High Porosity Hair Explained: Why It Frizzes, Dries Fast + Needs Special Care
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If your hair constantly looks dehydrated and frizzy and you find that it air dries super fast after showering, you probably have high porosity hair. But what does that mean exactly?
Well, just like knowing your unique hair type and texture can help you choose the right products and techniques to care for and style your hair, knowing your hair’s porosity level can guide your choice of products to keep your hair strands structurally strong, optimally moisturized and super healthy-looking.
The bottom line: if you want to get amazing, WOW! styling results, first you need to optimize the quality and condition of your hair. And that means understanding your hair’s porosity level — and how to adjust it with the right hair products.
What is high porosity hair?
High porosity in hair means that the outer cuticle layer is lifted, resulting in gaps ("pores") in the surface of hair strands.
As a result, moisture can easily pass through the cuticle and enter the inner cortex… but, moisture can just as easily leach out.
“High porosity hair acts like a sponge with holes—it absorbs moisture fast but can’t hold onto it. The key isn’t just hydration, it’s sealing the cuticle so that moisture stays put.”
— Dr. Joe Cincotta, Color Wow Chief Chemist
High hair porosity is typically a genetically inherited quality. If your hair is naturally curly or frizz-prone, it’s likely you have high porosity hair (due to lifted cuticle layers).
But, regardless of your hair’s natural qualities, you can also make your hair more porous by damaging it. Excessive heat styling, frequent color and chemical processing, UV exposure and harsh, dehydrating products can cause hair’s cuticle to lift.
The more damage inflicted, the more “pores” that can develop not only on the surface of your hair but also within its internal structure (think: Swiss cheese).
To sum it up: If your hair takes in moisture fast but loses it just as quickly, feels rough or dry, and frizzes easily, there's a strong chance you’re dealing with high porosity hair.
What are the signs of high porosity hair?
If you have any of these high porosity hair characteristics, then this guide is a must for you!
- Absorbs water and products quickly
- Constantly feels dry and dehydrated
- Experiences consistent frizz
- Tangles and breaks easily
- Air dries extremely fast
- Tends to look dull and lacks shine
- The effects of chemical treatments are accelerated and unpredictable, which can lead to damage
What does high porosity hair look like?
If you examined a hair strand with a microscope, you’d see that hair's outermost layer, the cuticle, envelopes the hair shaft with what looks like overlapping shingles,
In high porosity hair, the cuticle layer appears open, lifted and spread apart, versus in low porosity hair where the cuticle looks closed and clamped down tightly.
To the naked eye, this raised, rough cuticle translates into hair that looks super dry and dehydrated, frizzy, dull, lacking shine, prone to easy tangling and breakage.
➿ Curls & coils: In curls and coils, this open cuticle often shows up as frizz halo, undefined curl pattern, or thirsty ends — even after product application.
Does high porosity hair dry fast?
Yes, high porosity hair dries very quickly—often too quickly.
Because the cuticle layer is lifted or damaged, moisture enters easily but also escapes just as fast. This means water evaporates rapidly during the drying process, whether air-drying or blow-drying.
If your hair seems to be dry again minutes after stepping out of the shower, that’s a key sign of high porosity.
It’s also why infusing hydration and moisture isn’t enough—you need to seal moisturization in with products like leave-ins, serums or Dream Coat-style treatments.
How to test if you have high porosity hair
There are two easy high porosity hair tests you can try at home:
1. The Float Test
To start, shampoo your hair and let it air dry without products. Then, fill a glass with room temperature water, and place a single strand of hair in the water. If the strand sinks, it means you have high porosity hair.
If the strand floats, it means you have low porosity hair. If this is the case for you, check out our blog on low porosity hair for more info.
2. The Spray Test
Mist dry hair with water and observe. If your hair absorbs the water quickly, you likely have high porosity hair. If the water beads up on your hair, you likely have low porosity hair.
How to care for high porosity hair
When it comes to high hair porosity, the goal is to add moisture, lock it in, smooth the cuticle layer closed and keep damage to a minimum. Here are some tips for caring for high porosity hair:
1. Detangle gently before getting in the shower
Because high porosity hair has a lifted cuticle, your strands tend to get snagged and “tied up” with each other. Use a pre-shampoo to add slip to your hair to ease your detangling efforts. We recommend Snag-Free Pre-Shampoo Detangler.
2. Condition regularly
This is key to help restore and retain moisture. Use a deep conditioner or hair mask at least once a week and leave it on for 15-20 minutes to allow it to penetrate the hair cuticles.
