The 20 Best Low Porosity Hair Products for Healthier, Shinier Strands
Enhancing your hair care routine with products that support your hair’s porosity and moisture retention levels will not only help improve their efficacy, but also help you achieve stronger, shinier and overall healthier strands. For those with low porosity hair, meaning that your hair’s natural structure gives your hair shaft a harder time absorbing moisture and oil from the cuticle, crafting a regimen around intensely conditioning and nourishing products will improve your hair’s hydration delivery and moisture retention for enhanced volume and manageability.
When shopping for the best low porosity hair products, opt for lightweight formulas that contain emollients that are easily penetrable such as honey, glycerin, aloe vera, flaxseed gel and panthenol (vitamin B5). Doing so will prevent buildup and residue from weighing down your strands and instead, promote even hydration from your roots down to your ends. Products that contain amino acids and other forms of hair-healthy proteins will help encourage water retention while also performing essential damage and breakage repair.
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Aside from shampoo, conditioner and leave-in conditioners, a healthy low porosity hair care routine should also include treatments and styling products. In fact, some of the best low porosity hair products include hair masks, deep-conditioning treatments, gels and mousses, which are essential for boosting moisture, supporting your natural curl pattern, taming frizz and adding definition.
Ready for more good hair days? Below, explore the best low porosity hair products that will fill any holes in your hair routine and deliver smoother, shinier and softer strands.
Best Shampoos and Conditioners for Low Porosity Hair
Maui Moisture Lightweight Hydration + Hibiscus Water Shampoo
Designed to gently cleanse away dirt, oil and impurities without stripping your scalp and hair of their essential oils, the Maui Moisture Lightweight Hydration + Hibiscus Water Shampoo infuses low-porosity strands with lasting moisture without weighing it down or hindering your natural curl pattern. Combining aloe vera juice and coconut water also allows this top-rated shampoo to soothe and seal split ends for healthier, shinier hair.
Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-Exfoliating Shampoo
Perfect for removing buildup and reducing dryness and flakiness, the Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-Exfoliating Shampoo detoxifies, exfoliates and rebalances your scalp using a blend of charcoal, peppermint oil and tea tree oil. To ensure proper nourishment, it also delivers a healthy dose of hydration courtesy of coconut oil, which also helps to heal damage in the hair shaft and protect it from breakage.
Be Care Love SuperFoods Frizz Control Shampoo & Conditioner Duo
Enriched with a nourishing blend of papaya and shea butters, the Be Care Love SuperFoods Frizz Control Shampoo & Conditioner Duo promotes sleeker, shinier and more manageable strands with its deeply hydrating formula. In addition to combating frizz, flyaways and static, this duo also strengthens and repairs damaged hair using flax seed protein and vitamin B5.
Carol’s Daughter Monoi Repairing Conditioner
Anchored with vitamin-rich monoi oil for optimal hair nourishment and repair, Carol’s Daughter Monoi Repairing Conditioner revitalizes fine, damaged and chemically treated hair by delivering a wave of restorative and lasting moisture. It’s also formulated with bamboo water and pro-vitamin B5, which give your strands an extra defense against breakage and damage while supporting softer, smoother tresses.
Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hydrating Calming Conditioner
Helping your hair achieve balance with its nourishing and nutrient-enriched formula, the Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Hydrating Calming Conditioner pampers dry, overworked, color-treated hair to a rejuvenating blend of botanicals that boost moisture and shine. This lightweight conditioner also works as a frizz-smoothing solution and antioxidant shield against free radicals.
Pattern Intensive Conditioner for Tight Textures
Expertly crafted to cater to the moisturizing needs of 4B and 4C curl types, the Pattern Beauty Intensive Conditioner for Tight Textures ensures the hydration of your hair from cuticle to the shaft using a low porosity-approved blend of avocado oil, shea butter, safflower oil and acacia decurrens flower. Together, these ingredients repair breakage and build your hair’s defense against damage, restoring and supporting your curls’ natural texture and pattern in the process.
Best Leave-in Conditioners and Oils for Low Porosity Hair
Camille Rose Curl Love Moisture Milk
Enriched with a hair-softening combination of macadamia seed oil, slippery elm milk, rice milk and vitamins A, B12 and D, the Camille Rose Curl Love Moisture Milk blankets your strands in lightweight, lasting hydration while sealing breakage and smoothing frizz.
