People with low porosity hair often struggle to find the right products. Lots of products rather cater to the needs of high porosity hair – and understandably so! Low porosity hair is already pretty healthy and can get away with a less intensive care routine. But what if you still have dry tips and want to use hair care tricks like the LOC method?
Don’t worry! There are LOC method products for low porosity hair and we will look at them in detail here!
Related: The best low porosity hair products
Disclosure: Some of the links below are so-called provision links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
LOC method products for low porosity hair: step by step
You probably remember how the LOC method works, but in case you don’t, here is a quick refresher:
So we have the three steps, and we want to find a low porosity product for each of them.
L – liquid
Many people will recommend a leave-in conditioner as the first step here. And if you have a lightweight one, that your hair loves, that’s great!
But, as someone with low porosity hair, you should actually start with making sure that your cuticle is open. Meaning, you should not do this method on dry hair. It should be washed and wet, or warmed up, or both!
Yes, this might be an atypical hair care tip, but with low porosity, you might otherwise find that the product simply sits “on top” of your hair, without actually moisturising anything.
Aaaaanyway.
A product that works pretty well for my lower porosity hair is the Garnier Fructis Aloe Vera Hair Food. (Check it out here!*)
It’s light enough to not make things feel greasy, but really moisturises well when used as a leave in conditioner.
O – oil
For low porosity hair you want to use light, yet moisturizing oils. Stay away from the heavy ones, and instead opt for the luxuries of argan oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, and grapeseed oil.
My personal favourites are argan oil and jojoba oil.
Argan oil
Argan oil is an amazing moisturiser. If your hair is really dry and needs some extra boost, definitely try it! You’ll see an immediate effect in shininess and suppleness of your hair tips.
Related: What is the best argan oil for hair? 5 tips!
Jojoba oil
Jojoba oil is a beauty classic for a reason. It almost perfectly mimics your body’s own “hair oil”, the sebum. This not only means that it’s perfect at taking care of dry hair tips. It also is very unlikely to irritate your skin or cause breakouts.
Especially if you have oily, acne-prone skin, that might be worth a thought.
Related: I beat hormonal acne – My 6 powerful little secrets
C – cream
Lastly, we need a good cream for low porosity hair. People with high porosity would go in with really heavy creams here – but you won’t. Still, you might need something that will help you get some moisture, and possibly even retain some shape.
Boy, do I have the perfect product for you:
my favorite, curly girl approved hair gel of all time, Aunt Jackie’s Flaxseed elongating curling gel!
Is it technically marketed as a hair cream? Nope.
Does it still do wonders for moisture and shape-holding? Absolutely!
There is a reason why I haven’t yet found a better product. It’s super lightweight and still provides lots and lots of moisture and shine, all without the crunch of other styling creams and gels!
Does the LOC method work for low porosity hair?
Okay, now that we have your products all set, we need to talk about a common question: Does the LOC method actually even work for low porosity hair?
In all honesty, you might be better off using the LCO method instead of the LOC method if you have low porosity hair. If you haven’t heard of this variant: it simply means you do the cream step BEFORE the oil step.
With low porosity, your hair is already pretty “closed” to care products. And as oil has a sealing effect, you might want to get in all the moisture you’ll apply before doing any more sealing.
How do you lock in moisture with low porosity hair?
I’ve already alluded to the difficulty of getting the moisture to actually penetrate the hair shaft of low porosity hair above. And yes, the biggest issue for this hair type is to actually make the moisture “go into” the hair, instead of staying on top of the cuticle.
Your biggest helper will be warmth. Whenever you plan to apply any moisturising product, open the cuticle before by warming it up somehow. Some people simply wash with warm water. Others do deep conditioning only with thermal heat caps. (You can get one of those here!*)
Just always keep in mind that your cuticles are kinda closed to begin with. And that’s a good thing, in general. Simply means you’ll have to help them open up a little to receive all that moisture.
Once you look out for that, you only need to find the right products that your hair loves. Start with the ones above and enjoy the testing!
*These links are so-called provision links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I can earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.