Last Updated on April 7, 2023 by Verna Meachum

Porous curly hair is a common problem many people face. It can be caused by genetics, the environment, and even how you style or color hair.

If you have porous curly hair, it is important to know the best products for your type of hair so that you can keep it healthy, beautiful, and strong.

Your Hair Porosity Can Change

Curly hair requires special care and a customized product regimen for every day styling and manageability due to the fact that curls are more prone to damage than other hair types. They have a unique curvature and vary significantly in the diameter along the hair shaft.

Furthermore, these structural features translate into a varying degree of porosity and moisture level.

One way your hair porosity can change is by using chemical treatments such as bleaching and hair color. When your hair has been over-processed, it becomes dry, weak, brittle, and porous.

Over exposure to the sun and frequently using heat styling tools can also produce severe damage to the hair mechanical strength and increase the hair’s porosity.

In essence, what was once low porosity curly hair can become high porosity hair.

The good news is there are products anyone can find to properly care for it, but you must find products specific for your curl type and porosity level. And it’s not as complicated or time-consuming as you might think because I’ll provide you with a starter list.

Choosing Hair Care Products For Your Porosity Type

Consumers need to make informed decisions when choosing hair care products for their curly hair. It is important to know that not all hair care products are created equal. Some products are designed specifically for highly porous hair and others are not.

I think that the diameter variation and porosity level suggest the need for a unique and tailored product with an emphasis on moisturizing and emollient components.

With this in mind, it is imperative that consumers understand the differences in curly hair products.

In a perfect world, we curlies would like to have voluminous hair with well-defined curls. One way to achieve this is knowing and understanding your porosity level and choosing the right products for it.

For example, high porosity hair has low moisture levels and high fiber to fiber friction compared to low porosity curly hair. Therefore, highly porous hair has different requirements when compared to medium and low porosity hair.

Things to keep in mind

Remember, when it comes to choosing curly hair products, it’s important to keep in mind your;

• Curl texture
• Porosity
• Overall hair health, as it will be different from someone else with the same characteristics
• What works for someone else may not work for you
• A healthy diet is always a great starting place.

Here are some of the products available that are suitable for high, medium, and low porosity hair and their ingredient listings based on porosity level.

High Porosity Curly Hair

Hair that is highly porous has low emollient levels.

The hair fibers can be severely damaged, visibly seen with split ends and the surface worn down, depending on whether your high porosity hair is genetic or the result of self-inflicted damage (i.e. harsh chemical treatments).

This hair type requires deep conditioning treatments containing emollients to minimize fiber to fiber friction and humectants to impart moisture content.

However, due to the curly nature of hair fibers, emollient, and humectants with low molecular size and weight are preferred.

Higher molecular weight ingredients with large molecular structures may not be able to enter the hair shaft and may also cause excessive build-up.

Preferably, emulsion products are better due to the smaller particle size of emollients which help create a more uniform film formation all along the hair shaft.

Among humectants, traditional ingredients are great e.g. glycerin and panthenol (pro-vitamin B), due to their stickiness with hair.

In recent years, new ingredients such as sugar beet-derived betaine have been developed to significantly improve hair moisture levels and improve overall hair quality.

Let’s examine a couple of products on the market for high, medium, and low porosity curly hair to give you a guide on what to look for in other products.

High Porosity Curly Hair Products

As I Am Long & Luxe Curl Enhancing Smoothie

As I Am is a popular brand for naturally curly hair and this particular smoothie is a rich blend of various natural ingredients.

The formulation contains natural plant-sourced oils/butter along with Biotin, Niacinamide, Betaine, and Panthenol.

The product aims to improve curly definition along with raised moisture levels without any flakes and build-up.

NaturAll Original Dry Ice Cream Treatment Deep Conditioner with Avocado and Lavender 

This is another product containing natural oils and emollients to offer natural curl definition with internal deep conditioning goodness.

Medium Porosity Curly Hair

Medium-level porosity hairs require less frequent use of treatment products.

The idea formulation should be a mid-range blend of emollients and humectants. No cationic polymer and silicone should be used.

Medium curly hair products

As I Am Twist Defining Cream

The formulation boosts the hair moisture level without any buildup and greasy/sticky feel. It gives nice, shiny, and natural curl curves with bounce and volume.

The product also prevents hair thinning and shedding.

Bounce Curl Super Smooth Cream Conditioner

A unique formulation built with the Aloe Vera Juice base to give a natural texture to curly hairs.

Ingredient listing demonstrates a natural outlook with no silicone, no parabens, and no synthetic preservatives.

All the emollients employed are light in texture and will not leave any heavy feel.

Honestly, this conditioner is perfect for all curl types!

Low Porosity Curly Hair

Low porosity curly hair requires maintaining hair health with a very gentle and mild cleansing product. Generally, these hairs are fine and do not need extra oils.

Care must be taken while applying too much and too many oily emollients to them.

A light maintenance shampoo and conditioner would do the job and treatment should only be applied only once every 15 days, or a maximum once a week.

Low porosity curly hair products

As I Am Coconut Co Wash Hydration Elation

It is a nice gentle blend of natural ingredients that can remove the excess of sebum, dirt particles, and product residues from your curls without causing any greasy feel.

The product is easy to apply and rinse off. It detangles curly hair, adds moisture, and promotes a good environment for hair growth.

Bounce Curl Hydra-Drench Cleansing Conditioner

A double-action product that clean and condition curly hair with its all-natural organic ingredients.

The formulation does not employ any synthetic cleansing agent e.g. sulfates and thus does not pose any danger to scalp quality.

Multiple natural extracts provide loads of moisture to hair without any build up and residues.