Silicon Mix Bambu vs Silicon Mix: Which is best?

Silicon Mix Bambu vs Silicon Mix: Which is best?

These days, Silicon Mix Bambu Treatment is almost as popular as the shine-amplifying Silicon Mix original. But what’s the difference between these two Dominican superconditioners and which one is best for your hair type?

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​What is Silicon Mix Conditioner?

Unless you’ve missed the Caribbean wave of hair products that’s swept the beauty world in recent years – from Jamaican Black Castor oil to Dominican superconditioners – you’ll already have heard of Silicon Mix.

​Hailed for its services to blowouts, silk presses and weaves everywhere, Silicon Mix is a line of conditioners, shampoos, leave ins and stylers from the Dominican Republic – the Caribbean island nation famous for its exports of rich, exotic conditioners. There are actually four lines under the Silicon Mix name: the original Silicon Mix (Hidratante), Silicon Mix Argan Oil, Silicon Mix Proteina de Perla, and Silicon Mix Bambu.

​Silicon Mix is best known for its conditioners or more accurately, its conditioning treatments: rich, creamy formulas with tropical scents and tons of slip that leave hair gleaming, no matter how damaged, dry or brittle it was before.​The original Silicon Mix treatment has become the stuff of hairdressing legend. Once the Dominican salon’s best-kept secret for creating mirror-shiny blowouts on hair textures other salons couldn’t straighten, it quickly spread out to other stylists in cities like NYC, with strong connections to the DR, and

is ​now used around the world.

Silicon Mix Treatments. Clockwise from top left: Bambu; Hidratante; Argan Oil; and Proteina De Perla.

How Silicon Mix Treatments work

All the Silicon Mix treatments use  a proprietary mix of silicones and substantive conditioning agents alongside other ingredients to create a protective layer on the hair that silkens away roughness, smooths curls and amps up the hair’s shine.

​While the silicones tackle the surface, ingredients like cetyl alcohol and cetrimonium chloride make the hair softer and more flexible, as well as helping draw moisture into the strand, leaving it hydrated.

The protective, yet weightless layer it encases strands in has gained the original Silicon Mix a second claim to fame: this time for reviving wigs and weaves. Extension specialists use it to maintain Remy hair, extending the lifetime on these costly human hair extensions, allowing them to be reused multiple times.

Woman wearing human hair extensions. Silicon Mix and atrActiva Multivitamins maintain hair quality. www.dominicanhairalliance.com

Silicon Mix Treatment works well on weaves and wigs. Image by Tubarones Photography.

​The difference between Silicon Mix and Silicon Mix Bambu

When you open up the jars, you notice the difference in these two products right away. The original Silicon Mix is white and very viscous, while Silicon Mix Bambu is yellow and a little lighter in consistency. Silicon Mix has a gentle musky scent, slightly reminiscent of Caribbean vetiver; Silicon Mix Bambu has a more playful, tropical fruit aroma.

​They work differently, too. While all the Silicon Mix conditioners use a blend of silicones and fatty conditioning agents to provide intense conditioning and protection to the hair, each of the spin-offs contains its own star ingredient, designed to add a different benefit. For Silicon Mix Bambu, it’s bamboo extract, known for its strengthening abilities. There are a few other differences as well:

Silicon Mix Bambu is protein-free

​The overall formulation is different in Silicon Mix Bambu Treatment vs Silicon Mix Treatment. Flip around the jar to the ingredients list, and you’ll see a number of those differences. For one, protein (keratin) is a key ingredient in Silicon Mix original. It’s partly responsible for the strengthening “shock treatment”  the product delivers to damaged, brittle hair.

Silicon Mix Bambu Treatment is keratin-free, which is appealing to people with protein sensitive hair. Mineral oil is also lower down in the list in Bambu, which is good news for people with low porosity hair that doesn’t usually ‘like’ this ingredient in higher concentrations.