3. Wash your hair in warm (not hot!) water
We know hot showers can be super soothing, but they have the complete opposite effect on your hair. Hot water zaps moisture, keeping the cuticle layer lifted and making your hair dry and brittle.
Cold water helps to close the cuticle layer and lock in moisture from your conditioner or hair mask.
4. Apply a leave-in conditioner
When it comes to high porosity hair, there’s no such thing as too much moisture! A leave-in can help provide on-going moisture throughout the day.
5. Seal in moisture
After applying your leave-in conditioner, seal the cuticle closed with an oil, serum or anti-frizz humidity-blocking spray. This not only locks in critical moisture, but also leaves the hair smoother, shinier and easier to manage.
6. Swap your towel for a microfiber one
This gentler surface is better for fragile, high porosity hair because it doesn’t further rough up the cuticle, resulting in more damage.
7. Avoid harsh treatments
Frequent color-processing, bleaching or chemical treatments all require lifting the cuticle, which in turns increases your hair’s porosity.
8. Reduce heat styling
This also causes further damage to the cuticle layer. If you are going to heat style, though, make sure you 1) always use heat protection and 2) never go above 350 degrees F to prevent further damage to your cuticle.
9. Keep hair moisturized everyday with a nourishing formula
On days when you don’t shampoo and your hair feels rough, dry or brittle, apply a nourishing remoisturizing formula to smooth the cuticle and restore suppleness. Look for a rich cream that absorbs instantly and delivers instant benefits from ingredients like Avocado Oil and Omega 3’s.
Best products for high porosity hair
Breakthrough cuticle sealing products that counteract high porosity.
1. Dreaming Hair Repair Treatment
Formulated with a blend of oils (including squalene and rice bran oil) protein-rich quinoa and naturally derived polymers, Dreaming “melts” into hair’s outer cuticle layer, filling gaps, cracks and visibly repairing imperfections like split ends.
2. Money Mist
Multi-tasking, luxe, light leave-in conditioner detangles, defrizzes, glosses, hydrates and fortifies. Adapts to hair’s needs to nourish hair fibers with the precise level of peptides, hydration and conditioning required to strengthen, moisturize, smooth texture and balance porosity.
3. Extra Strength Dream Coat
Ultra-powerful humidity-blocking, anti-frizz treatment for extremely dry/dehydrated porous hair and curly/coily hair. Super light spray treatment infuses hair with moisture and seals outer cuticle tightly to make hair humidity-proof.
4. One-Minute Transformation
Made without waxes or oils that leave heavy, greasy build up on hair, this cream is rich in avocado oil and Omega 3 amino acids which absorb quickly to renew moisture to high porosity hair and help seal it in. Hair is instantly silky, smooth, supple and glossy.
Products for high porosity curly, coily or textured hair
The Curl Wow range is ideal for high porosity curly hair that needs layers of moisture to provide strength, slip and frizz control without buildup.
A final word on high porosity hair:
High porosity hair is thirsty, fast-absorbing, and frizz-prone — but also incredibly responsive to the right care.
Because the cuticle is lifted, moisture floods in easily but escapes just as quickly. That’s why high porosity strands can look dry, dull, or rough — no matter how much you condition.
Understanding your porosity means you can finally give your hair what it actually needs: deep hydration, consistent conditioning, and cuticle-sealing products that lock moisture in.
High Porosity Hair FAQs
Is high porosity hair bad?
Not at all—high porosity hair isn’t “bad,” it just has specific needs. Some people are born with naturally porous hair, especially if they have curls or coils. Others develop high porosity from heat styling, bleaching, or chemical processing.
What matters most is how you care for it. When managed correctly, high porosity hair can look just as smooth, shiny and healthy as any other type. The key is using products that deeply hydrate and reinforce the cuticle, helping your hair retain what it absorbs.
Dr. Joe explains:
“Porosity isn’t a flaw—it’s a structural trait. With high porosity hair, your focus should be on moisture retention and damage control. The right products can absolutely transform it.”
Does high porosity hair mean it's damaged?
Not necessarily. Some people are born with high porosity, which just means their cuticle layers are raised, therefore their hair absorbs water easily but can’t retain it.
If you aren’t born with high porosity hair, you can increase your hair’s porosity by damaging it with excessive heat styling, coloring, bleaching or chemical processing.
Read more about hair care on the Color Wow Blog:
