When you buy products for your hair, how do you select the best one? While you may look for descriptions that match the type of hair you have, there can be some hidden ingredients that don't cooperate well with your particular mane.
How can that be? Well, it's because everyone has a different hair type, and knowing what kind you have will revolutionizeyour hair routine. The better you know your hair, the more you'll know about what products will make a difference or which to avoid.
If you're wanting healthyhair, then keep reading to find out what your hair type is and why it's important to know.
Why Is Hair Type Important?
Growing up, you probably thought that there were only so many types of hair. Short, long, curly, or straight. The fact of the matter is, there is so much more to that! Knowing your hair texture, porosity, and curl pattern arekey to healthy hair.
Products that may work for a certain curly hair type might be damaging to others, and knowing your hair type can determinehow much you should be using shampoo or even how heat products need to be incorporated.
With so manywomen unhappy with their hair, could this be the secret solution to everyone's problems? Perhaps. It doesn'thurtto try.
Start With Porosity
If there's one element to your hair type you're likely unfamiliar with, it's the porosity of your hair. It's a sneaky factor that is actually very important to know. This essentially impacts how oily or dry your hair and you can find out by seeing how absorbent your hair strands are.
There are three main levels of porosity: low, medium, and high. Like many other parts of you, these levels are determined mainly by genetics and other environmental factors. If you love to use heat styling products or dye your hair often, your porosity might not be the same as your natural locks.
To determine the porosity of your hair, you can do a simple test. Grab a cup of water and pluck a strand of your hair out. Place the strand in the cup and see what it does.
If it floats, you have highly porous hair. If it ends up floating in the middle, that's medium porosity. If the strand sinks to the bottom, you have low porosity hair.
Now you know your hair porosity, which is great! What does it mean though?
Low, Medium, or High?
If you have high porosity hair, it means the cuticle of your hair is wide open. This type of hair is generally dry and it struggles to preserve moisture. This type of hair is the one that suffers most if you don't care for it since it can easily become dull and frizzy.
Don't stress if you have high porosity hair, be sure to use a lot of hydrating serums and oils to keep it healthy.
Medium porosity hair has an open cuticle so this tends to absorb a good amount of natural oils and hydration. There's usually little maintenance with medium porosity hair, lucky you!
As for low porosity hair, this means a sealed cuticle. This type of hair is susceptible to product build-up and takes a long time to dry. You'll want to use a clarifying shampoo to keep your hair feeling fresh.
Figure Out Your Curl Pattern
Finding out your hair porosity is one step in the hair journey but now comes the curl pattern. You may or may not have seen the hair type charts, these often have four different photos of curl patterns and they're associated with different subcategories. These are:
- Straight hair (type 1)
- Wavy hair (Type 2)
- Curly hair (Type 3)
- Coily hair (Type 4)
Sometimes you may be one of these types or you may have a variety of curls that fit into different types. In addition to the four types, there's also a division under each one depending on thickness and definition of curl. There areseveral sourcesfor finding your curl pattern, take a good look in the mirror, and analyze those strands.
Scalp Matters Too
Just how our hair differs from one another, so do our scalps. If you experience a lot of hair breakage or dandruff, then your scalp might be asking for some love. If your scalp is unhappy then your hair is bound to be unhappy too.
Try different moisturizing shampoos that are designed to keep your hair hydrated. Consider a scalp scrub as well, this can keep it balanced and avoid any pesky flakes.
Hair Density vs Hair Thickness
People are often confused between hair density vs hair thickness. While they may seem similar at first, they're quite different. Hair density is determined by how thin or thick strands are in a group while hair thickness refers to the width of a single strand of hair.
This means you can have fine hairthat is dense or thick hair that isn't very dense. People often confuse the two and categorize it into the umbrella that is volume. Knowing where your hair falls under these two categories is important for personalized hair care.
Fine hair is more fragile and sensitive than thick hair, and so that requires different products. Thick hair tends to require more maintenance and feels pretty heavy which can be cumbersome. Knowing both the density and thickness of your hair can help determine the right haircut.
Knowing Your Hair Type
Sometimes it feels like finding what works for your hair is trial and mostly error. That's why finding a hair product that gives you the hair you've dreamed of can feel like a miracle. The good news is that there is a way to narrow down all of those options.
Knowing your hair typeis the best way to find your next holy grail product. Not only that, but it can give you insight into the type of haircuts that work best for your hair and what products to look for (and avoid).
If you're looking for amazing hair products, be sure tocheck out our shop!
