How to Choose the Right Hair Routine for You

Key Takeaways

• Hair porosity is your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture - and it determines which products actually work for you.
• There are three types: low porosity (tight cuticle, repels moisture), medium porosity (balanced, easiest to manage), and high porosity (open cuticle, absorbs and loses moisture quickly).
• You can test your porosity at home in minutes with a glass of water and a strand of hair.
• Low porosity hair needs lightweight products and heat to help ingredients absorb. Heavy oils and butters will sit on the surface and cause buildup.
• Medium porosity hair is the most straightforward - it responds well to most products and just needs consistency.
• High porosity hair needs rich, sealing ingredients to lock in moisture and reduce breakage. It loses moisture as quickly as it absorbs it.
• The same Ayurvedic ingredients - Amla, Bhringraj, Rosemary - work across all porosity types, just applied differently.
• A consistent hair care routine tailored to your porosity will always outperform expensive products used the wrong way.

You've found a product that everyone raves about. You try it - and it does absolutely nothing. Or worse, it makes your hair feel heavy, greasy, or even drier than before. This is one of the most frustrating experiences in haircare, and it happens constantly.

The reason? Most of us build our hair care routine based on hair type (curly, straight, fine, thick) - but the more useful thing to understand is hair porosity. It's the single biggest factor in determining which products work, how to apply them, and what your hair actually needs to thrive.

Here's how to figure out yours - and exactly which hair caring products and routines to use.

The Science Bit

Your hair is made up of three layers. The outermost one - the cuticle - is what determines porosity. Think of it like roof tiles on a house. When those tiles lie flat and close together, very little gets in or out. When they're lifted or damaged, everything rushes in and out freely.

Porosity is your hair's ability to absorb and retain moisture - controlled entirely by how open or closed those cuticle scales are. Low porosity hair has tightly closed cuticles that resist moisture. High porosity hair has open or damaged cuticles that absorb moisture quickly but lose it just as fast. Medium porosity sits in the sweet spot between the two.

Porosity is partly genetic - it's simply how your hair grew - but it can also be affected by heat styling, chemical treatments, bleaching, and environmental damage. It's also worth knowing that porosity can vary along the same strand: roots that have never been processed might be low porosity, while ends that have seen years of heat and colour might be high porosity. If that's the case, always treat your hair for the highest porosity level you have.

How to Test Your Hair Porosity at Home

The float test (most reliable): Take a clean, dry strand of hair from your brush or comb - not directly from your scalp. Drop it into a glass of room temperature water and watch what happens over the next few minutes.

• Floats at the top → low porosity
• Hovers in the middle → medium porosity
• Sinks to the bottom → high porosity

The spray test: Mist a small section of clean hair with water and watch how it reacts. If the water beads on the surface, you likely have low porosity. If it soaks in almost instantly, high porosity is more likely.

The finger test: Run your fingers along a strand from tip to root. If it feels smooth, the cuticle is lying flat - low porosity. If it feels bumpy or rough, the cuticle is raised - high porosity.

Key Factor 1: Low Porosity Hair - What It Is and What It Needs

Low porosity hair has a tightly packed cuticle layer that makes it difficult for moisture to penetrate. Products tend to sit on the surface rather than absorb, which causes build-up and that frustrating feeling of hair that looks shiny but feels heavy or coated. It can also be surprisingly prone to frizz, because when moisture can't get in, hair looks for it from the air instead.

What it needs: Lightweight products that don't add to surface build-up, and - crucially - heat to help open the cuticle so ingredients can actually get in. Applying products to warm, damp hair (or using a warm towel wrap during treatments) makes a significant difference for low porosity hair.

Ingredients that work:

• Aloe vera - lightweight, water-based, and one of the few things that can genuinely penetrate a tight cuticle
• Amla - rich in Vitamin C and lightweight enough to absorb rather than sit on the surface
• Rosemary oil - a light but effective oil that supports scalp circulation and follicle health without weighing hair down
• Humectants like glycerin - draw moisture into the hair shaft from the environment

Ingredients to avoid:

• Heavy butters (shea butter, mango butter) applied to the hair - great for the scalp, but will coat the surface of low porosity strands rather than absorb
• Thick, heavy oils applied in large amounts - coconut oil is a classic culprit
• Too many products layered at once - build-up is the enemy of low porosity hair

The shampoo for low porosity hair: Clarifying or gentle shampoos that remove build-up without stripping. Our Rich Roots Shampoo - built around Indian Soapnut, Amla, and Shikakai - is brilliant here. It cleanses effectively without leaving residue that compounds build-up, making it the ideal shampoo for low porosity hair.

