Everything You Need To Know About Low Porosity Hair & Protein

​Confused about whether you can use protein on your low porosity hair or not?

​Here's the real answer to the protein and low porosity hair dilemma.

​Does low porosity hair like protein? It's a question that leaves many naturals in a tizzy, especially when you know your hair is breaking - but think you might be protein sensitive too.

If you're wondering what your options are, this article covers everything from whether it's safe to use protein on low porosity hair, to what kinds of proteins are available, and what to do if you have protein sensitive hair.

​Can low porosity hair use protein?

It depends, but generally the answer is yes.
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Proteins work best when they can bind to your hair's surface. The more negative your hair's surface is (i.e., the more damaged it is) the easier it will be for protein to bind. So if your hair has enough damage or negative sites, then proteins can work on your hair - even if the porosity is really low.

Does low porosity hair need protein?

Most protein conditioners are designed to work by filling in gaps in your hair caused by damage. If there aren't any gaps - say on really healthy low porosity hair or hair that's already had its fill of protein - that could leave a lot of excess protein just sitting on your hair's surface. In that scenario, your  low porosity hair wouldn't need the protein for strength and the buildup would just leave it feeling brittle.
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For medium and high porosity hair, protein conditioners are less likely to cause that kind of brittleness. High porosity hair in particular is prone to damage, which makes its surface more able to accept protein.

Low porosity hair needs protein if it's colour-treated or damaged. Image by Ronise da Luz.

​Low porosity hair is often perceived as healthier, because of its famed capacity to retain moisture, but is it really so strong that it doesn't get damaged?

It's not. General grooming like combing or brushing, as well as colouring your hair, excess heat, relaxers or other chemicals undo a lot of the moisture-locking benefits of being born with lower porosity hair.

And if you have extremely low porosity hair, your hair actually lacks that famous low porosity moisture capacity. With shut-tight cuticles that often repel water, super low porosity hair struggles to hold onto moisture. It's naturally more prone to dryness, and, as a result, damage.

​Damaged low porosity hair can benefit from proteins just like damaged medium or high porosity hair. If that's your hair right now, then it really does need protein (or a good protein alternative) to help strengthen it and shield it from further breakage.

​So don't rule out protein just because your low porosity hair tends to resist protein when it's in good condition. When you're dealing with damaged low porosity hair, there are more sites on the hair's surface that have the negative charge necessary to bind proteins properly. This will usually allow your hair to get the strengthening benefits out of a protein conditioner.
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When does low porosity hair need protein?

If you notice breakage at the ends or a drop in your hair's elasticity, that's a clear sign that your hair could do with some protein.

If your damage is low, you can create a once-a-month protein treatment regimen, to protect your hair from further breakage. Or, you can time your protein sessions to match occasions when your hair is particularly sensitised, like after swimming, colouring or heatstyling your hair.
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Colouring your hair increases its porosity and the need for protein treatments. Image by Daniel Bounliane.

​If you have serious breakage, you'll need something more intense and frequent. Use a strong protein deep conditioner, use La Aplanadora Treatment in a weekly treatment series, over 3 weeks, to stop the damage in its tracks. After this, switch to a monthly high-protein treatment regime, with weekly moisture treatments in between, to maintain your hair's strength.
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Is low porosity hair protein sensitive?

Nobody's hair is inherently protein sensitive. After all, hair itself is made mostly of protein. The most common reason for protein sensitivity isn't porosity: it's overuse of protein conditioners, which creates an excess of protein on the hair's surface.

This is usually easy to fix: just clarify with a deep-cleansing shampoo use atrActiva Anti-Stress, and follow it up with a strong moisturising conditioner to restore some flexibility to your strands.

That said, even when protein is used in moderation, some hair is just less likely to allow additional proteins to bind to its surface than others. And that hair tends to be low porosity hair. The cause? It's most likely the resistant surface on low-po hair, formed of more densely packed cuticle layers, with a higher than usual scale angle.

Having a surface that rejects most products makes low porosity hair prone to buildup. It's a problem with protein conditioners in particular, which need to bind to the hair's surface to actually work. If not, they just become debris on the cuticle surface - debris that makes your hair brittle and dry, the hallmarks of protein sensitivity.

And remember: proteins typically add strength by making your hair stiffer. Low porosity hair's cuticle structure tends to make it stiffer by nature, which can make the stiffening effect that many protein conditioners have more dramatic. The brittleness this causes is technically a sign of protein sensitivity, but it doesn't mean you must rule out proteins entirely.

What if after protein my low porosity hair feels like straw?

Most likely you've used protein too often, you have other buildup on your hair, or you haven't been hydrating enough, so your protein-moisture balance is off.

The formulation of your protein conditioner or treatment matters, too. If the three reasons above don't apply to you, and you still notice a strawlike feeling right after using a certain protein conditioner, sometimes it might not be due to the protein in there per se, but the overall formula.

