If you find that your hair dries incredibly fast after you’ve shampooed it, you may wonder what this says about your hair. Is it normal for hair to dry quickly? Does it mean your hair is healthy or not?
We take an in-depth look at what fast-drying hair says about the condition of your hair.
Table of Contents
Hair and Its Structure
Each strand of hair on your body has three principal parts:
1.) Cuticle
The hair cuticle gets mentioned quite a bit, especially if you dye or perm your hair. This is the hair strand’s outer layer for protection. It’s very similar to roof tiles or fish scales. The cuticle helps to retain moisture in the strand. When the cuticle is healthy and flat, your hair shines.
2.) Cortex
A cortex can be described as the body of a hair strand. It provides texture, volume, and strength to the individual strand. The cortex also is responsible for hair pigment or the color of your locks.
3.) Medulla
This is the portion of a hair strand that is innermost. It is comprised of keratin or protein and air. Its primary job is to provide a hair strand with its structure. Those with very light hair color or with very fine hair, generally have little to no medulla in hair strands.
Hair Porosity and What It Means
The porosity of hair will determine how efficiently your hair can absorb moisture and retain it as well as other substances found in the environment.
If hair is very porous, the hair strands will be able to absorb more moisture as well as any hair care products like conditioners, masks, or balsams that you may want to apply.
Hair strands with a high level of porosity also will shampoo more easily because it is easier to work up a lather. Porous hair when cuticle cells feature more space or gaps that permit water or treatments to enter and exit with ease. Hair porosity levels can be inherited, or they can be the result of damage to your hair.
While very porous hair will capture more moisture initially, it will also lose moisture quickly. As a result, very porous hair will dry more quickly.
Hair with very low porosity will be less absorbent of oils, treatments, and hair care products in general. Hair strands that are less porous will feature smoother cuticles with fewer spaces for moisture or treatments to enter and exit so that the hair resists both moisture gain and loss more effectively.
Consequently, hair with low porosity will absorb hair care products with more difficulty, and once absorbed will have much better retention of treatments and moisture. Hair with low porosity will also require more time to dry.
What Hair Porosity Means to Hair Health
If you color, bleach, or perm your hair, it will become more porous. Chemical treatments change the cuticle texture creating more spaces or gaps so that individual hair shafts become increasingly more porous.
The result will be that your hair absorbs water, shampoo, conditioners, or treatments more quickly, but it will also dry faster because the spaces created permit moisture, oils, and conditioners to escape more quickly.
While some people may inherit hair with high porosity, the principal cause of porous hair is chemical treatments that damage the cuticle. Highly porous hair may appear duller with little to no shine.
Hair that has little porosity will boast a smoother hair cuticle so it will automatically appear shinier, smoother, and more lustrous. These are generally the characteristics of very healthy hair. Several factors can influence how much shine hair will produce. These include:
- How often do you shampoo your hair
- If you condition your hair and how often you do so
- If your scalp is oily
- The quality of the products you use on your hair
Dull hair can also be the result of heat being applied to the hair from dryers, curling irons, etc., or products like hair spray.
Healthy Hair and Quick Drying Hair
Hair that can be dried quickly is usually more porous, so it stands to reason that it is less healthy than hair with low porosity. This is especially so if the hair has undergone numerous chemical treatments which have altered the hair cuticle.
This will be true in most cases, with the exception being those that inherit porous hair. An example of inherited porous hair is curly hair. Curly hair tends to feature higher porosity than straight locks do.
Hair Elasticity and Hair Health
Healthy hair tends to be bouncy. If you brush it out or stretch it, your hair will bounce right back into position. Try pulling one of your hair strands and letting it go.
Does it snap back into its natural position? If so, your hair exhibits health. If, instead it remains stretched, needs time to bounce back, or breaks, it is severely damaged so you should arrange a deep conditioning treatment quickly.
See also: Should I Wash My Hair After Rain?
Is My Hair Healthy If It Dries Quickly?
You have hair that dries fast. Perhaps you are worried that this indicates that your hair is unhealthy. There is no “golden rule” regarding hair health that is based on porosity alone.
Some people will have inherited very porous hair, which doesn’t necessarily mean that the hair is unhealthy. Many people, on the other hair, will have subjected their hair to numerous chemical treatments through bleaching, coloring, or perming.
These chemically based processes do damage the hair shaft’s cuticle, and when repeated over time, increase damage. Damaged hair shafts and hair cuticles will dry faster.
Consider this if you are worried about the health of your hair, however, also take into account your hair’s natural elasticity. If your hair bounces back when stretched and does not break is reassuring.
If your hair has a shiny appearance, this is also indicative of hair health. Hair breakage and hair loss are generally better indicators of unhealthy hair and severe damage to the hair cuticle.
If you are experiencing an abnormal loss of hair, you will want to consult a dermatologist or your health care professional. If your hair is subject to breakage, consult a professional hairdresser who will be able to provide you with an effective hair care routine to get your hair back in shape in no time.
