Porous Hair? I really need suggestions

[lana]

My friend's little girl has extremely porous hair. She knows I'm a member of a hair board and asked that I get some answers if possible or suggestions. Her daughter (such a cutie pie) has dry brittle hair. No matter what conditioning treatments her mommy uses, the hair stays dry and brittle and doesn't seem to absorb any moisture.

What can she do? She said she's heard of porosity control but isn't that for when you're doing a chemical service? Her daughter is 9 and just gets her hair washed, conditioned, braided or pressed once every few months. But the conditioners don't "take".

I've been a member here for awhile and now I'm wondering if I have porous hair too. (lol) Can someone offer suggestions? Also, how do you know if the hair is porous?

 

[KizzieNapps]

Hey Lana, my hair is porous too. I tried the porosity control on my natural hair and it didnt do anything for it. But I later read that you should mix it with your favorite conditioner because the roux porosity control conditioner is very light. I didnt try the Roux Porosity again but it may work for her just make sure she mixes it with a good thick conditioner. What did help me though was finding a GOOD conditioner..Suave, Organix, J.A.S.O.N's, Pantene, Mane & Tail..these did nothing for my hair. I had to get a salon brand to REALLY see a change in my hair. Ask her what conditioners she is using on her daughters hair and try the roux porosity. Another thing that helped my hair to stay soft was the aloe/glycerin mix. That's what really put my hair over the top. HTH

Oh and here's a link someone gave me about porosity it will tell you how to test yout hair to see if it is porous or not. There are a lot of threads about porosity issues too. You can do a search to see some of the treatments the other ladies have used to help their porous hair.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ed.html?cat=69

 

[Stella 972]

I was going to suggest roux porosity control but Sistaslick have very good information about your problem.
Check KizzieNapps attached link, indeed you will have loads of info. I hope that will help.

 

[locabouthair]

I used porosity control and it didnt work for either. Your friends daughter's hair sounds like my hair.

I've been dealing with dryness for awhile and there are a many reasons why her hair doesnt "take" to things.

1. diet and water intake
2. what does she use to moisturize, does she use grease?
3. look at the cones in her products that may prevent her from getting moisture
4. maybe she needs to clarify?

Now as far as porosity in terms of dryness.

High porosity is when, moisture can get in the strand but is not able to stay in the strand. Sistaslick reccommends light protein treatments to help the cuticle, which would allow moisture to stay in.

Low porosity means that moisture is unable to penetrate the strand. People with low porosity usually have hair thats resistant to chemicals. Unfortunately there is not much you can do ith low porosity and its usually something you are born with. I suffer from this

HTH.

 

[AVE One]

Sistaslicks article is great! She may need to clarify. Could also be the shampoo, may be drying/stripping and countering the effects of the conditioning treatments. Also could be the water. That was a big contributor to my hair drying out. I usually do my final rinse from a half a gallon of distilled water. Has made a difference. How often does her mom moisturize? Is tying her hair up at night with silk/satin scarf or bonnett?

 

[locabouthair]

Sistaslicks article is great! She may need to clarify. Could also be the shampoo, may be drying/stripping and countering the effects of the conditioning treatments. Also could be the water. That was a big contributor to my hair drying out. I usually do my final rinse from a half a gallon of distilled water. Has made a difference. How often does her mom moisturize? Is tying her hair up at night with silk/satin scarf or bonnett?

I forgot about all that. Hard water can definitely make your hair dry as well as shampoos with sulfates. Also make sure she's not washing her daughters hair with hot water, that can cause dryness too.

 

[KizzieNapps]

I forgot about all that. Hard water can definitely make your hair dry as well as shampoos with sulfates. Also make sure she's not washing her daughters hair with hot water, that can cause dryness too.

Cosigning!!! Hard Water is horrible for hair. I have to poo with a sulfate free shampoo at least twice a week because of the hard water here.

