If you came to the conclusion that your hair is not straight, Congratulations! This is the first step in the process, accepting your hair for what it may be. So now what? Here’s where you can start.
How to test your hair.
Put your hair up but leave a small section out, just enough to test your hair. The first thing you need to do is get this section wet. You may use a spray bottle, but we don’t expect you to have this if you’ve just started. PS. Our Newbie Curlfriend Bundles are perfect for what’s to come.
If you don’t have a spray bottle, go ahead and use the tap or shower, whatever is easiest for you. Next I want you to grab your conditioner, just to make it easier to manage. Make sure the section is wet, not damp, before you do that.
Now that’s applied, brush this section carefully from the ends up, using some pressure on the brush, like making ribbon curls. Watch this quick video from Zia and repeat what she does. Before you rinse, I want you to scrunch that section. Hold it up at the root and pulsate it, then let go. Watch examples here. Is it making any shapes? It won’t be a perfect spiral curl, but if its showing any sort of shape, you may be a curly. Go ahead and take a photo to send us later.
Now, rinse that off gently and brush your hair up and away from your scalp. This time, I want you to finger-coil (or finger roll) this section. See a tutorial here. If it’s thick, split it! Play around with it, it takes a little time to learn.
Now that’s done, scrunch it for a final push up. And finally, let it dry. To speed things up, grab a cotton t-shirt. Yes, a T-shirt. And using this, scrunch it up gently. Do not touch it, or fiddle with it, or brush it. This will disturb the pattern. After its 100% dry, send us a photo of what it looks like!
If you see even the slightest wave has held up, please keep reading, and welcome to the curly family <3
Finding your hair type
DENSITY
Next, I want you to put all your hair down. Look in the mirror at the sides of your head and crown area. How much of your scalp can you see? Does your hair completely cover your scalp? Then it’s high density. Can you see some small spots of skin here and there? That’s medium. And finally, if you can see a lot of scalp all around, it’s low density.
Why does this matter? This can help with learning how much product and what sort of product your hair will benefit from the most. Generally speaking, high density hair likes heavier products, butter/oil based as its better for absorbing all throughout.
But that’s not the only thing…
TEXTURE
Next up, take out a single strand of hair. Roll it up on your fingers. Can you feel it?
It’s definitely there = Coarse
I can somewhat feel it = Medium
Not really = Fine
The next test you can perform in two ways, it’s better you do both, to better understand your results. Before you go ahead and buy all these products that are not best for your hair type, you need to identify your hair’s porosity.
POROSITY
Simply explained, porosity is the ability of the hair to absorb moisture. The cuticles in our hair strands can be open, which is when all the moisture is let inside quickly, but also lost quickly. We call this high porosity, because the hair is highly porous. Signs are your hair soaking immediately with water contact and drying quickly as well. Orrr simply if you had your hair bleached, those sections would definitely be high porosity.
The cuticles can also be closed, which is when moisture is having trouble passing through. Signs would be your hair taking long to get wet and dry. This is called low porosity.
There is an ‘in the middle’, which is medium porosity. This is when your hair is in the middle of those two, doesn’t get wet too quickly but it also doesn’t slide right off. It dries in a normal time and is not too hard to get it moisturised. This would be ideal, however porosity is natural, so don’t worry, there is no right or wrong, better or worse. For this reason, before you go bulk shopping for your hair, let us cut you down some time on your trial-and-error process.
How to find out your porosity.
When you google this, the first thing that comes up is the strand test. The strand test is when you take a strand of your hair and place it in a cup filled with water. You need to observe your hair to see how it reacts with water. If it soaks immediately, it’s high porosity and probably needs some protein. It it’s in the middle, it’s middle porosity. And if it floats, it’s low porosity and therefore moisture has some trouble passing through.
However, on its own this is not an accurate test. This is because you place a single strand, which does not accurately represent all of your hair. Yes, your hair can have different zones with different hair porosities. For example, if your ends are bleached, you will find that they get wet first, and dry quicker. Products would absorb into this area quicker than in your roots, if they are natural.
Bleach and porosity - a quick explanation
When dying dark, low porosity hair, it is often lightened before it's colored. The bleaching process will raise the cuticles, increasing the hair's porosity so pigment can easily enter afterwards. This is why bleach makes your hair high porosity.
The other test which you can do to find your porosity, is to grab a spray bottle. I really hope you have one so you don't need to get in the shower again :)
If you have a spray bottle, fill with some water and spray over your hair in front of the mirror. Look closely at how the water reacts with your hair. See the videos below to compare your hair to. If you have to do it in the shower, do this when your next wash day is. Let the water fall on your hair naturally and just observe your strands. Keep in mind, how long does it take for your hair to get fully wet? Is the water sliding off? Does your hair feel soaked almost immediately or fairly quickly? Refer to the videos below for comparisons and examples.
If you are unsure, make sure you get a mist bottle, try the test again and send us a video of it. We'll try and help. DM us on Instagram @Curluxscious or email us at contact@curluxscious.com.
Visual representation of low porosity here.
Visual comparison of what low vs high looks like, here.
Find here a video explaining porosity by a curl professional.
NOW, what do we do with all that info?
Write down what you think your hair is. Density, texture and porosity.
The general associations are the following:
Low porosity - likes lighter products, water based, anything labelled as lightweight that does not have as their main ingredient oils or butters. Check the label, the first 3 to 5 ingredients should be "Aqua (Water)".
High porosity - usually likes oil and butter based, anything featuring things like Mongogo Oil, Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, etc. Remember its having trouble keeping moisture down. Therefore adding anything with oils will prevent the moisture from escaping. PRO TIP: use hair oil after drying your hair to seal in the moisture.
Fine hair - usually needs grit to be able to hold the curl for longer. Protein might be your bestfriend. Look for products labelled as "strengthening" and hard hold. Also likes lightweight products as you don't want to weight it down!
Coarse - usually benefits from moisturizing products as it tends to be more dry.
What to do with this information? Save it for later when you start buying products.
If you want to go shopping, start small and simple. There are many trial size/travel size products you can buy for curly hair. Most brands do these on their website or find them in places like Boots, Superdrug (UK) or Target and Ulta (US). The first things you would need to start testing your hair properly, is a curls friendly shampoo & conditioner, and a gel. After washing, apply the gel and scrunch to encourage your natural pattern. Or if you're feeling bold, finger roll!
Don't forget the essentials if you need a starter kit.
Feel free to send us pictures!
CX Team xoxo