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Hair porosity is one of the most important factors when it comes to how a hair behaves and functions. How porous your hair is can influence everything from how easily the hair can be styled to how much moisture and hydration the hair strand can retain. And yet, hair porosity remains a rather misunderstood concept, with articles few and far between. So what exactly is hair porosity? In simple terms, hair porosity describes how tightly packed the outer cuticle layer of your hair is. The average cuticle layer is loosely packed, with small pockets allowing for moisture to pass into the hair strand to be absorbed by the inner layers. However, some hair types have extremely tight cuticle layers, which prevents moisture from getting into the hair strand. As a result, low-porosity hair is not only extremely susceptible to dryness and dehydration, but it can also become greasy and oily when one tries to moisturize the dry hair, as the oil pools at the surface as opposed to absorbing. Thankfully, there are a handful of oils that are perfect for low-porosity hair. If you have low-porosity hair, keep these oils on hand to keep your hair looking sleek and moisturized! Jojoba Oil If you have low-porosity hair, you’re probably far too familiar with oils that pool up on the cuticle and scalp, leaving you a greasy, messy mess. Jojoba oil, on the other hand, is considered the closest oil to our natural hair sebum, which makes it a lightweight, deeply penetrative oil that keeps the hair as hydrated as naturally as possible. Argan Oil One of the richest oils available, argan oil is so effective at keeping the hair moisturized and hydrated that it creates a protective coating around the hair strand, allowing the hair to remain moist and sleek until it has been washed off. Add some argan oil in winter for an extremely protective treatment to prevent excessive dryness. Sweet Almond Oil For an oil that is easily absorbed by the hair strand and can easily penetrate the tight cuticle layer, you can’t do much better than sweet almond oil! This oil’s low molecular weight allows it to penetrate tighter cuticle layers much more effectively than other oils. As a result, this oil can intensely moisturize even the least porous of hair types. Baobab Oil Taken from the baobab tree, this oil is incredibly rich and intensely moisturizing, allowing it to provide a massive boost of hydration to even the driest of hair types. Even better, this oil is chock-full of fatty acids and vitamins, allowing it to enhance the hair health, prevent breakage, and promote shine and softness.  

Hair can make or break one’s look, and few things can do more to upgrade any look than big, bouncy curls that beautifully frame the face while adding a fun, carefree edge. However, if your hair is naturally straight, it can be a bit difficult to truly create those long-lasting curls we all desire. Follow our steps below for the best curls of your life, and you’ll be an expert at hair curling in no time!  Step One: Apply Heat Protectant Heat protectant spray is a must whenever using a heat styling tool, but especially when one is trying to create curls. Too much direct heat can be extremely damaging and drying on the hair strand, and the process of curling one’s hair requires extended heat application. When combined with the twisting and amount of manipulation required to alter the hair strand, it’s imperative that you first pre-apply a moisturizing spray that can prevent moisture loss while also providing a small barrier from the heat of the curling iron. One particularly effective product is Sutra’s Heat Protector, which includes argan oil, panthenol, and quinoa extract for a product that nourishes and enhances hair health while also offering strong heat protection.   Step Two: Secure Sections with Hair Clips With the hair properly treated with a heat protecting spray, the next step is to section off your hair to prepare for the curling process. It’s important to work section by section as you curl your hair, but this process can be quite difficult if you have long and/or thick hair to work with. Thankfully, a quality hair clip can help free up your hands while keeping sections of your hair tucked away while you curl on other portions of your hair. Sutra’s Hair Crane Clips are a great option, as they firmly yet gently secure sections of the hair thanks to a premium double-hinged arm design. To use, part the hair vertically and grab the back portion of hair behind your head, then clip with the crane clip. Continue doing this until you have 1-to-2-inch sections of hair unclipped on your left and right sides of your face. Step Three: Use a Curling Iron Now for the final step, the curling process. To begin, you’ll need to make sure you have a high-quality curling iron tool, like Sutra’s Infrared Curling Iron, which utilizes infrared heat to evenly and gently apply heat to the hair strand to prevent moisture loss and damage. With your hair sectioned off, grab one section of hair and open the clamp of the curling iron as it faces upwards. Open the clamp slide the section of hair in it, releasing the clamp halfway through. Then, curl the clamped section of hair way from the face, holding for 5 seconds and then releasing. Move on to the next section of hair, continuing as desired until your hair is beautifully curled!