 

[lana]

Hey Lana, my hair is porous too. I tried the porosity control on my natural hair and it didnt do anything for it. But I later read that you should mix it with your favorite conditioner because the roux porosity control conditioner is very light. I didnt try the Roux Porosity again but it may work for her just make sure she mixes it with a good thick conditioner. What did help me though was finding a GOOD conditioner..Suave, Organix, J.A.S.O.N's, Pantene, Mane & Tail..these did nothing for my hair. I had to get a salon brand to REALLY see a change in my hair. Ask her what conditioners she is using on her daughters hair and try the roux porosity. Another thing that helped my hair to stay soft was the aloe/glycerin mix. That's what really put my hair over the top. HTH

Oh and here's a link someone gave me about porosity it will tell you how to test yout hair to see if it is porous or not. There are a lot of threads about porosity issues too. You can do a search to see some of the treatments the other ladies have used to help their porous hair.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ed.html?cat=69

She's using these products: Nexxus Humectress (every 2-3 weeks), her staple is Keracare Humecto Conditioner, her daughter doesn't have any chemicals on her hair right now, because a relaxer would just dry it up and break it off down to the root! Thank you for your comments. I'll fill her in and read over the link you posted.

 

[~CurlyNikki~]

I agree with Kizzie. Porosity control didn't do a thing for my hair...in fact it made it more tangly and dry!

Tell her to find a good moisturizing conditioner and instruct her to seal it with a butter or oil, like shea. My ends are incredibly porous and this has contributed to my length retention. For me, the shea is KEY.

 

[lana]

I used porosity control and it didnt work for either. Your friends daughter's hair sounds like my hair.

I've been dealing with dryness for awhile and there are a many reasons why her hair doesnt "take" to things.

1. diet and water intake
2. what does she use to moisturize, does she use grease?
3. look at the cones in her products that may prevent her from getting moisture
4. maybe she needs to clarify?

Now as far as porosity in terms of dryness.

High porosity is when, moisture can get in the strand but is not able to stay in the strand. Sistaslick reccommends light protein treatments to help the cuticle, which would allow moisture to stay in.

Low porosity means that moisture is unable to penetrate the strand. People with low porosity usually have hair thats resistant to chemicals. Unfortunately there is not much you can do ith low porosity and its usually something you are born with. I suffer from this

HTH.

Thank you for explaining high porosity and low porosity. My friends hair is thriving, but her daughters is doing terrible. So I don't think it's the water because wouldn't it affect both of their heads?

diet and water intake
2. what does she use to moisturize, does she use grease? She is using grease on the hair only once a week and also a regular moisturizing lotion everyday.
3. look at the cones in her products that may prevent her from getting moisture I'll check the cones but how do I know if they are bad or not?
4. maybe she needs to clarify? I'll suggest that she clarify with a moisturizing deep conditioner after that and lukewarm water instead of hot. I use hot water myself and I'll stop after reading these replies.

You guys are so helpful!

 

[lana]

I agree with Kizzie. Porosity control didn't do a thing for my hair...in fact it made it more tangly and dry!

Tell her to find a good moisturizing conditioner and instruct her to seal it with a butter or oil, like shea. My ends are incredibly porous and this has contributed to my length retention. For me, the shea is KEY.

This may be my issue as well, because my ends are always dry even when there are no splits and I use a water softener so it's not that and I use a great deep conditioner regularly. I'm finally retaining length this year for the first time in my adult life.

Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[lana]

Sistaslicks article is great! She may need to clarify. Could also be the shampoo, may be drying/stripping and countering the effects of the conditioning treatments. Also could be the water. That was a big contributor to my hair drying out. I usually do my final rinse from a half a gallon of distilled water. Has made a difference. How often does her mom moisturize? Is tying her hair up at night with silk/satin scarf or bonnett?

I'll ask her to check the shampoo, but as far as I remember she was using Keracare shampoo and conditioner. I'll tell her about rinsing with distilled water. Her mom used to have her hair license (15 years ago) so things have changed, but she's VERY into hair health. She moisturizes her hair daily and ties it down with a silk scarf every night.