​Protein isn't the only thing that can make your hair feel brittle; several other ingredients or combinations of ingredients can, too. That's why choosing your treatment carefully, to ensure it's compatible with your low porosity hair is so important. 
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And there's another reason your hair can feel rough after protein: your texture. If you have large, coarse strands, then they can feel extremely stiff after protein because the treatments just add to your hair's natural stiffness. This doesn't mean you're protein sensitive, but it does mean you need to re-think the way you use proteins on your hair.

Super low porosity hair is more prone to protein sensitivity. Image by Sabrina Kennelly.

​There are three main ways to deal if your hair feels like straw after protein.

For all three, you should steer clear of protein for a few washes. The next time you shampoo, use a deep cleansing shampoo and follow up with a hydrating treatment. Then, when you return to protein, try one of the following methods to avoid the straw-like effect:

Option 1: Follow your protein treatment up immediately with a strong moisture-only atrActiva Multivitamin treatment to shift the protein-moisture balance towards the moisture side.

Option 2:  Blend your protein treatment and moisturizing treatment in your hands before applying them to your hair.  Experiment with different protein-to-moisture ratios till you find what works best for you.

Option 3: Use a moderate instead of a high protein treatment. Halka Baba de Caracol Treatment is a good example of this. Layered over its matching conditioner, it's so softening and silkening it feels more like a pure moisturizing treatment than a protein treatment.

What type of protein treatment should I use on low porosity hair?

Low porosity hair does best with hydrolysed proteins. These are proteins that have undergone a process which breaks them up into little pieces, small enough to fit into the little gaps in your strands where you need them most. Hydrolysed proteins also tend to have a charge that makes them more attracted to your hair.

If you have super low porosity hair, then DIY protein treatments like eggs or mayonnaise, which contain the whole protein and work by creating a thick seal over your hair's surface (rather than binding to the cuticle) are more likely to harm than help. 
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As these proteins haven't been hydrolysed, they're too large to really get to work on the specific areas of your strand that need them most, and their coating effect is too much like buildup for really low porosity hair. The extra stiffness from using them can actually make your hair more prone to breakage, even though other porosity types swear by them.

When hydrolysed, collagen is often used as a protein in hair and skin treatments. Image by Jason Goh.

​When it comes to the hydrolysed proteins, many people have favourites: some prefer keratins, others like wheat protein, and still others swear by silk protein or even its amino acids.

But the most important factor isn't the protein source; it's the overall formulation.

On low porosity hair, you need a formula that uses its protein content to strengthen your hair, without blocking the entry of moisture - whether that moisture is in the conditioner itself, in other products you use afterwards, or the water you use to rinse out your hair. While protein has a huge role in maintaining your hair's strength, moisture's role is even bigger.

That need for moisture rules out overly dense, coating treatments that are too full of fillers which have no affinity to your hair, even if they do contain the right, hydrolysed proteins. Instead go for rich, creamy, water-based, non-oily treatments that deliver high levels of hydration alongside protein power.

​Here are a few protein treatments based on different protein sources that also deliver moisture your hair needs:

​La Aplanadora Treatment

This strong protein treatment uses keratin hydrolysates to strengthen your hair, while adding penetrating moisture and detangling you'd never expect to see in an intensive protein treatment.

You can use La Aplanadora Treatment as  an all-in-one protein and moisture treatment to maintain your protein-moisture balance on most textures. If your hair is prone to stiffness, then either mix it or follow it up with a pure moisture treatment.
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BPT Wheat Germ Treatment

Hydrolysed wheat protein provides the strength in this simple but powerful treatment. Use it to make your curls spring back after straightening with heat. Like La Aplanadora Treatment, it can be used with or without a moisture treatment. It's very intense so should be used up to 3 weeks in a row before switching to moisture.
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Halka Baba de Caracol Treatment

This is a moderate protein treatment that blends hydrolysed collagen and elastin with its star ingredient, 'baba de caracol'. Because it's a very softening treatment, when paired with the Baba de Caracol Conditioner, you can use it multiple times in a row without stiffness.
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All of these protein treatments work on low porosity hair, including the super low porosity hair that dominates the 4c category.

What can I use instead of a protein treatment if my hair is protein sensitive?

If you're just coming off some major protein overuse, or are generally protein sensitive, then try atrActiva Keratin Rich Conditioner. Formulated as a strengthening alternative for low porosity, protein sensitive hair, it ups your hair's flexibility and integrity without adding proteins to its surface.

The strengthening boost is not as dramatic as you'd get from La Aplanadora or BPT Wheat Germ Treatment. Instead, over time, it builds flexibility into your hair, slowly making it stronger and stronger, without the stiffness protein treatments can bring.

​atrActiva Keratin Rich is based on strengthening ceramides - you can find out about them and other non-protein ingredients that also strengthen your hair here.