Best haircare products from $15.90 for every porosity level

What was the last hair product the algorithm convinced you to buy? The one that promised thicker, glossier strands and a shampoo-commercial flip, only to scalp you and your credit card with its lack of results? While we can complain about frizz, limpness, or breakage all we want, there’s often one underdiagnosed culprit behind a lack of shine, swoop, and swing: your hair’s porosity.

What is hair porosity?

Porosity, in essence, is your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture while also determining how easily oils and water pass through the cuticle (aka the outermost layer of your hair). It’s the reason why some products get absorbed by your hair like in a commercial, while others sit around like a house guest that refuses to leave. 

What are the different levels of hair porosity?

There are three levels of hair porosity, with low porosity occurring because of tightly packed cuticles, which makes it harder for moisture to sink in and thus, causing hair to take longer to dry. Medium porosity is the sweet spot, as not only does it ensure gloss and shine, but it also means hair dries quickly and hairstyles can hold. Lastly, high porosity means hair soaks up moisture fast but struggles to keep it in. The result? The thirst is real, frizz won’t quit, and your ends always split. 

While genetics can play a role in porosity (thanks, mum, dad, or a follically-challenged ancestor), we take destiny into our own hands when we subject our hair to chemical treatments, heat styling,  or overwashing, which damage the cuticle by raising it and reducing our hair’s ability to retain hydration over time. 

How do you find out your hair porosity level?

To figure out your hair’s porosity, start with freshly washed, product-free hair before misting a few sections with a spray bottle and watching how the droplets behave. If they bead on the surface before slowly sinking in, you’re dealing with lower porosity, and if they disappear on contact, that’s higher porosity. And if the droplets sit for a moment before sinking in at an unbothered pace, that’s medium porosity.

Best products for low porosity hair

Low porosity hair is hard to saturate, so doubling down on products won’t do much. What works are products with lighter textures like milks and creams paired with warmth and water, as the latter gently coaxes the cuticle open and lets the moisture from the former slip in. Think heat, not heft too, as protein-heavy treatments tend to draw moisture out instead, leaving already stubborn strands more prone to breakage.

Best Shampoo For Low Porosity Hair: Chungmijung Kelp Shampoo, $36.45

This kelp-packed shampoo offers the soft, steady clarity that low-porosity hair responds to best, by soothing sensitive scalps and giving low-porosity hair the kind of cleanse it can actually tolerate. The addition of silk amino acids and botanical extracts also cushions dry, tight strands without drowning them in product they can’t absorb.

Best Conditioner For Low Porosity Hair: SheaMoisture Low Porosity Weightless Hydrating Conditioner, $39.38

This weightless conditioner has a clean, animal-testing-free formula that stays clear of ingredients that cling or coat, and thus, slips through moisture-resistant strands to imbue them with the moisturising properties of grapeseed, tea tree, sunflower oils and fair trade shea butter. The result? Hair that feels hydrated, cooperative, and blissfully unbothered.

Best Leave-In Treatment For Low Porosity Hair: MoroccanOil Mending Infusion, $52

A barely-there leave-in that seals frayed ends the way a fresh trim would, it also smoothens and strengthens with argan oil and quinoa protein without tipping fine or low-porosity hair into oil-slick territory. Keeping the hair’s movement light and touchable too, it comes with the brand’s warm amber-floral signature that’s a final, indulgent note.

Best Mask For Low-Porosity Hair: Fino Premium Touch Hair Mask Rinse-off Treatment, $15.90

Japan’s bestselling mask floods the cuticle with a cocktail of royal jelly, squalane, pearl peptide and other beauty staples that low-porosity hair can actually hold, turning parched strands pliable again. One rinse, and you’ll understand why one sells every six seconds: the kind of shine that usually requires a salon visit and a very, very, good hair day. 

Best Styling Product For Low Porosity Hair: Sebastian Professional Dark Oil, $50.44

This styling oil sinks in and instantly vanishes while leaving behind gloss, smoothness, and a bit of borrowed body. Cedarwood, sandalwood and argan soften the cuticle without overwhelming it, thanks to DiffusX technology that keeps everything feather-light.  It’s also the rare hair oil that protects against heat without behaving like one, which low-porosity hair will appreciate. 

Best products for medium porosity hair

Medium porosity hair sits comfortably in the middle, so a gentle sulfate-free shampoo is enough to keep it clean without tipping its moisture balance off-kilter. It also thrives on moderation, so a deep-conditioning session every other week keeps the hair elastic and hydrated. The real threat, however, is heat, as pushing the temperature too far will send your cuticles straight into high-porosity territory.

