Mousse is a multi-purposed hair product that boosts your roots, sleeks out your strands, and most importantly, holds your hairdo. It doesn’t matter whether your hair is long or short, mousse can be used by everyone.
Mousse has changed from being that sticky, grimy product behind those sky-high styles of the eighties. It has stood the test of time by adapting through the years. Today, it’s formulated with better hair health in mind, because it’s a well-known fact that healthy hair holds any style better than damaged hair.
As versatile as it is, mousse isn’t created to be a “one size fits all” kind of product. The best mousse for you should target your specific hair type, as well as the style you’re going for. For example, if you have dry, curly hair and you’re looking to achieve a sleek and straight style, you will need a strong holding mousse that protects your hair from the heat damage of a flat iron or blow dryer.
We’ve rounded up the best volumizing mousses for every hair choice, so your strands get the volume they need, with a little TLC on the side! Read on to find your next favorite.
Best Volumizing Mousse Reviewed
1. Sexy-Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse
Sexy-Hair is a widely popular brand, favorited for affordability and results. Their Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse is one of their best products for its multiple benefits for all kinds of hair. It’s one of the only exceptions to the “no one-size-fits-all” rule.
Working as spray foam, it provides your roots with a lift that gives more body to the rest of your hair, all while holding up your hairdo! It even works in high humidity and protects against heat damage to keep your hair frizz-free.
To use it, just give your roots a spritz and rub it in to evenly distribute it throughout your roots. (Optional Step: A hair toss for dramatic effect ????)
From the coarsest of curls to thinnest strands of straight hair, Sexy Hair’s Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse will give your roots a much-needed boost while leaving your hair with a satin-like softness you can see and feel!
2. OGX Renewing + Argan Oil of Morocco Voluminous Mousse
For a volumizing mousse that won’t break the bank, but still offers all the benefits of a higher-end brand, the OGX Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco Volumizing mousse is among the elite drugstore products. It definitely gives you a big bang for your buck!
With this volumizing mousse, you get the ultimate blend of voluminous body and a lustrous shine, with a flexible hold that lasts all day long. Did we mention it also conditions your hair too? That means it’s perfect for dry or damaged hair, even if it’s thick!
That’s right! This volumizing mousse has a light and airy cream-like formula that won’t weigh down your hair with product residue but will nourish your locks, leaving it with flexible strength and a satin-smooth finish that you can see and feel. Kiss those fly-aways goodbye!
Also: Check Out Our Roundup Of The Best Argan Oil For Damaged Hair
3. Kerastase Mousse Bouffante Volume Foam
Kerastase Bouffant Volume Foam is a highly rated, versatile volumizing mousse that gives a boost to finer hair by plumping it from the roots down. Just a tiny bit will create a full-bodied hairstyle, pumped full of texture and volume.
This is the mousse you need for a style that keeps its shape, while still feeling like, you know, hair!
To keep your locks feeling so soft, this mousse is packed full of vitamins to promote healthy, strong hair without product buildup. It also prevents damage by blocking the sun’s color-fading UV rays and protecting against the heat of styling tools.
With so many benefits packed into one product, there’s no wonder why it’s a stylist favorite and worth every single penny.
4. John Frieda Volume Lift Air Whipped Foam
John Freida is a popular brand with products that are formulated and tested by salon experts. Their volume lift air foam is a full-hold and full-volume mousse that livens up fine hair, making it look fuller to give you the body and texture that you’re looking for.
The airlift foam also blesses your tresses with long-lasting volume and holds without stiffness or tacky residue. Their patented Air Silk technology is created to be light and airy, so it won’t weigh down fine hair, but it will leave it feeling silky soft.
This formula is also well-suited for damaged and sensitive color-treated hair because it nourishes your hair while it’s in. Talk about a big bang for your buck.
5. BIOLAGE Hydra Foaming Styler
When you’re looking for just the right amount of hold to let your hair flow naturally, without sacrificing voluptuous hair, look to the Biolage Hydra Foaming Styler. This mousse gives you all the body, without the stiffness of a full-hold product.
Your hair is able to move freely and naturally, creating better dimension and depth in your hair’s color.
This mousse also keeps your hair health in mind. One of the main ingredients is Blue Agave, which conditions your hair and repairs damage! It also offers sun protection to prevent colored hair from fading from the sun’s harsh UV rays.
The Biolage Hydra Foaming Styler doesn’t contain the parabens that a normal conditioning product would. Because there are no parabens, that means there’s no residue to coat your hair. The conditioning ingredients simply soak into your hair, improving its overall quality.
6. AG Hair Natural Cloud Air-Light Volumizing Mousse
If you’re looking for a natural product, AG Hair has got you covered. Their natural cloud air-light volumizing mousse is a plant-based vegan formula without any parabens or silicones. That means no residue to weigh down your hair.
As a styling product, this mousse really does it all. From the minute you apply it, the moisturizing ingredients help to detangle your hair when it’s wet and fight frizz when it’s dry.
As a versatile product, it can bring life and body to limp straight hair or define wild curls. It also provides heat protection to prevent damage. It truly is the best natural mousse you can find.
7. Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Clinical Densifying Styling Mousse
Alterna is a salon brand created for fine, damaged hair. Their Densifying Styling Mousse thickens your hair and fortifies to resist further damage. It really is the best volumizing mousse for damaged hair that’s brittle and hard to style.
Caviar’s styling mousse is different than a typical mousse because it doesn’t feel like it’s there. The light hold feels like bare hair and doesn’t leave any residue, plus it works on both curly and straight hair. No wonder why it’s so highly rated by salons.
Not only does this mousse do a terrific job at plumping up damaged hair, but it also improves its quality. It’s created with vitamin-rich ingredients like Omega 3 and red clover to nourish hair and improve overall quality.
Also: The Most Vibrant Purple Hair Dyes To Check Out Right Now
8. Moroccanoil Curl Control Mousse
Moroccanoil is famous for its lightweight argan oil formula that nourishes hair and smells heavenly. Their curl control mousse allows you to have full, defined curls with no chance of frizz.
This is a long-lasting medium hold mousse for curly hair, but it can even work on straight hair to make natural-looking beach waves.
This formula also includes castor oil, which helps promote healthy hair growth. Whoever thought of a styling product that increases growth?
Argan oil does provide a healthy shine to hair, but you won’t have to worry about greasy or tacky hair because this mousse absorbs fasts and dries without a trace of product residue. That’s the magic of Moroccanoil.
9. Bumble and Bumble Full Form Mousse
Bumble and Bumble’s Full Form Mousse is another salon favorite that has your hair’s health in mind. This is a medium hold mousse that provides the full-bodied benefits of your favorite mousse, but it also replenishes your hair with wheat amino acids and other nourishing ingredients.
The Full Form Mousse also offers heat protection to help damaged hair stay protected from the harsh heat of styling tools. Their new formula also achieves a better level of softness, even on dry hair.
Bumble and Bumble’s products are also very lightly fragranced, for those with sensitive scalps or fragrance sensitivities. Speaking of light, this formula is also practically weightless, to help fine hair achieve even more volume.
10. Rusk Designer Collection Mousse
We’ve saved the absolute best volumizing mousse for last. Rusk’s Designer Collection Mousse may have plain packaging, but don’t judge a book by its cover; the results with this mousse are far from plain. This mousse gives you a designer looking and feeling hair.
The designer collection mousse is made for all types of hair, so it’s another exception to the “no one size fits all rule”. Since the product is concentrated, all you need is just a tiny amount of product to achieve full body and a strong hold.
Even though the designer collection mousse is a full hold product, it will not feel like it. Your tresses will be treated with this mousse’s silk and honey ingredients that soften and condition your hair when it’s applied.
Common Misconceptions About Mousse
- “Mousse is for curly hair.”
Mousse has been around for a long time and is a staple for styling unruly curls, but that isn’t the sole purpose of mousse. It’s a universal product that can be used for almost any hairstyle, curly, wavy, or straight. And, if you want to avoid that suffocating cloud of hairspray, it’s even great for sealing updos too.
- “Mousse will only weigh down my thin hair and make it feel gross.”
If anyone needs volume, it’s the ladies with thin hair. To find the best mousse for your thin hair, look for a lighter formula that is specifically made for finer hair. That way, you’ll have all of the voluminous benefits that mousse gives, without any residue or added weight on your hair.
- “Mousse is better for blowouts and updos, not natural hairstyles.”
When you’re trying to achieve a natural style, mousse is the missing product in your regiment. Run it through your hair before braiding straight hair for natural-looking waves that last for days. If your hair is curly, a mousse designed for curly hair will help you achieve definition, even without styling tools.
- “Mousse dries out your hair”
The truth is there’s always going to be one product that doesn’t use the best ingredients. That’s just the way it is. When you’re looking for mousse, look for products that don’t contain ingredients like parabens and sulfates. They strip your hair of its natural oils and make it more vulnerable to damage.
How Much Mousse to Use (And When)
This all depends on the density and length of your hair. According to hair length, you should be using an egg-sized amount for medium to long hair, and half that size for shorter hair. Of course, thinner hair always requires less mousse, no matter the length.
How much volume you can achieve depends less on your mousse, and more on your styling technique. To achieve maximum volume, you need to dry your hair in the opposite direction that it naturally falls. This is why many people face the floor and flip their hair in front of their face while they blow-dry.
If your hair is stiff or crunchy and kind of sticky, this isn’t the fault of the mousse itself. It simply means that you’ve used too much. Try using a lighter formula in smaller amounts to avoid this product buildup.
Conclusion
Mousse is an essential of any hair care routine. As such an adaptable styling product with so many benefits, you’re truly missing out if you’re not already a good mousse. Mousse is the product you need to give life to your hair, especially when it’s thin.
We’ve rounded up the best mousses for volumizing all hair types just for you! Each one has its special benefits, but they all do one thing similarly: they all condition and nourish your hair and help your hair to always look it’s best! Which one is your favorite?
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Sheryll is a lifestyle editor with over 7 years of experience in beauty. She is obsessed with Korean skincare, and she mostly covers the Beauty and Skincare space at Skin Seas.