Porosity

Imagine you're driving down a well traveled road. A tropical rainstorm has just occurred and the road is a mess! As you begin to navigate your way, you realize the road is now full of puddles and potholes. At varying depths, they're filled with water accordingly. Watch out! Such traversing is hazardous to your car.

Hair is much like the rain soaked road described above. Everyday your hair is environmentally challenged by air pollution and weather. Additionally blow drying increases its wear and tear. With time your hair develops its own unique version of potholes. Hair porosity problems begin here .

What is porosity?

Porosity is the manner in which your hair receives haircolor. As has been mentioned in earlier pages of this website, haircolor can-as a result of poor porosity, sometimes "grab", becoming too dark-most often on the ends of your hair. It can also turn your hair to a very undesirable shade of GREEN! (This is why this site so strongly recommends strand testing. Finally although it's normal for haircolor to fade about a level (or shade) over the course of about a month, haircolor that fades to a greater degree or at a faster rate is marked by poor porosity.

Is it possible to "cure" my poor porosity?
*Yes. Clarifying your hair as described in preeminent conditioning will assure beautiful results as your haircolor will be applied to a clean, healthy slate. (Picasso would never begin a new painting on a dirty canvas! And neither should you.)

Minerva recommends Revlon Porosity Control Shampoo, Conditioner and Treatment** to balance the porosity in your hair. She advises:

• For dry, damaged hair, shampoo, condition and treat your hair with these fine products for a week before coloring your hair. Your hair will appreciate the added attention and your haircolor will last much longer.
• Although Minerva disagrees with "refreshing" the ends of your hair each time you color your hair, use of the corrector (treatment) will help protect your ends when you do refresh the color. A color shampoo or conditioner will maintain your color while keeping your hair healthy. No-ammonia haircolor does the same, lasting 4-6 weeks.

If your score is higher than a ten after taking the strand challenge, you may need to balance your porosity with a filler.

Of course to test your hairs' porosity, a strand test is always a Smart technique . This will give you your most accurate answer. However if you feel that your hair is in good condition and you passed the challenge with flying colors, a glass of water will give you a quick answer. Simply snip off a small amount of your hair, tape it together and drop it into your glass of water. Healthy hair will float, less healthy (or more porous) hair will sink.