Silicon Mix Bambu Treatment is lighter

The lighter consistency makes Silicon Mix Bambu easier and quicker to spread through the hair, especially if you have thick or low porosity hair and like to apply your conditioners with a wet brush. That lighter formula also makes Silicon Mix Bambu a good option for people with loose curls who want to keep the curl in their hair as they blowdry.

​The original Silicon Mix is designed for blowdrying hair straight which mean it can straighten a little too much on hair where the curl is not that strong. Silicon Mix Bambu delivers the trademark Silicon Mix smoothing without the straightening effect.

​Silicon Mix adds more shine, Bambu is more penetrating

Performance-wise, the original Silicon Mix definitely has the most dramatic effect on the hair’s surface, slipping it into an invisible silicone envelope and creating the most intense shine. ​

Woman with natural hair smiling. www.dominicanhairalliance.com

Silicon Mix Bambu penetrates easily into low porosity 4C hair. Image by Tubarones Photography.

This is what makes it so good on weaves and wigs which start to look dull as the cuticle wears down. Silicon Mix’s protective casing makes human hair wigs and extensions look brand new again – especially when you blend it with atrActiva Multivitamin Treatment.

On the other hand, Silicon Mix Bambu Treatment is more penetrating. This means it outperforms the original  on hair types that find it difficult to get products to absorb into them, and which are harder to moisturise, such as low porosity hair and 4C hair.

Is Silicon Mix Bambu good for hair?

Yes. Let’s count the ways: First, the blend of ingredients that resist heat (like dimethicone), with flexibility-enhancing ingredients (like cetyl alcohol) makes hair easier to blowdry or iron, while also reducing heat exposure. That means Silicon Mix Bambu has a built-in heat protectant component which helps shield hair, even in intense blowdrying.

Secondly, Bambu does all of this without flattening the hair or leaving behind residue – both of which are frowned upon in the Dominican haircare tradition, which prizes smooth, natural-looking hair with tons of movement.

This requirement for strong conditioning that doesn’t weigh hair down means that Silicon mix Bambu Treatment can be used on all types of hair, even fine or extremely straight hair that usually can’t use conditioners  – all without a trace of greasiness.

Dominican woman sits on blue steps. www.dominicanhairalliance.com

When Dominican women straighten their hair, a flowing, silky look is preferred. Image by ElMarto.

At Dominican Hair Alliance, ​we do pretty extensive product testing, on hair with different textures, densities, condition and of different origins. Based on our research, Silicon Mix Bambu is good for hair that is curly, straight, wavy, natural, heat-damaged, bleached, relaxed, dyed, texturized, or Brazilian Keratin straightened,  with high, low or medium porosity, from people of African, Native American, European, Asian descent.​It works – and by that we mean smooths, softens, adds shine, detangles, protects from heat damage and increases manageability – on almost everyone.

​No one product will work for every person on the planet. But we love the fact that it can actually penetrate and hydrate super low porosity 4C hair and yet work on fine, straight, bleached hair that needs conditioning but can’t get it from most products because of the weight.

If your hair is dry, damaged and needs a transformation, the statistics are heavily in in your favour with this versatile, super concentrated treatment.

The best conditioners work even better with consistency. To learn how to create the most moisturizing routine for dry hair, download this moisture training guide and FREE course.

Is Your Hair Truly High Porosity… Or Is It Just Terribly Dry?

Is Your Hair Truly High Porosity… Or Is It Just Terribly Dry?

Exclusive Guide To Thicken and Grow Your Hair – Naturally

Exclusive Guide To Thicken and Grow Your Hair – Naturally

 

​Can you really make your hair thicker, naturally?

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, we showed you how to thicken and grow your hair by increasing your strand diameter with natural ingredients.

But there’s another aspect to hair thickness which you can also change – naturally. It’s called hair density.​

Here are nine 100% natural, science-based ways to increase your hair’s density and growth to get thicker hair for the long-term.

 

 

​Understanding what makes hair thicker

What’s your idea of “thick hair”?​

A head full of lots and lots of individual hairs, or just heavy, coarse strands. Or both?

