How Does High Porosity Hair Affect Henna?
What is high hair porosity?
Hair porosity might sound complicated, but to put it more simply, it’s the amount of moisture and hydrating products, such as water, conditioner and oils, the cuticle of your hair soaks up.
High porosity hair needs a lot of moisture to fully penetrate your hair shaft. It dries quickly, and can feel crunchy, wiry, or unmanageable if not properly maintained and hydrated.
So how can this affect using a henna dye? Well, when using a henna dye, how well your hair takes in moisture is crucial. High porosity hair will just soak up the moisture from henna dyes (which is fantastic in terms of the colour bonding to your hair!) but this can affect the colour outcome overall - and is highly dependent on why your hair porosity is so high (we’ll come to that later!)
Finding your hair porosity isn’t about correcting it or changing your hair chemistry; everyone’s hair is different, and has different needs. What’s great about it is being able to find a hair care routine, and colour, that will work well for you.
How do I find my hair porosity?
Finding out your hair porosity is really simple.
Certain hair types are typically a higher hair porosity, such as type 3 or 4 hair. These are the curly, coily and kinky hair types, and typically each strand is finer; however this isn’t a hard and fast rule, as everyone’s hair is different.
To learn about the 12 hair types, click here: https://suvarna.co.uk/blogs/news/whats-your-hair-type-and-why-does-it-matter
You might also find your hair is typically higher porosity if you have previously bleached, lightened, permed or chemically straightened your hair.
Regular use of heat styling, and very hot water on your hair can also leave it very dry.
So to find out your hair porosity, the most important thing is to do a quick water test.
Fill a pint glass (enough to fit a strand of your hair in) with just water. Use lukewarm water - too hot could be damaging for your hair.
Fully cleanse your hair, and don’t add any conditioner.
It’s best to properly clarify first - this will remove any silicones, or anything bonded to your hair that might have sealed your cuticle.
For a good, organic clarifier, try our It’s Pure treatment. This can be used before dying, or on its own as a hair cleanser.
If you’re panicking about clarifying without conditioning, or worried about removing any silicones or conditioning treatments bonded to your hair shaft? You most likely have high porosity hair.
If you’re genuinely concerned, you could try just to clarify only one strand of hair - that’s all you’ll need for the test! Once your hair is clean and dried, dip a full strand of hair into the glass.
High porosity hair will sink straight to the bottom of the glass, trying to soak up the water, and after removing your hair strand from the glass, high porosity hair will dry very quickly.
So if you’ve found out your hair is high in porosity, how do you go about getting the most from your hair colour? Read our tips below:
- Take some time to pre-pigment your hair
High porosity hair that’s not chemically treated or damaged will likely soak up the moisture from the colour; but it will be a lot less vibrant or intense initially.
If your hair has been chemically treated, this advice won’t work for you - but we have put some tips below.
For a really deep, rich colour - doing two applications is likely to give you the best results (especially if you’re covering greys, or aiming for a very dark brown shade!)
To do this, you’ll need either an application of pure henna, or an application of a lighter brown shade with more red in, to coat your greys.
Pure Henna, Auburn or Chestnut are best for this.
Using a red shade, especially if you are going to try for a dark brown shade, is key, as they’re rich in Henna.
Too much indigo on grey or white hair can go a purple or blue tone, and the red in henna helps balance this - helping to neutralise it and leaving you with rich, brunette locks.
Make sure to strand test any combination you try - it’s vital before fully committing to a henna dye:
2. Finding Henna Dye Leaves Your Hair Feeling Dry?
While Henna is super conditioning for hair; aiding volume, strength, and shine - it isn’t necessarily moisturising or hydrating for your hair.
First things first - if you’re using pure henna, avoid using an acidic mix. Acidic liquids help with henna dye release, meaning the colour is often richer and more red; but the addition of mixers like lemon juice can dry hair further.
Try to mix the Henna just with pure water; or, if you’d like, add in a tablespoon of natural yoghurt to the mix, for a moisturising boost.
Alternatively, if you’ve darker hair (or you’re aiming for a red shade!) try a henna gloss treatment instead.
Henna glosses are a mix of Henna and natural moisturising ingredients, such coconut milk, organic silicone free conditioner, and a blend of essential oils. You can read about henna glossing, here:
When rinsing your Henna dye, follow up with a natural conditioner - but be wary; silicone based conditioners are likely to remove some of the dye that you’ve just worked hard to bond to your hair!
Use a natural conditioner geared toward herbal dyes, such as the Logona Colour Fix conditioner; it helps moisturise your hair as well as prolonging the life of your henna and the vibrancy of the colour:
3. How Is Hair Porosity Affected In Bleached, Permed or Chemically Treated Hair?
Naturally high porosity hair isn’t damaged hair; it’s just naturally drier, and in need of more TLC than the lower porosity hair types.
If your hair is high porosity due to chemical treatments, bleaching or perming, it all becomes a little bit more complicated!
Firstly, if you are seeing a regular hairdresser for maintenance, speak with them before changing any of your hair care products. Specific treatments require specific maintenance and care, so they are best placed to advise you on this.
Before thinking of using henna, wait at least 6 weeks; chemically treated hair is a bit more fragile and needs a rest period. Consistent treatments (even organic ones!) can frazzle it further. Make sure you’re using a really hydrating shampoo and conditioner and don’t overdo any heat styling to ensure your hair condition stays tip top.
Using henna over bleached hair is different, especially if hair has been lightened to an ash, or platinum blonde. Bleach affects how your hair absorbs colour, which is why it’s so often used before a very colourful dye, to give the most optimal outcome. With henna this can lead to unpredictable, or unwanted results - for instance indigo or darker dyes come up a lot more purple toned, or the henna dyes are very orange.
Our full blog on henna over bleached hair is here.
Make sure to follow the golden rule of home dying - strand test first.
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