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Fast-drying hair is widely seen as a positive trait. But if it dries too rapidly, it loses its positive effects and becomes a drawback. You’ve found the ideal location if you’ve ever worried that your hair dries faster than usual.
In this blog, we’ll go over possible causes of “hair dries faster” and some solutions to help your locks retain moisture for longer. Also, we will discuss the various variables that affect how quickly your hair dries.
What Factors Cause “Hair Dries Faster”?
There are several reasons of “hair dries faster than usual”. We will discuss some of them.
Thin Or Low-Density Hair
Hair with a low density and a thin consistency dries more quickly than hair with a high density and a thick consistency. When you have low-density hair, it simply implies that your hair follicle count is lower than typical. Natural causes of hair loss might be to cause. The reasoning is straightforward: fewer hair means less density, and less density means the hair can hold less water.
Hair Damaged Hair
The capacity of your hair to absorb and maintain moisture can be seriously damaged by using heat tools and chemical treatments.
The cuticle, the outermost layer of hair, is easily damaged by heat styling and chemical treatments. A healthy, tightly closed cuticle is more equipped to retain water than a damaged one.
Environmental Conditions
The strands might lose their elasticity and hydration when exposed to dry, heated air. Hair can get severely dry through overexposure to the elements, such as the sun, salt water, and wind. Living in a dry atmosphere might speed up the natural drying process of your hair.
Drying Hair Products
“Hair dries faster” time can be affected by the type of hair care products you use. Alcohol-based solutions not only hasten hair drying time but also have the potential to dry out hair over time.
- Alcohols leading to dry hair include ethanol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl, propyl, propanol, alcohol denat (denatured alcohol), and benzyl alcohol.
- Keep in mind that not all alcohol is created equal! Fatty alcohols, in contrast to drying alcohols, aid in retaining moisture in your hair.
- As well as mineral oil and sulfates, sodium chloride (salt) is another substance to avoid if your hair is dry.
- Because they are insoluble in water, silicones and mineral oil can smother your hair’s cuticles and deprive them of moisture, while salt and sulfates do the same.
High Porosity Hair
Each strand of high-porosity hair contains open cuticles, allowing water to enter and exit easily. This type of hair typically has a lackluster appearance, readily takes up water and other hydrating agents, and is prone to breakage and knots.
High-porosity hair, in contrast to low-porosity hair, is less adept at holding onto moisture once it has absorbed it.
What’s Hair Porosity?
There is a lot of interest in the issue of hair porosity right now, and with good cause. Hair porosity can be influenced by several variables, including genetics, hair texture, environmental influences, and chemical treatments. To solve your hair problems, you need to know your hair’s porosity to select the right hair care products.
The ability of your hair to absorb and retain moisture is called its “porosity,” and it is directly related to the health of your hair and how tightly your cuticles are sealed. Hair with low porosity generally has difficulty collecting moisture but is great at holding onto it, whereas hair with high porosity absorbs moisture easily but has trouble keeping it.
How can you know whether your hair has low, medium, or high porosity?
10 Signs Of High Porosity Hair
We have prepared a list of the ten telltale indicators of high porosity hair, along with advice on how to cope with some of the more annoying symptoms.
Hair Age
Our hair cuticles get rougher with age, making our hair strands more porous. Everyday use, environmental stress, and long-term use of hot styling products can all play a role in this. Hair length may also indicate high porosity: Since the hair near the ends has been around the longest, it may be more porous than the hair closest to the roots.
Rough Hair Texture
Rough hair texture is a big indication of porous hair because it means that the hair cuticles have been lifted. When strands of high porosity hair run between your fingers, you’ll feel a rough, bumpy texture since the cuticle is broken and elevated. The harsh texture makes your hair tresses more prone to frizziness and dryness.
Hair Lacks Shine
High porosity hair may be recognized by its rough texture and lack of shine. Sealing those elevated cuticles is essential to allow your hydrating hair-care products to perform their work. If you use a heat protectant to smooth your hair and trap moisture, your lifeless locks will look as good as new in no time. To protect hair from heat styling equipment and seal in shine, we recommend our No Regrets Heat Protection & Taming Spray, which contains avocado oil.