When most hair scientists talk about hair thickness, they mean thick strands or a large strand diameter.

 

 

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Hair thickness can refer to strand diameter or hair density. Image by Caio Cardenas.

​But when regular folk talk about hair thickness, there’s another thing they’re referring to, too. The technical term is “hair density”, or how many individual strands you have on your head. When we talk about thinning hair, this is usually what people mean; a change in the number of strands.

​At least from a distance, high hair density or large strand diameter usually give the same impression – tons of volume. So it’s not a surprise that the terms are used interchangeably.

Increasing strand diameter vs increasing hair density

If you have neither large strands nor high strand density, you can still play on either one to get thicker-looking hair, naturally.

In our previous articles on making hair thicker, we gave you natural ways to make your hair look thicker instantly. These all temporarily increase  the size of your strands, using ingredients from nature which either swell the hair shaft, or place a coating on it that makes it look thicker.

That’s the way La Aplanadora Treatment thickens hair: it uses tiny fragments of keratin to plug in missing sections on your hair shaft that make it look thinner, and to attract moisture which plumps your strands instantly.

Protein-free atrActiva Keratin Rich Conditioner works similarly, using ceramides to do the plumping and filling instead of keratin.

Because they also strengthen your strands, these conditioners also help prevent your hair thinning out at the ends through wear and tear.

capilo treatment for thicker hair
dominican hair alliance products emergencia keratin treatment
atractiva keratin rich conditioner palm behind best for low porosity hair protein sensitive dominican hair alliance

​Since we’ve covered how to get fuller strands, this time we’re going to look at natural ways to increase the density of your hair, too. The main difference between our previous strand-thickening methods and increasing hair density is that hair density takes time.

You’re actually helping and waiting for hair to grow out from your scalp, so it won’t give you instant results like applying  bentonite clay to your existing strands. But the good news is it lasts longer, too.

And if you’re looking to speed up hair growth, to get longer hair faster, the same processes that help increase hair density will help too, because they’re all about enhancing growth.

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The same methods that increase strand density also boost hair growth. Image by Caio Cardenas.


​We’ve combed through the scientific literature and found 9 ways to get thicker hair with some very convincing evidence to back them up. Will all of them work for everyone? No – no hair growth solution does.
But hopefully one of them will work for you if you’ve been struggling to get your hair’s thickness back, or just feel like your hair has never hit its natural fullness potential..

Your diet could be making your hair thin

Hair thickness is affected by multiple factors, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on the biggest one first. It’s pretty much impossible to overstate the importance of nutrition when it comes to hair health. What you eat and drink affects both the quality and the quantity of hair you have.
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A healthy diet provides the necessary nutrients for thick, healthy hair. Image by Anh Nguyen.
The hair follicle is an area of high biosynthetic activity: it’s basically a hair factory that runs day and night. If that factory doesn’t get the right raw materials, or enough of them, it’s not going to be able to produce the hair expected.
 
That’s why deficiencies in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, proteins and overall caloric intake have all already been linked to hair loss or structural abnormalities in the hair shaft.

Do supplements increase your hair’s thickness?

If you’re low on essential nutrients and are experiencing thinning hair, then increasing intake through your diet or supplements seems like a pretty obvious route. But what about if your hair is thin, but your diet is fine?”

Unless the hair is impaired due to nutritional deficiency, there is only so much that nutrients can do to increase the size of individual hairs because hair thickness is largely genetic, ” states Dr Trüeb, a dermatologist based at Center for Dermatology and Hair Diseases, Zürich, Switzerland.

But Dr Trüeb adds a caveat: since external factors can influence hair health, increasing your intake of micronutrients might still be able to help your hair if the lack of thickness is due to a hair disorder.
​​

Thicken and Grow Your Hair:

The 9 Natural Hair Thickeners (and Growth Boosters!)

