Texture and Afro queen Michelle Thompson Talks Hair Porosity with Stylist Magazine

Wolverhampton based stylist Michelle Thompson is one of the UK’s leading texture and afro experts and was called on by Stylist to chat all things porosity… Three times winner of British Afro hairdresser of the Year, Michelle gave her top tips on why knowing your porosity matters when it comes to caring for textured hair.

What are some common characteristics/ behaviours of Low Porosity natural hair? 

If your hair has low porosity, that means the cuticles are very compact and not as susceptible to receiving hydration. Low porosity hair characteristics include dry hair, and in some cases, it's hard to keep this hair texture wet, because water can bead up and roll right off the strand if the cuticles are closed, so moisture does not enter easily. This means that product applied to the hair will sit on top and not penetrate, and the same goes for hair colour, treatments etc. Because low porosity hair naturally repels water, it dries faster. This can also potentially mean hair appears not to have any volume, elasticity and essentially can lack overall style. 

 Typically you would visit the hair salon every 2 weeks to have this treated professionally with the correct products, in between this you should co wash, wetting down the hair and applying a leave in conditioner to try and penetrate through the hair. The more consistently this is done, over time you will see the porosity build in the hair, typically once the protein has worked and you can notice the difference you would move on to solely moisture based products to maintain the porosity. 

Taking extra care with your hair when wet is essential, comb through with a wet brush/detangling brush rather than a comb and be as gentle as possible to minimise breakage. 

How should you care for Low Porosity hair?

Protein is the best for low-po hair, but these products should only be used in salon with your stylist, as too much protein can break the hair and actually work against you. People often think their hair is one ‘type’, but it can change in line with everything from treatments to hormones, stress and medication. In salon treatments will have moisture and enough protein to treat low-po hair and this way the journey can be monitored professionally so we can tell you when to change up your hair products to target the problem at hand. Typically this will move onto moisture products once the protein has been built up. You should visit the salon for a treatment every 2 weeks, you should use this as your wash day and co wash in between using your leave in conditioners to treat the hair. 

An oil wouldn’t be needed on each application of the leave in conditioner, you should be using something that wouldn’t warrant this. 

A wide range of products are available in brands such as Keracare, Schwarzkopf Oil Ultime, Ouidad, and imbue, and products should definitely be sulphate free and moisture based, typically containing Aqua/water, Fruit Extract(s), coco butter, argan & Abyssinian oil, amla & neem & shikakai oil, jojoba oil. These ingredients particularly work at imparting moisture as they balance out the ph level & oil (lipophilic) in the hair, helps seal the cuticle, preserve elasticity, strength and health of natural hair. 

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