your scalp. So with low density hair. It can be really easy to see your scalp, even if your hairs are down, and now there is a medium density and medium density. Hair does fall in between low density and high density and for medium density hair. You don't really have a lot of hair per square inch, but you don't have too little so you fall right in the middle and you can probably not see your scalp as much, but it is kind of visible. Now. Why is density so important? So i feel like density is something that can help people decide what products to buy, what ingredients to use more of in their routine, which ones to kind of avoid that way. Their hair won't be weighed down, they can get more volume, etc and density can even help someone decide what type of a haircut to get so, let's begin with low density. Two things i want to point out is low density will benefit from the use of lighter products. That way you will get more volume and your hair won't be limp or weight down. You can also do root clipping when styling that way, you can really help increase volume at your roots. Now there is medium density and i feel like this hair sits in the middle because it can achieve volume easily, but also, if you want to avoid volume, something you can do too and you can use a variety of products on your hair now for high density Hair, like myself, it will most likely benefit from heavier products to help tame the volume and hold the curls together, and even when, like you wash, your hair styling in sections can be so beneficial for high density, because you will have the ability to style more of The hair accordingly and even washing in sections, will be amazing because you can really dedicate time to like most of your scalp and discover more of your hair, but also consider that you can have high density hair and have fine hair or medium textured hair. Or like your porosity can be different, so there are many things to still consider now. Let'S move on to hair strand thickness, and i think this can be really easy to comprehend. So basically, hair strand thickness is the width of one single strand of hair on your head and there are three different types of hair strand thickness. Let'S start with the first one, and that is coarse hair, so coarse hair is the one i am able to identify with an easy way to tell. If you have coarse hair is, if you take one individual strand of hair on your head, feel it between your fingertips. If you can feel it really easily, then you have coarse hair, and now there is fine hair. So with fine hair, it can be really hard to feel that piece of hair in between your fingertips, a lot of people, will find hair usually say that they can't even feel that single strand when they're touching it with their fingertips and the third type of hair Strand thickness is medium and it falls in between fine and coarse. So it's not like you cannot feel medium textured hair, but you can kind of feel it, but not as much as coarse hair. Finally, you might be wondering why is knowing your hair strand thickness important, so basically, this will help you determine the strength of your hair. You'Ll have a better understanding of what ingredients to use more for your individual needs and will even help. You determine how to like treat your hair like if you shouldn't be as rough with it. If you should be a little bit more gentler, even though i think you should be really gentle with any texture, i want to highlight each type of strand thickness. So fine hair has the least amount of shrunk, so it can benefit a lot from protein and lighter ingredients, but also, i feel like you need to consider your porosity. You need to consider your density, so definitely make sure to do these things accordingly. Start little by little, while coarse hair is more prone to dryness, so it needs more moisture, but it is also important to keep that protein and moisture balance so be mindful and coarse. Hair doesn't get damaged super easily, just because it does have a lot of strength, and then there is a medium hair which falls right in the middle. Now that i've explained all of these things and if you're still like a little confused start step by step, you don't need to do everything at once and experiment see what works best for your hair. Uh maybe start putting little amounts of protein, starting with smaller proteins into your routine. If you have low porosity, if your hair is coarse, for instance, see how that works, just don't throw like everything into your hair right away. I feel like that's the way i learned doing things step by step and then i feel like i got a better understanding of my hair, so i'm really hoping that this video is making it easy for you to know what your hair's porosity, what your hair strand Thickness and also what your density is, i do know that these three things can be really hard for you to understand, but i'm also hoping that you're understanding. Why considering these three things is so crucial when deciding what type of products to put in your hair and also how to style your hair? I know one. I literally had no clue what these things were. I had so many bad hair days and i used to be so upset like why isn't this working, but once i started to take these things into consideration, that's when i started to have many successful wash days, so i really do hope. This video helped you out. If it did, please give it a thumbs up also, if you're not subscribed, then make sure to hit that subscribe button down there. I do post videos every single week and, as always, i love you guys so much and i'll see you next week. Bye, you