Our first three natural hair thickeners are all micronutrients you should look into if your hair is thinning and you want it thicker. If you’re low on any of them, this could be just what it takes to give you thick hair.​

Always remember, it’s a good idea to get the OK from your doctor before you begin any supplementation programme.

 

Vitamin E

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Taking Vitamin E internally or topically boosts hair growth and thickness. Image by Michele Blackwell.

Celebrated for its antioxidant power, we’re used to seeing this vitamin in almost every skincare product, but did you know it could give you thicker hair, too? Well, vitamin E can do exactly that – whether taken internally or massaged into the scalp.
In one study, vitamin E rubbed into the skin actually triggered the development of hair follicles where there were none, and sent those hairs right into growth mode.

In another study, this time with the vitamin E taken internally, the numbers of hairs on the scalp increased by an amazing 34.5% percent after 8 months. This has to be one of the most intense volume boosters around – and it’s completely natural.

Iron

If you’re a woman experiencing hair thinning, and are unsure about your iron intake, having your blood iron levels checked is a good place to start. Iron deficiency is the most common nutrient deficiency in the world and women and girls are the most affected.​

Having low iron doesn’t always mean obvious symptoms, but it is frequently linked to a host of hair problems such as thin hair, slow hair growth and hair loss.

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Iron deficiency often affects hair growth and thickness. Image by Min An.

​Zinc

When your zinc levels run too low, both your hair density and your strand structure can be affected. One of the telltale signs of zinc deficiency is rough, brittle, inexplicably dry hair. Another is lower hair density. Inadequate zinc has been linked to common hair disorders that cause thinning, like alopecia areata, androgenic alopecia and telogen effluvium.

Luckily, getting your zinc intake up to the right levels doesn’t take long and the results for your hair can come pretty quickly, too. In one study, taking oral zinc supplements brought complete regrowth in 60% of patients with alopecia areata in just 3 months.

Jujube

Ever heard of this fruit? Zizyphus Jujuba, more commonly known as jujube, is an edible bush and fruit that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for generations. Recently, it’s been shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and even anti-insomnia powers.​

The reason we love it, is because it’s really good for making your hair look thicker, too. A 1% concentration of the essential oil, used directly on the skin, was shown to increase both growth and strand thickness.

 

Pumpkin Seed Oil

Get this: eating pumpkin seed oil might be able to increase the number of hairs on your head  by 40%. This is what it did for a group of men with androgenetic alopecia at the top of their heads. The men took 400mg of pumpkin seed oil – two capsules before breakfast and two more before dinner – every day for 24 weeks. ​
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Pumpkin seed oil could help increase the number of strands on your head. Image by Markus Spiske.


​These early results look really good but the method still needs to be tested out to see if it helps thinning from other hair loss conditions. ​

Oh, and the pumpkin seed oil supplement used in the study also included other plant extracts (which could have had some impact on the results), so maybe pumpkin seed oil shouldn’t get all the credit just yet.

 

 

​Green Tea

By now you’ve probably seen some anecdotal evidence on the efficacy of this stuff as a hair rinse for hair shedding or thinning. But the hard science on growing thicker hair with green tea comes courtesy of 30 female mice who had developed spontaneous hair loss.
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Green tea can boost hair growth by stimulating inactive follicles. Image by Phuong Nguyen.


​After dried green tea extract was added to their drinking water over six months, one third of the mice had significant hair regrowth. The increased thickness came from regrowing hair from inactive follicles, which the green tea seems to stimulate back into action.

Standardised Scalp Massage

Scalp massage has long been linked to boosting hair growth and thickness, but the results from this specific type of scalp massage are really impressive. Standardised Scalp Massage (SSM) is a massage process which involves a series of scalp pinches, presses and stretches and can be done with a scalp massager or by hand.​

In one study, just 4 minutes of massage per day over 24 weeks (using a special massage device) was enough to increase hair thickness.

Standardised Scalp Massage is so powerful it has even been shown to stop active hair loss and increase growth on people suffering from androgenic alopecia. In that study, a more intense 20- minute, twice-daily, by hand massage technique was used.