Hair Feels Dry (Even After Moisturizing)
If your hair has a high porosity, you’ve certainly experienced the frustration of dealing with dry locks despite your best attempts to hydrate. We use more conditioning products than usual to combat dryness. When we saturate our hair with too many products, we throw off the delicate equilibrium of protein and moisture necessary for repairing our strands.
Hydrating using products that both deeply moisturize and lock in that moisture is the key to treating excessively porous hair. We advise applying a restorative conditioner after every wash and a deep conditioning treatment once or twice weekly to combat this. To rehydrate, enhance silkiness, and seal in moisture after washing, apply a dime-sized dab of ultra-rich Hair Redemption Restorative Butter Masque to the mid-shaft and ends of your hair.
Hair Breaks Easily
Overly brittle hair is another symptom of having hair with high porosity. The hair shaft expands when it’s soaked in water and shrinks when it dries. Damage to the hair’s structure, such as thinner, more brittle strands, can result from hygral fatigue when the hair shaft repeatedly swells and contracts. If your hair is already porous, you’re more at risk of overwashing and over conditioning damage.
Try out Wake Up Call Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner to help strengthen weak locks. This dynamic combo has been shown in scientific trials to minimize breakage by as much as 98% compared to standard shampoos, all while hydrating and adding volume to hair without weighing it down or drying it out.
Hair Dries Faster After Wash
Do you find that your hair dries faster when left to air dry after a wash? That’s one of the characteristic indications of high porosity hair. The porous quality of the strands helps the water enter the hair shaft more easily, but it also swiftly departs; thus, it takes less time for hair to dry. While this is wonderful for those days when you’re pressed for time, your hair products aren’t getting a chance to do their work if your hair doesn’t stay wet for very long after washing. Try using a conditioning product that helps seal your cuticles to lock in moisture.
You Battle Frizz Constantly
High porosity hair is what you’re dealing with if humidity causes your hair to become frizzy and swollen rather than flat. Curls and frizz result from porous hair’s cuticles being raised, which allows air moisture to penetrate. You should use our No Regrets Heat Protection & Taming Spray in your regular hair care routine if you have very porous hair. This formula combines avocado oils and amodimethicone, which work to seal the elevated cuticles of porous tresses and reduce porosity.
Your Hair Tangles Easily
A clear symptom of hair with high porosity? Always detangling with a brush. The rough, elevated cuticles of highly porous hair make it easier for individual strands to link with one another, leading to tangles, than the smooth, low porosity hair.
When detangling using a comb, it’s best to start at the ends and work your way up to the scalp carefully so as not to cause any breakage. (While our moms were correct about many things, detangling our hair by brushing down from the top was not one of them!) It’s best to detangle hair gently from the ends to the scalp to avoid breakage and discomfort. Look no further if you want a detangling instruction that works on all hair kinds and textures.
Hair Loose Elasticity
Skin and hair lose elasticity with aging; high porosity hair is particularly susceptible. The decline in collagen formation and the hormonal shifts that occur around and after menopause are to blame for the skin’s sagging appearance. Taking a collagen supplement might help repair your hair if you’ve noticed it becoming more brittle over time. To promote healthy, supple skin and hair during and after menopause, we recommend tropical fruit-flavored Power Within Skin & Scalp Collagen Gummies, which include marine kinds I & III collagen.
You Have Curly Hair
For example, hair with a curly texture is more prone to shedding than straight hair. This expanded permeability results from the cuticle layer and the elongated form of the hair strand. Hair with more kinks and twirls has greater cuticle separation, making it more difficult to retain moisture. We love how Bounce Back Super Moisturizing Conditioner for Curly Hair’s 5-plant butter and oil mix seals deep moisture to revitalize and strengthen curls.
How To Maintain Moisture In Your Hair?
Now that you know what may be drying out your natural hair rapidly, you can try these solutions to avoid your hair dries faster.
Protein Treatments
Not everyone will benefit from protein treatments, although they can strengthen and repair damaged hair. As a result of filling up the microscopic holes on the outer layer of the hair with protein, the hair is better equipped to retain moisture.
To avoid going too far, just be careful. However, the reverse effect—increased dryness—can occur if too much protein is consumed. A protein treatment can help restore your hair’s strength, but you should only use it once or twice a month.