We’ve repeated over and over again the importance of matching your hair care routine with your specific hair type, whether it be finding a style that complements your hair type or a styling tool that provides the perfect amount of heat. This may shock you, but hair ties are also meant to be specific to each hair type as well! Read below and find the perfect hair tie for your hair type. Coily or Curly Hair: Spiral Hair Coils It’s no secret that coily or curly hair can be the most difficult hair type to maintain and keep organized and neat. Not only does this hair twist and turn in every direction and become easily snagged and tangled, those with curly or coiled hair are all too familiar with how fragile and prone to breakage these hair strands are. For these hair types, you’ll want to choose a spiral-shaped hair coil like this one from Kitsch. The phone cord shaped design is thick and rigid enough to hold curly hair in place while the coil shape easily blends in with a coiled hair pattern. Chemically Treated Hair: Silk Scrunchie For those who have chemically treated their hair, whether it be with a color treatment or a hair relaxer, you need to take extra caution with your hair tie of choice. Chemically treated hair is exceptionally fragile and porous, making it a prime candidate for easy breakage and split ends. The key here is to be as gentle and frictionless as possible with your hair tie, which makes a silk scrunchie like this one from Lily Silk a perfect option. The loose structure of the scrunchie provides a way to contain the hair without offering too much tugging or pulling, while the silk material creates a frictionless surface that prevents the hair from excessively rubbing and breaking.  Thick, Long Hair: Bungee Cord Tie If you have a long, thick mane of hair, you’ll need something a bit more heavy duty when it comes to keeping your hair tied and pulled back. A simple hair tie or scrunchie will prove no match for those with extremely thick hair, which means you’ll need to pull out the big guns. Enter the bungee hair tie, which is essentially a miniature bungee cord that you tie around your hair to safely and securely hold the hair in place while allowing for flexibility and stretch. This bungee tie bundle by Hotop offers multiple color options to blend in with all kinds of hair colors. Thin, Fine Hair: Hair Ribbon When it comes to thin, fine hair, you’ll want to use a hair tie that is wide enough to gather as many of your fine hairs as possible while being smooth and soft enough to avoid causing friction, which leads to the breakdown of the outer cuticle layer and can cause further dryness and hair breakage. With this hair type, a wide hair ribbon like this one from Kenz Laurenz makes a fantastic option to secure even the finest of hair types.  

Who hasn’t seen a movie or tv show where a character takes a tropical vacation to some humid climate and her hair explodes into a frizzy, weightless mess? For many of us, this comedic scene is all too real, with many of us suffering the effects of “humidity hair” when encountering a humid climate. While taking in the warm, tropical views of our travel destination, you may be shocked and a bit taken aback to notice your hair no longer looks like, well, your hair! With your normally flat, straight hair becoming more textured and dry or your curly, wavy hair becoming a massive beehive, it can be totally frustrating to try and deal with hair that no longer looks and behaves as usual. Thankfully, we’re here to bring clarity to this confusing condition as well as give you an action plan to prevent and treat humidity hair! Understanding The Hair’s Hydrogen Bonds In order to understand why humidity has such a profound effect on hair, it’s important to first understand the physical and chemical makeup of the hair strand itself. You see, hair is made up of the protein known as keratin, which also makes up our skin and nails. These keratin protein molecules are bonded together by two types of bonds: disulfide bonds and hydrogen bonds. Disulfide bonds are permanent and extremely difficult to break without intense chemical and/or physical treatments. However, hydrogen bonds are much weaker and more temporary in structure, breaking down every time they make contact with water and then rebuilding once the hair dries. This is why dry hair seems to be stuck in place when it comes to shape and texture, but after wetting it with water it is easier to style and reorganize, as you are resetting the hydrogen bonds of the hair and allowing the bonds to be rebuilt and fixed with the hair in a new shape and position. Humidity and Hydrogen Bonds Now that you understand the process by which hydrogen bonds break and rebuild themselves, you have a better understanding of how humid, water-rich air interacts with these same hydrogen bonds. When air is more humid, there are more water molecules floating in the air, and these molecules make contact with the hydrogen bonds in the hair, causing them to break. When these bonds break, the shape and structure that you set your hair when styling becomes reset, so to speak, causing the hair to be loose and unmanageable. Additionally, wet hair absorbs moisture like a sponge, causing it to swell and expand, making your hair look “bigger”. Treating and Preventing Humidity Hair With an understanding of how humidity hair works, you are on your way to preventing and treating this annoying occurrence! Here’s some key steps to keeping things under control when encountering a humid environment: Make sure your hair is completely dry when you step out into the open air, as still-damp hair will unravel far quicker than dry hair. Before entering the humid environment, make sure to seal the cuticle with an oil-rich serum or hair oil blend that prevents the cuticle from opening and allowing for swelling and hydrogen bond breakage. If all else fails, wear your hair in an updo or ponytail style for complete peace of mind, keeping it tied back and restrained to prevent the constant worry of untamable frizz!