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Standardised Scalp Massage thickens hair, boosts growth and stops hair loss. Image by Gundula Vogel.
Now here’s the coolest thing: we’ve all heard by now that, certain health conditions aside, your hair’s natural thickness is determined by your genes. Well, that’s still true. But scientists found that the stretching forces produced by Standardised Scalp Massage actually changed the gene expression of skin cells.
Genes related to the hair cycle got more active, while hair-loss related genes were down-regulated. Which just goes to show that not everything that is genetically determined is genetically fixed, too.
 

Another cool thing about Standardised Scalp Massage is that it also worked on people who were not experiencing hair loss or thinning. These people were able to increase their natural thickness even further by using the massage techniques.​This really offers hope for anyone who has always wanted to boost their naturally thin or fine hair, but saw no changes from good diet or haircare.

 

 

Marine Proteins

Inspired by the beautifully healthy skin and hair of the Inuit – whose traditional diet is heavily fish and protein-based – marine proteins are a popular natural hair growth enhancer and thickener. 
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Marine proteins can increase hair root cells, thicken strands, and reduce shedding. Image by Croisy.
 
​Made from mollusk and shark derivatives, marine peptide complexes are supposed to work by increasing hair root cells and enhancing conditions for anagen – the growth phase of your hair cycle.
 
Several studies have shown how a supplement made up of marine proteins, lipids and other marine extracts can increase hair strand diameter, promote growth and reduce hair loss and shedding – all of which contribute to thicker, fuller-looking hair.

Onion juice

We’ve saved the best for last: Onion juice – that same stuff that burns your eye when you’re slicing them up for dinner – can thicken your hair. It works by kickstarting inactive follicles into growth​, which increases your hair density.

When it was used in a study to treat people with alopecia areata, a good 87% of patients treated with onion juice saw full hair regrowth.  To use this method at home, just apply fresh onion juice to your scalp twice a day, for two months.

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Onion juice increases hair growth and thickness within weeks. Image by Ulrike Leone.

Study subjects saw the first signs of results from as early as two weeks into the regimen. So if you can stand the strong sulphurous smell – and everyone around you can too – this is could be the ideal hair thickening method for a quick win.
 
 
 
These nine natural methods are just a few of the scientifically proven ways to increase hair growth and thickness. To receive a new hair growth discovery every week, get the Growth Drops.
 
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Super Low Porosity Hair: 10 Things Most Naturals Don’t Know

Super Low Porosity Hair: 10 Things Most Naturals Don’t Know

If you have low porosity hair, you know how frustrating it is to sit through the constant barrage of hair advice that doesn’t work for your hair type.

Let’s face it, low porosity hair is still a bit of an enigma to the natural hair community – even for those who have it.

With that in mind​, here are some little-known facts on low porosity you can use to finally master your hair.

 

1. Not all low porosity hair is the same…

We tend to talk about porosity in three big chunks: high porosity hair, medium porosity hair and low porosity hair. But there are quite a lot of porosity differences going on inside and on the edges of those categories.

​Porosity isn’t discrete: it varies across a spectrum. There are degrees of low porosity and the degree decides how your hair will behave.  At the low end of the porosity scale, two broad types appear: moderately low porosity, which fits the textbook definition of low porosity hair, and super low porosity hair, the most extreme version.

 

 

 

​2. How to tell the difference between super low porosity hair and regular low porosity hair

Knowing how to do this will make a huge difference for people with the extremely low version. If it turns out you do have this hair type, you’ll have to go all out to get moisture into it, so knowing what you’re working with is very necessary. ​r low porosity super low porosity
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Moderately low porosity hair takes long to get wet. You have to force (smooth or squeeze) the water in, soak it in a tub, or let it sit under a showerhead for ages. But it does get wet. Eventually…
Super low porosity hair doesn’t. Most of the water doesn’t get inside, no matter how much you smooth or squeeze, even if you stay under the shower till your fingertips start to prune. Another way to tell: If your hair has so many water droplets on it after you wash it, it looks like a crystal chandelier, you have super low porosity.. 

