ive searched the forum for someone with hair like mine to see if i can find some products i havent tried yet as im going through a bad hair time at the moment…

as you can see from the description its coarse, dry, thick and at the moment that in between length where its not really short any more (trying to grow it) so i just keep wearing it up.

products i use are john freida frizz-ease shampoo and conditioner followed by argan oil to seal moisture and bumble & bumble calming creme for coarse hair to style.
this was all working fine for a while but lately its just looking dead (hence being tied up) going by some research ive done here already the bumble & bumble is quite rich in proteins that arent water soluble so there could be build-up? also low-porosity hair needs moisture more than protein so this could be totally the wrong product for styling?

i do plan to go CG when my hair is at a length that i have some weight so i know right now im not giving my hair the best chance using sulphates etc im just trying to find a treatment and styling creme/leave-in to see me through the ‘rut’ im in

most products say ‘nourishing’ but what is nourishing for porous hair might not be nourishing for low-porosity hair…

I’m learning that my hair needs an intensive protein treatment once a week to stay lively.  I’ve been using natural things, but this is getting a little impractical.  Do you think the GPB GPC would work for this purpose?  I’d be scared of using it as a regular conditioner, as I think the oils would weigh my hair down too much. 

Anyone had good results using it as an intensive?

** I’d still be interested in knowing people’s experiences, but I’ve just found a supplier for MOP Extreme Protein Treatment, so I’ll be trying that for the time being.  **

Have you used MOP in the past, and found something else that works as well, if not better?  Please let me know if this is the case LOL!

Emma.

Having looked into it all, the on-line advice says:-

Fine Hair:-

Needs protein
No humectants
No emollients

Low Porosity Hair:-

Needs moisture
No protein
Needs humectants

Hmmmm, so the 2 lists seem to contradict each other. As my hair’s fine it gets weighed down easily too. I’ve tried to work out which products to use but to be honest it’s melted my brain

Could any kind curlies with similar hair types please point me in the right direction. I’m totally flummoxed !!
x

So I have been perusing the porosity and texture board and I think that I finally have a better understanding of why my combination hair seems to give me such a headache. 

I have a mix of corkscrew and fractal corkscrews on most of my head with a few looser curls thrown in around the edges by the gods just for kicks…

When i wash my hair the back seems to dry the slowest by also holds its shine and curl pattern the longest in the days after (usually 5-7), so I assume it is less porous (probably normal porosity) than my front and canopy which begins to look dry and loose form within 24-48 hours. 

All of my hair is fine and when straight it’s as limp as a wet dog. 

I figure I need to keep protein in my regimen on some sort of regular schedule, but how often is too often to PT treat?  I have been using the Ouidad Deep Treatment of late (well I have used it once in the last two weeks as the bottle says use every 2 weeks), but I am wondering if I should look to use a protein deep conditioner with every wash or at least once a week?

I am planning to try CJCF next as my Ouidad supply is running out and I want to find a product I can get locally.  Has anyone with a similar issue used this weekly or more often without side effects? 

Since my hair on the top of my hair is most porous perhaps I should use a stronger treatment on it than the rest of my head?

  What is Hair Porosity?

    Porosity refers to the ability of your hair to absorb moisture and is determined by the state the cuticle of your hair is in. Porosity is a critically important factor in determining curly hair care since moisture is what shapes and defines our curls. If you don’t know your hair’s porosity, you won’t be able to make the best product and maintenance routine choices to maximize the amount of moisture your curls retain. The existing “curl classification systems” never seem to mention porosity in their categorization process. Odd, considering lack of moisture is one of the biggest causes of frizz, the demon of Curly World.

    There are three different classifications of porosity:

Low Porosity

    Low porosity is when the cuticle of the hair shaft is too compact and does not permit moisture to enter or leave the hair shaft. Hair with low porosity is much more difficult to process, is resistant to chemical services, and has a tendency to repel product rather than absorb it.

Normal Porosity

    With normal porosity, the cuticle is compact and inhibits moisture from leaving or entering the hair shaft; however, it allows for normal processing when a chemical service is performed and will readily absorb and retain product properly formulated for this hair type.

High Porosity

    Hair with high porosity, also known as “overly porous” hair, has an open cuticle that both absorbs and releases moisture easily. Overly porous hair processes very quickly and can be easily damaged if extreme care is not taken when a chemical service is performed. Although overly porous hair absorbs product quickly, it is often dry as the open cuticle does not allow for product retention within the hair shaft.

    To determine your own hair’s porosity, grasp a hair strand firmly between your fingers. Slide the thumb and index finger of your other hand from end to scalp (opposite direction as for texture test). If your fingers “catch” going up the strand, or feel like they are ruffling up the hair strand, your hair is overly porous. If it is smooth, you have normal porosity. If your fingers move very fast up the hair strand and it feels exceptionally slick, you have low porosity.

Why Hair Texture and Porosity are the Keys to Understanding Your Curls

    This is where the so-called “curl classification systems” can be problematic. If Type 2 is supposed to mean fine, wavy hair, what happens if you have wavy hair with a coarse texture and high porosity? Or you have tight corkscrew curls often wrongly categorized as coarse, but your hair is baby-fine (as are many with curly hair) with really low porosity?

    If you have wavy hair and follow the routines and use the products normally suggested for this curl type, but your hair is actually coarse and overly porous, you are going to end up with hair like straw–plus, you won’t be addressing the problem of your high porosity, which blows product out of the hair shaft anyway.

    If your corkscrew curls are fine and you load them up with the humectants and emollients often recommended for this hair type, your hair will end up a limp, stringy mess, assuming you can get the product into your hair in the first place. It just doesn’t work that way.

I’m hoping for some help so I can de-flumax myself on the hair texture front.  This is what I know so far, my hair loves Castor oil in small quantities (really loves it), it gets wet easily and dries super quick, it also takes colour very quickly and intensely so I’ve concluded now that it’s porous, particularly so on the top bits.  It’s the texture that is currently baffling me.  I’ve always assumed it is fine.  I have an huge amount of hair that when short sits at a 90 degree angle from my head, but it doesn’t feel coarse at all.  I’ve done the strand test and it is completely smooth, but not in any way flat, my hair does not suffer from a lack of volume in fact I have to beat it into submission volume wise.  I also know that products with protein in make my hair unhappy with a sort of birds nest affair particularly where the very porous bits are, this is a recent discovery since I’ve been looking more closely at ingredients.  So if I understand what I’m reading here correctly, the fondness for moisture and dislike of protein would suggest I’m on the coarse scale.  Also if I stretch a strand it doesn’t snap, in fact it seems to have extraordinary strength which surprised me somewhat it just pings back into a very tight curl formation.  Is it possible to have porous hair that’s coarse without feeling rough?  My other confusion is around porosity, the articles linked to here seem to suggest this is caused by heat styling, colour treatments and chemical processing, and I don’t do any of that, I haven’t used a hairdryer in ten years or coloured, and I’ve never had any other chemical treatment, I also don’t use sulphate based products so can porous hair just be made that way?  I don’t think I have ever been this confused!

Thanks loads
A

I have some craziness going on with the texture! Plucked a few canopy/crown hairs and, upon examination, have noticed that some of the new growth is ‘finer’ in texture to the coloured ends and, conversely, some of the new growth is ‘coarser’ than its coloured length. Am thinking this is probably ‘normal’ as most of us have a mix of textures. Am just finding it interesting that the textures appear to be swapping!

Chemical colour alters the natural texture anyway but I’m still hoping I will be less porous when the colour fully grows out!

*Double post - also posted in my curl diary*