Hair masks are one of the absolute best ways to dramatically boost your hair’s health and moisture levels in an incredibly short period of time. Whether your hair is going through a dry spell or you’re recovering from an intense chemical treatment, a hair mask can be the perfect weapon in your arsenal for flawless, runway-worthy hair.    Recently, the DIY hair care craze has taken off, with many hair care enthusiasts seeking the practical simplicity of all-natural ingredients while being able to tailor the hair mask to his or her hair by picking and choosing ingredients that are compatible for the given hair type. Read some of our favorite recipes below and find one for your hair type and hair needs! Dry Hair DIY Mask   For dry, frizzy hair that absolutely craves moisture and hydration, you’ll want something that will both deeply penetrate the hair for hydration while also coating the outer layer to seal in the cuticle to lock in moisture. Two exceptional, all-natural oils for this hair mask include coconut oil, which is an incredibly rich oil that coats the hair strand exceptionally well while deeply penetrating the hair shaft, along with olive oil, which is an incredibly rich oil that fills in the cracks of the cuticle to add softness and shine. Lastly, pure avocado infuses the hair with fatty acids and minerals to dramatically boost hair health while sealing split ends and taming frizz. 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil ½ an Avocado Mash the avocado in a bowl and mix in a bowl with the oils. Apply to hair for 20 minutes and rinse with water.   Scalp Healing DIY Mask When it comes to fixing scalp issues including dandruff, dermatitis, and inflammation, you’ll want to use ingredients that booth soothe and heal the scalp while also regulating oil production and preventing excess grease and buildup. Apple cider vinegar does an incredible job at lowering the pH of the scalp to prevent dryness and irritation while also acting as a potent antifungal and antibacterial ingredient. Jojoba oil, with its chemical similarities to human sebum, helps to regulate oil production of the scalp, while additional essential oils act as anti-inflammatory ingredients to calm scalp irritation. 1 Tablespoon Jojoba Oil 1 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar 5 Drops Rosemary Oil 5 Drops Eucalyptus Oil Mix the ingredients in a dropper bottle and apply to the hair from root to tip, allowing to sit for forty minutes before rinsing.   Damage Repair DIY Mask After your hair has been damaged from excessive heat styling or a harsh chemical treatment, you’ll want to make sure you both ensure the optimal moisturization of the hair as well as infuse the hair with ingredients to maximize the hair’s natural repair process. The first ingredient to boost your hair health is a raw egg yolk, which is rich in protein, vitamins A and E, and biotin, all of which provide crucial building blocks for healthy hair strands. The next ingredient, mayonnaise, is loaded with amino acids and proteins, which dramatically boost your hair’s rejuvenation process and enhances hair growth. Lastly, shea butter provides essential fatty acids and intense moisture to seal the cuticle and provide a massive hair restoration! 2 Eggs 1 Cup of Mayonnaise 1 Tablespoon of Shea Butter Mix the ingredients in a bowl and apply directly to hair. Allow to sit for 20 minutes and then rinse out with water.  