3. All hair starts out as low porosity

Even extremely high porosity hair. When all hair comes out of the scalp, it shows the same hydrophobic behaviour as low porosity hair because its cuticle is completely intact.

Wear and tear eventually makes hair more porous, and by the time a strand is a couple of inches out of the scalp it loses this low porosity status —​ except for the strands with the most compact,  hermetically sealed cuticles, of course. Those will grow up to be your moderately and super low porosity hair. 

super low porosity hair
All hair starts out with low porosity, even if it becomes high porosity later. Image by Luis Leon.

4. Not all low porosity hair takes forever to dry

One of the classic signs of low porosity hair is that it takes loooooong to dry. That could be hours, it could even be days. This hair type soaks up water slowly and it lets go of water slowly, too.  But guess what? That defining characteristic is just true for moderately low porosity hair.

Super low porosity hair barely gets wet, so it doesn’t take much to get it to dry. In fact, super low porosity hair is more likely to flash dry; it’s not unheard of for this hair type to airdry within an hour—​ without heat.  Why? Most of the water doesn’t get inside; the porosity is that low…

5. Sulfate shampoo is better for low porosity hair than co-washes and low poos

Is this curly girl sacrilege? Nope. Most naturals have been told that sulfates are not the way to go, there’s even a whole book on it. But that book wasn’t written by someone with low porosity hair.

Medium and high porosity hair have little trouble absorbing moisture through tons of buildup, as commonly left behind by co-washes, conditioning low poos, and DIY clarifiers like baking soda. 

Low porosity hair is naturally less absorbent. No way enough moisture is getting through all of that buildup.

Laureth sulfate shampoos can be a game changer in removing drying buildup from low porosity hair.

atrActiva anti stress shampoo best cleanser for dandruff flaky scalp good sulfate dominican hair alliance
atrActiva Anti-Stress Shampoo​

Another reason to use sulfates on low porosity hair: sulfates are really good at reducing the surface tension of water.  That’s the property that holds the surface of the water together, and makes water in a lake or in a glass look like it has a skin over the top.

The higher the surface tension, the harder it is for a liquid to wet or penetrate another surface, case in point your hair. Sulfates basically break that ‘skin’, lowering the  surface tension of the water, making it easier for water molecules to enter your hair.​So in a way, sulfates literally help moisturise your hair. Just remember to rinse them out all the way when you’re done and never use anything with “lauryl sulfate” on the label (“laureth sulfate” is cool).

 

6. Why one type of low porosity hair is harder to moisturise

If you’re used to hearing about how good low porosity hair is at retaining moisture, you might be wondering why your low porosity hair is so dry. 

​Contrary to the most popular definitions, low porosity hair isn’t always amazing at holding onto moisture. ​

Well, one of the two types of low porosity hair is usually going to have more trouble than the other in staying hydrated.  There’s a reason for this: once porosity drops past a certain point, hair is no longer absorbent enough to easily take in the moisture it needs.​

So moderately low porosity hair can absorb some moisture and is naturally good at locking moisture in. Super low porosity hair can’t absorb much moisture and is naturally good at locking moisture out.  That’s why the lowest porosity hair, super low porosity hair, is also the driest hair.

 



7. ​How to moisturise super low porosity hair

If you have this hair type and you want it to be moisturised, you really need to get industrious. It means doing pretty much all of the things: Avoiding products that stop your hair taking in moisture; sectioning your hair and working everything in;  using steam and  conditioners like atrActiva Multivitamin, that can bind to low porosity hair’s surface; learning how to insulate your hair; breaking out your Super Low Porosity Survival Kit. . . the whole nine.

8. What naturals call low porosity, hairdressers call resistant.

Ever been told by a hairdresser that your hair is ‘resistant’? That’s what many in the haircare industry call low porosity hair. Very low porosity hair is also sometimes called ‘moisture resistant’ in the natural hair world.