Pre-Poo
Shampooing your hair regularly is essential, but it also has the potential to remove the natural oils and moisture that keep your hair healthy.
Pre-pooing builds up a barrier that prevents shampoo from damaging your hair. Examples of products that work as pre-poos to provide moisture to the hair are:
- Oils (particularly coconut oil)
- Conditioner
- Specialty products
Apply the pre-poo to dry hair, let it in for at least 30 minutes, and then wash your hair as usual with shampoo.
Deep Conditioning Treatment
The hair can be significantly rehydrated with deep conditioning treatments. Conventional rinse-out and deep conditioners moisturize hair, but the latter is designed to stay on for up to 30 minutes.
The moisturizing chemicals in deep conditioners are concentrated and have a significantly thicker consistency than those in regular conditioners.
Try using heat, like a heat cap or a hooded dryer, to get even more hydration out of your deep conditioner. The hydrating chemicals in the treatment can better permeate your hair because of the heat.
Use The L.O.C Method
Just as crucial as the products you use to style your hair is how you keep it moisturized between washes.
For optimal moisture retention, the LOC technique recommends stacking your hair products in a certain order for optimal moisture retention. Making this approach to keep potential damage from accumulated styling products.
Liquid
The first step in a hair care routine that includes water is hydrating your hair. Make sure your hair is completely soaked in water before you begin moisturizing. One thing to keep in mind is that your hair doesn’t have to be drenched in water. If you don’t want to start with freshly washed hair, you may use a spray bottle filled with warm water to wet your hair before adding products. Some people use a leave-in conditioner to add even more moisture at this point.
Oil
Spread some oil in your curls at this time. Make sure you’re not using heavy oil since it won’t be able to penetrate your hair shaft like a lighter oil will. The following are examples of light oils:
- Coconut oil
- Avocado oil
- Olive oil
Cream
Use a hair lotion to seal in the moisture after washing your hair. The tips are the oldest and most damaged section of your hair, so give them special attention.
Rather than being a rigid set of rules, the LOC technique is more of a guide. Various oils, creams, and leave-ins are available, so you may need to experiment to discover the right one for your hair.
The sequence in which you apply the oil and the cream may also affect how long the moisture lasts on your hair.
Why Does My Hair Dry So Slow?
Your hair’s porosity, the products you use, and the surrounding environment are probably the biggest contributors to its slow drying time. These variables will be discussed in further depth in the next section.
Low Porosity Hair
Does low porosity hair dry fast or slow? The cuticles of low-porosity hair are packed so tightly that water has difficulty entering them. However, once the water is inside, it may be even more difficult to exit. If you have low porosity hair, you may find that it dries more slowly than usual.
High Porosity Hair
Water may easily penetrate the cuticles and enter the open pores of high-porosity hair. This indicates that water may freely enter and leave each hair strand.
High porosity hair may retain more water than low porosity hair can per strand, but not as much as low porosity hair. Since of this, high porosity hair may take longer to dry than low porosity hair because there is more water to evaporate.
Thick Or High-Density Hair
Drying time might be significantly longer for those with thick or dense hair. The thicker and denser your hair is, the more water it can contain. Therefore drying time increases proportionally with the amount of hair you have.
Hair Products
The time it takes for your hair to dry is affected by the items you use. Humectants (found in honey and glycerin) can attract moisture from the air and draw it into your hair. Oils and butter, however, leave a thick layer of protection on your hair, preventing any moisture from escaping.
Environmental Factors
When the humidity level is high, drying time might be prolonged. Air drying allows water in your hair to evaporate into the air. With higher humidity, less of your hair’s natural moisture will be lost to evaporation.
It’s also possible for your hair to absorb moisture from the air and become much more wet than it already is. Therefore, you may find that it takes longer for your hair to dry on days when the humidity is high.
Who knew the rate at which your hair dries was related to its porosity?
Low porosity hair isn’t horrible if you don’t want to cope with a complex hair care routine. Water-repellent hair might still benefit from using humectant- or emollient-rich treatments to restore shine. Maintaining a healthy moisture level in your hair is not always easy. Once you learn how to care for your hair properly, you’ll see that the investment was well worth it. You may be interested to read about do you put toner on wet or dry hair?
