Hair porosity is a puzzle constantly making its rounds on every social media platform from YouTube to TikTok. And it's for a good reason. Knowing your hair type is essential. Most hair gurus will tell you your hair porosity is a key component in the products you use and how you layer them.
Let's get into the best products for low-porosity hair, a subject I know a lot about because I'm part of this hair club. For years, I've tried so many different products with the same lackluster results for my curls until a stylist helped me discover that my hair was indeed low porosity.
So, what is low porosity hair?
Having low porosity hair essentially means water and haircare products sit on the surface of your strands and don't absorb. However, that doesn't mean that your hair is "bad" or "damaged." In fact, low porosity hair is typically very healthy. There is one thing this porosity type needs to absorb the nutrients from products: water.
Well, didn't I just say the hair doesn't absorb water? Yes. However, water and hair products with humectants like honey and glycerin will be your haircare BFFs. So, when you apply products, your hair needs to be soaking, dripping wet. Additionally, when conditioning, add steam to your routine to open the hair cuticle to ensure your hair gets all the nutrients from your go-to mask.
Now, let's talk products:
The Best Products for Low Porosity Hair
Design Essentials Honey Moisture Retention Shampoo
Design Essentials
Formulated with humectants, this sulfate-free formula is a part of my bi-weekly wash day routine. The honey-infused shampoo smoothes the cuticle, hydrates the hair, and makes it easy to detangle while you cleanse.
adwoa beauty Blue Tansy Reparative Mask
Sephora
This deep conditioning mask is formulated with highly porous hair in mind. However, the ingredients in this mask are excellent for low porosity hair, with glycerin as one of its ingredients. In addition, the formula is infused with Moroccan lava clay, blue tansy flower oil, and spirulina extract that work as a team to condition, prevent breakage and make detangling curls a breeze.
MIZANI 25 Miracle Milk Leave-In Conditioner
Walmart
Leave-in conditioners are the cornerstone of any hair care routine, and a bottle of this is always handy on my wash day. Infused with fennel seed oil and coconut oil, this lightweight formula penetrates deep down to the follicle and acts as a protectant and hydrator. In addition, the spray bottle makes it easy to ensure you don't miss a spot.
Camille Rose Honey Hydrate Leave-In Conditioner
This honey-based formula is a must-have if you have low porosity hair. It's been in my routine for years. For the best results, my hair drinks this up when my hair is soaking wet during application.
PATTERN Treatment Mask
The first time I used this mask by PATTERN, I couldn't believe how well it worked. The slip was mind-blowing, and my 4C curls popped. Now I realize the ingredients speak for themselves. Formulated with strengthening rice protein, fatty acid-rich moringa seed extract, and split end preventing hibiscus, the formula is A-1.
Innersense I Create Hold Gel
After my curly stylist used this on my curls, I was a fan. With glycerin and honey as a part of the ingredient lineup, my curls are deeply hydrated and stay intact for up to five days. Because this formula is concentrated, using water to layer it on is the key to getting the right amount of hold without a flaky crunch, and a little goes a long way.
The Doux Mousse Def Texture Foam
This beloved foam has another ingredient that low-porosity hair soaks up: aloe. The dual-use mousse works for everything from wash-n-gos to sleek buns holding your style in place without flaking or crunch.
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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