Importance of Deep Conditioners
Deep conditioners are important in anyone’s journey to having healthy hair. Not every deep conditioner does the same thing. I find that I like to alternate between three types of conditioners. In my hair stash, I have a moisturizing conditioner, a light protein conditioner, and a strong protein conditioner. I have high porosity hair so much hair needs protein treatments the majority of the time. However, I do make sure to moisture train my hair as well.
Porosity
There are three different types of hair. They are low porosity, medium porosity, and high porosity. Each hair type behaves differently and it is important to use the right hair treatments. Keep in mind that you can have a mixture of two different hair porosity throughout your head. For example, the majority of my head is high porosity but the front of my head is starting to become low porosity. That’s right starting to become meaning that my porosity is beginning to change. Hair characteristics can change.
To test what hair porosity you have you’ll need a cup of room temp water. Place clean pieces of hair gentility on top of the water. Wait a couple of minutes and see where your hair floats to. If it stays at the surface of the water you have low porosity. If the hair floats to the middle of the cup you have medium porosity. If your hair floats to the bottom of the cup you have high porosity. Knowing your hair porosity is more important than knowing your curl pattern.
Porosity and deep conditioners
LOW POROSITY. The hair cuticles are tightly closed. During the water test, your hair strand would float at the top of the water. This explains why hair products cannot penetrate the hair shaft and sit on to of the hair. If you have this hair type you might notice that you are prone to build up. You should stick to a highly moisturizing deep conditioner. I would recommend sitting under a hooded drier or a steamer in order to help the deep conditioner to penetrate the hair shafts. One amazing thing about this hair type is that once moisture penetrates the hair it will stay moisturized for a while. My favorite moisturizing deep conditioner is the TGIN Miracle Hair Mask Deep Conditioner with Raw Honey & Olive Oil. It’ll leave your hair very hydrated. Another favorite of mine that is a cheaper alternative is the Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Treatment Masque.
MEDIUM POROSITY. The hair cuticles are slightly opened. If you have this hair type your hair will float to the middle of a cup full of water. This shows that hair products can penetrate the hair shaft easier than it would with a low porosity hair shaft. People with this type of hair porosity should us light protein treatments and moisturizing deep conditioners. One of my favorite light protein treatments is the Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Treatment Masque. The protein deep conditioner should only be used once in a while.
HIGH POROSITY. The hair cuticle is completely lifted. If you have this hair type you’ll notice that your hair shaft floats to the bottom of a cup full of water. Hair products have no hard time getting into the hair shaft. However, moisture escapes just as fast. One of the best ways to help this type of hair is to deep condition with conditioners that have protein in them. One of my favorite protein deep conditioners are the Mielle Organic Babassu Oil & Mint Deep Conditioner and the Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Yogurt Hydrate + Repair Protein-Strong Treatment
Naturally tracy 