Hair perms are one of those long standing hair procedures that have stood the test of time, beginning in the 1870’s as a primitive way of manipulating one’s hair with heated tongs to today’s more technically advanced methods. While the process of perming one’s hair has undergone many changes over the past century or so, the main reason for getting a perm is the same: to provide long-lasting, well-defined curls and waves to hair that is naturally straight and untextured, providing a more permanent solution to these hair types that doesn’t require constant styling and manipulation. Perms are an incredibly popular hair care procedure, and if you have straight or relaxed hair, you’ve probably considered a perm at least once or twice in your life. But before you go and get that new perm, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of this popular procedure.  What is a Hair Perm? A hair perm is any procedure that involves manipulating the hair's natural texture. Initially, this was done with heated tongs or crimps, but today’s procedures involve incredibly powerful chemicals that first open up the permanent disulfide bonds of the hair, then allow for manipulation into a new, more textured style, followed by an application of more chemicals that then seal the disulfide bonds. The result? Hair that has a completely new, more shapely texture than its natural state. These curls or waves can last for several months and can be reapplied for long-term results.  The Positives of a Hair Perm A perm is incredibly effective at doing what it’s supposed to do, which is manipulate the hair’s natural structure into a long-lasting textured state. Rather than constantly curling and styling your hair every time after washing your hair, a perm lasts several months, regardless of how many hair washings occur. Additionally, a hair perm gives your hair more volume and fullness, creating that added look of density that so many of us crave. With this added volume, you’ll find that your hair is far easier to style and set, opening the stage for so many different styles to wear on a daily basis! Lastly, without having to constantly style your hair each day, you save yourself a tremendous amount of time in front of the mirror, freeing you up to enjoy your life and saving you the extra hassle! The Negatives of a Hair Perm As amazing as a hair perm sounds, there are some important negatives to keep in mind. For one, hair perms require incredibly strong chemicals to alter the hair’s natural shape and texture, and these chemicals can cause long-lasting damage to the hair strand that can progressively weaken and degrade the hair strand with frequent treatments. This can unfortunately lead to a frustrating amount of breakage and split ends. Secondly, hair perms are extremely good at setting your hair in a semi-permanent shape, which is great if you always want your hair looking one way. However, if you ever feel like changing the style of your hair, you’ll face a great degree of difficulty in restyling hair that has undergone a perm. Lastly, perms can be extremely expensive to apply, which can lead to a massive drain on your wallet over the long term. You definitely don’t want to go cheap on a perm, so this is a key to keep in mind!  

When it comes to everything from boosting your natural hair growth to reversing damage from heated styling or chemical hair treatments, it seems like you can’t escape a mention of the wonderful powers of biotin. Biotin is included in everything from hair growth supplements to hair care serums and specialized shampoos and conditioners, and it is clear that it is a valued ingredient in the hair care community. But what exactly is biotin, anyways, and what are its benefits for your hair? Read below for more information on this incredible ingredient! What is Biotin? Biotin, also known as vitamin B7, is an essential vitamin, meaning the body cannot create it on its own, and thus requires it from our diet. Aside from boosting cardiovascular health and enhancing the body’s ability to break down amino acids and carbohydrates, biotin is a crucial component in helping the body produce energy and sustenance for nearly every biological function. How Does Biotin Help Your Hair? By being able to help break down amino acids and other vital energy-producing ingredients, biotin helps to also boost the production of keratin, which is the essential building block of our hair, skin, and nails. By improving the production of keratin and boosting protein growth, biotin can theoretically boost the growth of the hair, skin, and nails, allowing for healthy growth cycles. When added to one’s diet, biotin can potentially aid in boosting one’s overall hair growth while helping to curb hair loss, along with helping to create stronger, thicker hair.  What Foods Have Biotin? Since biotin is an essential vitamin, the body can’t produce it on its own and thus needs to obtain it from diet and supplements. When it comes to diet, some of the best sources of biotin are also some of the most nutritious, protein-rich foods imaginable, providing an all-around boost for your physical health. Egg yolks, for instance, contain a significant amount of biotin within its protein-dense structure, making them a perfect addition for boosting hair growth. Other biotin-rich sources include salmon, avocado, legumes (peas, beans, and lentils), nuts, seeds, and sweet potatoes, among other food options.   What Happens When You Don’t Have Enough Biotin? Because biotin can only be obtained from diet or supplementation, it can be far too easy to become biotin deficient. But how does one know if he or she is biotin deficient? Some symptoms of biotin deficiency in the hair include rapid hair thinning, shedding, and decreased hair growth. In the skin and nails, this can be seen in random skin rashes and skin thinning, along with thinning nails or brittle nails on the hands and feet. While many of these symptoms can be ascribed to other conditions or causes, one must always ensure he or she is properly supplementing with adequate biotin in his or her diet to prevent any chronic or long-term issues from flaring up in a variety of physical avenues.