Hair oil for low porosity hair: Use our Rich Roots Hair Oil sparingly, applied to the scalp and lower lengths only, on warm damp hair. Warming a few drops between your palms before applying helps it absorb more effectively. Focus the oil on the scalp rather than coating the lengths, and use heat - a warm towel or a few minutes under a shower cap - during the treatment to help the cuticle open.

Key Factor 2: Medium Porosity Hair - What It Is and What It Needs

Medium porosity hair is the most balanced of the three. The cuticle is slightly raised rather than tightly closed, which means moisture absorbs and stays in at a healthy rate. It's generally the easiest hair type to manage, responds well to most products, and doesn't need as much troubleshooting.

That said, it still needs consistency. Medium porosity hair can shift toward high porosity over time with repeated heat styling, colouring, or chemical processing - so protecting and maintaining it is the name of the game.

What it needs: A consistent, balanced hair care routine. Not too heavy, not too light. Regular moisture and protein to maintain the cuticle structure over time.

Ingredients that work:

• Bhringraj - reduces inflammation, supports follicle health, and is a cornerstone of Ayurvedic good hair growth products
• Argan oil - nourishes without overwhelming, adds shine and softness, and protects the cuticle from damage
• Sweet almond oil - lightweight conditioning that works well on medium porosity without causing build-up
• Amla - strengthens the follicle and adds shine

Ingredients to avoid:

• Overuse of protein treatments - medium porosity hair can become brittle if protein is overdone
• Excessive heat without protection

The hair care routine: Our Rich Roots full routine works beautifully for medium porosity hair. Pre-wash oil treatment with the Rich Roots Hair Oil once or twice a week, the Rich Roots Shampoo, followed by the Rich Roots Conditioner, and the Rich Roots 3-in-1 Hair Mask once a week. Finish with the Rich Roots 5-in-1 Hair Oil Mist after washing to add shine and protect.

Key Factor 3: High Porosity Hair - What It Is and What It Needs

High porosity hair has a raised or damaged cuticle layer - either from genetics or from heat styling, bleaching, chemical treatments, or environmental damage. It absorbs moisture quickly, but loses it just as fast. The result is hair that tends to be frizzy, dry, prone to tangling, and that never quite seems to hold onto moisture no matter what you use.

Colour-treated hair is very often high porosity - colour processing lifts the cuticle, and repeated treatments compound the damage over time.

What it needs: Rich, sealing ingredients that lock moisture in after it's absorbed. The goal is to fill in the gaps in the cuticle and create a protective layer that slows moisture loss. Deep conditioning treatments are particularly effective for high porosity hair.

Ingredients that work:

• Shea butter - one of the best sealing ingredients for high porosity hair, rich in fatty acids that fill gaps in the cuticle
• Argan oil - deeply nourishing and excellent for sealing moisture and reducing breakage
• Sesame seed oil - a traditional Ayurvedic oil that penetrates deeply and strengthens the hair shaft
• Bhringraj - reduces the scalp inflammation that often accompanies damaged, high porosity hair
• Protein-rich ingredients - help temporarily repair and strengthen a damaged cuticle structure

Ingredients to avoid:

• Very lightweight, water-based-only products - they'll absorb and evaporate quickly without anything to seal them in
• Excessive heat styling - the cuticle is already damaged; more heat compounds the problem

The hair caring products: High porosity hair benefits most from our Rich Roots 3-in-1 Hair Mask used weekly as a 30-minute pre-wash deep treatment - it's where you'll notice the biggest difference. Our Rich Roots Hair Oil applied generously to damp hair before washing seals and nourishes effectively. This is where heavier application of the oil genuinely earns its place as one of the best hair products for high porosity hair.

The Bottom Line

All three routines use the same core products - the difference is in how much, how often, and how you apply them. That's the beauty of a range built around Ayurvedic ingredients that work with your hair's biology rather than against it. Understanding your porosity isn't about complicating your routine - it's about making it work properly for the first time.

Take the test, find your type, and give your hair what it actually needs.