At Who What Wear, we’re always asking top hairdressers the golden question that we all want to know the answer to: How can we make our hair look thicker? You see, you just can’t beat that look and feeling of stepping out of the salon with a voluminous blow-dry, but it can be tricky to recreate at home, especially if you have hair that’s on the finer side or that tends to fall a little flat after styling. There are ways to boost your hair’s volume—whether it be with a volumising styling spray or a new hair colour to feign thicker hair—but it can be tricky to find a way to boost your hair’s volume without it feeling weighed down or falling flat an hour after you’ve styled it.
Jennifer Lopez is one of our top picks for hair inspiration, and we love these volumised, bouncy curls created by celebrity hairdresser Chris Appleton.
However, there’s a product we’ve totally been sleeping on, and it is currently being used by just about every top celebrity hairdresser right now to create full, voluminous hair on the red carpet. The product in question? Hair mousse. While it once garnered a reputation for being a little old-fashioned, we can assure you that hair mousse is firmly back on our dressing tables.
“Hair mousse was first created around the ’60s with the idea to create maximum volume to hair. Initially, it had a very sticky texture,” says expert hairstylist Larry King.
“The best way to use a hair mousse is to really pump out a golf ball–size amount into the palm of your hands and then use your fingers to take small amounts and slowly rake it through the hair, starting at the ends and using the remaining amount of mousse to be scrunched into the roots,” says King. “If you have curly hair, I would do the same thing, but always scrunch into the hair. Do not rake through the hair because this can create frizz. So always scrunch into the hair, starting at the mid-lengths to ends and then ending the last amount scrunching at the roots.”
The great thing about mousse is that it can work for all hair types and textures. “Mousse is really good because it encourages really defined curls or coils in type 3 and type 4 hair,” he says. “If you have type 1 or type 2 (think poker-straight hair or hair with a wave)—where you’re looking for the maximum amount of volume, maybe looking to hold in any waves or shapes you’re creating with your blow-dry—then hair mousse is the ideal product to give you that hold but also give you volume.”
We put several hair mousses to the test, and these 16 below are the best mousses that are deserving of your hard-earned money.
Larry King’s mousse is a nod to his nanna’s penchant for glamorous, bouncy blow-dries. This formula helps to thicken the hair and leaves a soft hold, so your hair won’t feel weighed down or crunchy. “The foam is encouraged to really create the maximum amount of volume whilst also maintaining a really nice shine and also giving you the movement and the naturalness. When you run your fingers through your hair, it’s as if there’s no product in your hair,” says King.
So much more than just a mousse, this doubles as an oil absorber for second-day hair, builds volume pre-blow-dry and defines curls.
If you regularly style your hair, you won’t regret this addition to your blow-dry routine. It plumps up hair and helps to lock in your style for longer.
This mousse costs less than a coffee and will help boost flat roots without being heavy due to its lightweight formula. It also has so many five-star reviews.
If you find that your style usually falls flat, then Oribe’s offering will come to the rescue for fine hair. Not only does it make hair bouncy, but it also lasts in-between washes and leaves hair shiny and flyaway-free.
If you find that your roots get oily quickly, then this dry shampoo–mousse hybrid will solve your qualms. It works like a dry shampoo by absorbing excess oil (without a powdery residue) and is a great way to refresh your hair between washes if you’re switching up your style.
Fine or flat hair doesn’t do well with product build-up, which can weigh hair down and make it look greasy. This formula is so lightweight and helps to smooth frizz and leaves a knockout shine to lengths.
This lightweight yet deeply nourishing formula is ideal for curls. It adds definition and shine yet still feels almost undetectable through the lengths of hair.
Sometimes, you don’t always want to use heat to style your hair, and that’s where this air-dry foam comes in. It helps to enhance your hair’s natural texture without feeling crunchy and leaves hair so shiny. And like all Ouai products, it smells amazing too.
This lightweight, aerated formula helps to add body and definition to curls, and the shea-enriched formula helps to moisturise lengths for a shiny, frizz-free finish.
If you have blonde hair, you might already use a toning product (which are often tinted purple to counteract yellow tones) to keep your colour looking fresh. This is a two-in-one mousse and toning product, so you can protect your hair colour and achieve volume.
Much like purple-tinted hair toners remove unwanted yellow tones from blonde hair, this blue-toned hair mousse helps to counteract brassy tones in brunette hair and leaves a salon-worthy shine to lengths.
If you’re looking for a hair mousse to create lift, we would recommend you try this. It’s not only loved by many hairdressers, but it also helps flat roots to become bouncy and volumised.
For hair that’s in need of TLC from heat damage, we’d urge you to try this hair mousse. It contains peptides to help repair the hair from the inside out while giving height and volume to fine hair.
You might not always want a super-strong hold, particularly if your hair is fine. This medium-hold formula from Philip Kingsley is ideal, and its frothy texture won’t leave any residue in your hair.
For swishable lengths, a lightweight mousse is perfect for subtle volume and hold without heaviness. This Aveda one fits the bill and feels virtually undetectable in the hair.