Few things can change up your overall look than changing the color of your hair, and these days there are no shortages of wild colors from which to choose from. However, oftentimes these coloring treatments can be extremely harsh and damaging to the hair, causing breakage and excessive moisture loss. To go a step further, the process of lightening one’s hair is even more destructive, as the excess bleach and chemical compounds involve can prove disastrous to one’s overall hair health.  Thankfully, there are a number of all-natural methods by which one can lighten his or her own hair to bump up one’s color tone without causing damage to the hair strand or negatively impacting one’s hair health. Read below for some creative, all-natural recipes for getting a lighter hair color from the comfort of your own home while saving money and sparing your hair from harmful chemicals! Lemon Juice Using lemon juice to lighten one’s hair is one of the oldest and most popular all-natural remedies for at-home hair care. Lemon juice contains a large amount of citric acid, which is a natural bleach chemical that has an extremely low pH value. This low pH value causes the cuticle of the hair to lift when in contact with the sun, allowing for the lemon juice to deeply penetrate the hair strand. The best way to use lemon juice is by squeezing a full lemon in a cup of water and spraying your hair. With the hair full of lemon juice and water, spend the day in the sun and allow the hair lightening to begin! Apple Cider Vinegar Also known as ACV, apple cider vinegar contains a large amount of acetic acid, which is a natural lightening ingredient and contains an extremely low pH value to better penetrate the hair strand and raise the cuticle. Even better, apple cider vinegar is incredibly potent antifungal and antibacterial ingredient and can prevent dandruff and other scalp conditions. Additionally, apple cider vinegar helps to cleanse and clarify the hair strand for boosted hair health. To use on your hair, pour one cup of ACV with one cup of water and rinse your hair with it after showering. Allow to sit before rinsing out with water and finish with a conditioner to prevent dryness. Chamomile Tea Aside from being a delicious, relaxing tea to enjoy before bed, chamomile tea is a fantastic hair lightening ingredient in its own right. Chamomile contains numerous flavonoids including quercetin, which inhibits the production of pigment in our hair and skin and helps to naturally lighten the hair tone. It is also a soothing, relaxing chemical, helping to calm the scalp and prevent irritation. To use this as a hair lightening ingredient, brew several bags of tea in hot water and allow to sit and cool off. Once cool, soak the hair in the brewed tea and expose the hair to the sunlight for at least one hour. Once complete, rinse and condition the hair for optimal hair health.   Featured in Watch our Video

So much of our focus, at least when it comes to hairstyling, is place on expensive, high-powered tools like blow-dryers and flat irons. Much of this focus is well-deserved, as these heat styling tools are necessary to achieve the kind of show-stopping, head-turning hairstyles we see in magazines and fashion shows. But while great hair can be amplified by a blow-dryer that costs several hundreds of dollars, few realize that one of the most important tools for your hair health is something that costs less than $10! What we’re referring to, of course, is that handy dandy hairbrush that has always been by your side through thick and thin. While a fancy styling tool may have come and gone, your favorite hairbrush has stood the test of time, helping to detangle your hair while keeping it organized and smooth. But what you may not realize is that as helpful as a good hairbrush can be for improving your hair, so too can a bad hairbrush be incredibly harmful to your hair. To keep your hair looking its very best, its vital to find a hairbrush that matches your specific hair type. Read our guide below to find the perfect hairbrush fit for your hair! Thin, Straight Hair If your hair is on the thin and straight side, you’ll want a boar bristle brush. A good boar bristle brush uses genuine boar bristles to create an extremely soft yet fine brush that can smooth and straighten the hair in a gentle, non-abrasive manner while still providing an extremely fine grip to sort through a large amount of thin hairs. To make things better, a boar bristle brush helps to distribute the hair’s natural oils, making it more moisturized and softer. Thick, Curly Hair Hair that is thick and curly and/or textured needs a brush that is strong and rigid yet wide enough to untangle the hair while brushing. The perfect brush for this hair type is a wide tooth comb, which has wide enough teeth to pull the hair without tugging or tangling. While thin, straight hair would be largely unchanged by this brush type, a wide tooth comb can properly sort and organize the hair in a gentle, easy manner. Flat, Limp Hair For hair that is lacking in volume and body, you’ll want a brush that helps to lift and raise the hair while styling with a blow-dryer. There are two brushes that are perfect for this purpose, the first being a vented round brush, which has vents to allow for maximum air flow, while the round shape can help to curl and pull the hair to lift it from the root for increased body. The second brush is a wide paddle brush, which has grippy, flexible bristles that can help pull and grip a large surface area of hair, allowing you to lift and raise it from the scalp while styling for increased volume, body, and overall “oomph” for your final look! Featured in Watch our Video