These hair types are the ones that are slow to take up colour, perms or relaxer, because their cuticle simply won’t let them in. Porous or high porosity hair is the opposite: it not only sucks up moisture really fast, it processes really quickly, too. ​

Coarse hair is sometimes ‘resistant’ too: the extra cuticle layers mean some chemicals have to work a lot longer to change these strands. But not all coarse hair is resistant or low porosity.  And not all resistant or low porosity hair is coarse, either.

 

 

9. Straight hair can be low porosity, too

 

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Hair that is naturally straight is often low porosity too. Image by Jc Laurio.

While there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that 4b and 4c hair tend to have much lower porosity than looser curls, very straight to wavy hair (think 1a to 2b) is also often low porosity hair.

That’s not all that surprising: Old-fashioned hairdressing guides often single out super straight East Asian and super curly African hair as ‘resistant’ to processing.  It’s stereotypical, as not everyone with these origins will have resistant hair, but it’s not completely a myth. ​

Researchers have pinpointed the structural reasons behind the resistant hair common among people with very straight and very curly hair. These include having more compact cuticle layers, a factor that is often linked  to low porosity.

 

10. 4c hair is almost exclusively super low porosity

4c hair isn’t just about curl type.  This hair type, formerly known as ‘CNapps’, is based on other characteristics too, including high shrinkage, sheen vs shine, and a dense appearance. ​
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Most 4c hair is super low porosity hair. Image by Amanda Cardoso.

A natural lack of curl definition – the ‘C’ in CNapps stands for ‘cloud’ – is also one of 4c hair’s most distinctive traits.  The big reason behind this cloud: 4c’s extremely low porosity.

Since water cannot easily penetrate or stick to the hair, it’s harder for strands to arrange themselves into bundles when wet. Those bundles or clumps are how curl definition happens.

The curl pattern itself is not a factor in this; even straight hair tends to clump together when wet.

The clumping happens because of the absorbency of high porosity to moderately low porosity hair.  It allows the water to get in, which leads to individual strands sticking to each other. If those strands happen to be curly, the result is clumpy, defined curls.

Since 4c hair has mostly super low porosity, its absorbency is much lower, so it’s less likely to react to water in this way.

There is an exception to 4c super low porosity, though: finer 4c hair tends to be more porous than thicker hair, because it has fewer cuticle layers to form a barrier against water.

 

Bonus: Why Cold Water Rinses Fail On Low Porosity Hair

OK, so you probably already know this one: The final cold water rinse trick doesn’t work on low porosity hair – but it’s not because cold water closes your cuticles.  That’s a myth.

Cuticles only make dramatic movements when you physically break them off, or place them in extremely acidic or alkaline environments, like bleach, a relaxer, or a homemade baking soda clarifier.

Here are a couple, more likely reasons why cold water doesn’t work well on low porosity hair:

One, the micelles that power your shampoo and conditioner usually don’t perform as well in cold water.  So you might experience slightly better lather from your shampoo in warmer water and definitely better emulsion from your conditioner. ​

The lower performance in cooler temperatures also makes it harder to rinse surfactants and the debris they remove from your hair, meaning a lot of conditioner, some shampoo and some moisture-blocking build-up will likely be on your strands after you’re done rinsing.

Product that hasn’t been washed or rinsed out properly will be obvious on low porosity hair which has a very low tolerance for build-up.But the biggest reason is probably this one. The warmer water gets, the higher its energy and the lower its surface tension get. Hotter water is a better wetting agent, better equipped to penetrate your low porosity hair—​ and give it the moisture and plasticity it really needs. No wonder your low porosity hair likes it better!

For more on how to take care of super low porosity hair, take a look here. And if you want to moisture train your moisture-resistant hair, check out this free moisture training guide.​

To preorder a Super Low Porosity Survival Kit, just fill in the form below:

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