Aunt Jackie’s Quench Moisture Intensive Leave-in Conditioner
Designed to deliver deep moisture to dry curls, coils and waves, Aunt Jackie’s Quench Moisture Intensive Leave-in Conditioner instantly quenches parched strands while simultaneously giving your hair more bounce, shine and smoothness.
Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner/Detangler
Formulated with moisture-boosting botanicals, the Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner/Detangler improves the manageability of curly hair with its tangle-fighting formula, which also locks in hydration and smooths the cuticle so you can enjoy more good hair days.
Softsheen-Carson Care Free Curl Gold Instant Activator
Created to reactivate your natural curl pattern, the Softsheen-Carson Care Free Curl Gold Instant Activator adds definition to your curls to promote shinier, smoother and bouncier curls. Residue-free, weightless and lightweight, this top-rated leave-in conditioner also doubles as a detangler as well.
Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil
Powered by a highly concentrated moringa and sunflower seed oils formula, the Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil infuses deep moisture and nourishment into your strands, repairing breakage and imparting a lustrous sheen and vibrancy. Not only does it fight frizz and flyaways in all hair types, it can also be used as a heat-protectant oil to keep your hair safe from up to 450 degrees of heat.
Best Hair Masks and Deep-conditioning Treatments for Low Porosity Hair
Carol’s Daughter Almond Milk Ultra-Nourishing Mask
Give your breakage-prone, over-processed hair some TLC with Carol’s Daughter Almond Milk Ultra-Nourishing Mask, an intensely hydrating and damage-repairing treatment that nourishes your strands with vitamin-rich ingredients. Comprised of almond milk, aloe butter and shea oil, this top-rated hair mask quenches dryness, strengthens brittleness, brightens dullness and smooths frizz for shinier, softer and healthier curls.
Ouidad Curl Immersion Triple Treat Deep Conditioner
Carefully engineered to deeply hydrate without weighing down curly hair, the Ouidad Curl Immersion Triple Treat Deep Conditioner reactivates, redefines and defrizzes your coils using a hair-healthy blend of coconut, avocado and grapeseed oils, which penetrate deep into the cuticle to ensure rich, lasting moisture from your roots down to your ends.
Bomba Curls Dominican Forbidden Hair Mask
Combining the hydrating benefits of a deep-conditioning treatment with the strengthening benefits of a hair mask, the Bomba Curls Dominican Forbidden Hair Mask gets deep into the cuticle to ensure that your follicles are receiving the proper nourishment and moisture in order to encourage healthier, stronger strands. Formulated with botanically derived ingredients such as cinnamon, pistachio oil and cupuacu butter, this top-rated hair mask encourages hair growth and supports your natural curl pattern to boost elasticity, definition and shine.
Jessicurl Deep Conditioning Treatment
Designed to restore hydration to dry curls without weighing down or creating buildup, the Jessicurl Deep Conditioning Treatment revives your hair with nourishing shea butter, avocado oil, cocoa seed butter and other softening, sheen-boosting emollients to strengthen, moisturize, repair and rejuvenate thirsty, damaged and frizzy strands.
Best Styling Products for Low Porosity Hair
Vernon François Nourishing Hair Mist
Replenish and reactivate your curls with the Vernon François Nourishing Hair Mist, a lightweight, vitamin-rich refresher spray that gently mists hair-healthy botanicals and amino acids directly to your strands. Formulated with plant-based ingredients and free of parabens, silicones and sulfates, this top-rated hair mist revitalizes lackluster curls by taming frizz, increasing hydration, enhancing shine and protecting your hair from damage. Use it on its own to refresh tired curls or pre-styling to improve the results of your hair dryer, straightener or curling iron.
Curls The Ultimate B Defined Curl Defining Gel
Offering a medium, weightless hold, Curls’ The Ultimate B Defined Curl Defining Gel enhances your styling routine with its quinoa-enriched formula, which is rich in amino acids and other hair-strengthening vitamins and minerals. So, not only does this fan-favorite gel create bouncy, lively and elastic curls but it also nourishes and protects them from damage as well.
Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie
Using neem oil, shea butter and coconut oil to create a non-greasy hold for thick, curly hair types, the Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie adds definition, volume and bounce while taming frizz and increasing moisture, shine and softness.
Eden BodyWorks Curl Defining Creme
Keep your curls locked and loaded without feeling crunchy, sticky or greasy with the Eden BodyWorks Curl Defining Creme, a coconut oil and shea butter-infused medium-hold gel that delivers rich, lasting moisture as it defines, volumizes and defrizzes.
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