Monday, August 4, 2014

pH and Porosity – The Cure For Dry Hair

By Heather Katsonga 

Ask any new Natural what their top problem is and I’ll bet you most will say “dry hair.” Well, your dry hair days are over. I’m going to cure the problem for you with two fancy concepts “pH’ and “porosity.”
pH
The pH scale runs from 0 to 14; 7 is neutral. Unpolluted spring water has a pH of 7. As pH falls below 7, acidity increases; as pH rises above 7, alkalinity increases.
If your hair feels dry and brittle it could be because the products you are using are not pH balanced.
By far the quickest and easiest way to measure pH is with pH paper. That paper is available on Amazon and eBay. Dip a strip into your shampoo and another strip into your conditioner. If your shampoo and conditioner are compatible, the conditioner (or leave-in conditioner) will have a lower pH number than the shampoo. Simple.
Porosity
The more porous your hair is (the measurement of how big the pores on your hair are), the more you may be prone to breakage, split ends and other kinds of damage. Closing your hair’s pores (“reducing your hair's porosity”) makes your glow, helps you retain moisture and it will help you retain length.
By reducing your hair’s porosity it will stay softer for longer. Here’s how you can do that:
1.) Never shampoo without following up with a conditioner. This is because conditioner is designed to close the pores on hair, while shampoo opens them up. Hair product companies do this by creating a conditioner with a lower pH than the shampoo.
Lower pH reduces porosity so conditioners are typically lower in pH than shampoos. The pH of products in the same line will account for this required fall in pH, however, if you mix shampoo and conditioner brands it’s worth checking they are compatible by ensuring that the pH of your preferred conditioner is lower than that of your shampoo using pH paper.
If your shampoo has a lower pH than your conditioner and you definitely do not want to change products then always finish your wash off with an apple cider vinegar, or lemon, rinse.
2.) Rinse hair after your wash routine using a cold lemon rinse or a cold ACV rinse.
Why would you do that when lemon and ACV are so much more acidic than hair? As mentioned above, acids close the pores of your hair. Although Lemon and ACV are too acidic when they’re neat, diluting them in water reduces their pH to a level that is good for hair.
3.) Rinse hair with cold water after any wash or co-wash. Cold water closes the hair’s pores while warm water opens them up.
4.) Always seal in moisture using a cream and hair oil. Creams and oils seal the hair, so that your leave-in conditioner and moisture don’t escape.
Heather Katsonya-Woodward can be reached via her website at www.NenoNatural.com.
On Twitter @NenoNatural

On Facebook  Long Healthy Hair

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