Best Shampoo For Medium Porosity Hair: Kundal Protein Bonding Shampoo, $19.54

Smoothing the cuticles of medium-porosity hair with a non-stripping pH-balanced formula, this shampoo lathers lightly while letting hyaluronic acids and protein-binders gloss the hair even before you’ve reached for a conditioner. Its muguet-and-violet scent also makes using it feel more like a small ritual than a chore.

Best Conditioner For Medium Porosity Hair: Nat.Chapt. Organic Moringa Oil Conditioner, $19.90

Packed with over 90 nutrients like vitamins and amino acids from organic moringa oil, this conditioner feeds medium-porosity hair with the kind of nutrients it loses fastest. Its creamy texture coats each strand evenly without heaviness, and with no parabens, mineral oils or artificial colours in its formula, it stays firmly in the clean-beauty lane. 

Best Leave-In Treatment For Medium Porosity Hair: Tgin Miracle RepaiRx Protective Leave In Conditioner, $30.92

For anyone who frequently juggles heat or colour, this leave-in sinks in quickly, adding slip and definition courtesy of black castor oil and biotin that replenishes the moisture medium-porosity hair can lose. It even leaves no residue, just touchable, cooperative hair that sits where you want it or takes shape based on how you style it. 

Best Mask For Medium Porosity Hair: Abyssian Protein Shake Hair Mask, $60

Literally a protein shake for your hair, this mask’s patented KeraPlantin™ complex uses plant proteins chosen for their molecular affinity to human hair, strengthening strands and curbing split ends with unusual precision. Anti-pollution actives included in its formula also add a layer of urban armour, which medium-porosity hair usually needs more than it realises.

Best Styling Treatment For Medium Porosity Hair: Growus Damage Therapy No Wash Treatment EX, $17.20

This no-rinse treatment instantly repairs medium-porosity hair by smoothing rough spots before they turn into split ends. The secret is in the sauce: marine collagen, Himalayan pink salt and a protein complex that hydrates, detoxifies and strengthens in a single pass. It’s also finished with a floral-musk scent that’s as light as its texture. 

Best products for high porosity hair

High porosity hair needs two things above all else, which are damage control and moisture retention, because a compromised cuticle lets hydration escape as quickly as it’s absorbed. Richer formulas with oils and butters work best, acting like sealants that slow the moisture loss and help coax the cuticle back to health. Since high porosity often comes from heat or chemical damage, heat protection is a must, as it keeps things from getting worse.

Best Shampoo For High Porosity Hair: Coco & Eve Like A Virgin Super Hydrating Shampoo, $30.69

This shampoo floods high-porosity hair with hyaluronic acid, coconut and avocado oils that patch over the cuticle’s rough edges. Fermented oils also add slip and shine without leaving hair flat, while pineapple enzymes keep the scalp fresh enough to stretch a wash day. And, its coconut–fig scent is just a bonus, like a holiday your hair didn’t have to earn.

Best Conditioner For High Porosity Hair: Attitude Nourishing Hair Conditioner, $30.87

Skipping silicones and sulfates with a 98 per cent natural formula of ingredients like watercress, grapeseed oil and olive leaf extract, this conditioner imbues and seals moisture while also soothing the scalp. It’s also vegan, which is made obvious if you get a chance to sniff its soft, comforting pear-amber fragrance. 

Best Leave-In Treatment For High Porosity Hair: Mise-en-scene Salon 10 No-Wash Ampoule Treatment, $21.86

A few sprays and a short 10 seconds are all it takes for this protein complex and collagen-rich ampoule mist to coax unruly high-porosity hair into a silkier, calmer alignment. Its texture is weightless but serious in benefits, and whether you blow-dry or don’t, it delivers salon treatment results either way.

Best Mask For High Porosity Hair: Jvn Nurture Intense Hydration Hair Mask, $27

This mask drenches each cuticle with hemisqualane, amino acids and a vegan keratin alternative, which thus allows it to give high-porosity hair something it rarely gets: moisture that stays locked in instead of dissipating by noon. Think of it as a mini Queer Eye arc for your beauty routine, and yes, with a dramatic reveal once you’re done washing it off. 

Best Styling Treatment For High Porosity Hair: K18 Molecular Repair Hair Oil, $48.50

This oil goes straight to the source, repairing the internal damage that makes high-porosity hair lift, swell and rebel. Molecular technology brings back shine and colour, while the silicone-free formula smooths without the tell-tale slip. It also provides heat protection up to 232°C, and works on damp hair to strengthen, or on dry hair to fine-tune.