For Nineties babies, you only need to say the words ‘hair’ and ‘mousse’ for instant memories of crunchy, crispy curled styles will were the literal height of cool back then.
For this reason, these formulas fell quickly out of popularity, replaced instead with texture sprays and mists that were less likely to leave a stiff, set-in-stone finish and feeling in their wake. Yet there’s been something of a mousse revolution in the last year: new innovations have surfaced to bring the humble mousse back to our dressing tables.
Bouncy, blow-out volume never goes out of style - it’s the ultimate sign of healthy hair, arming confidence and power to the wearer. While XXL manes are typically associated with the 1970s and 1980s, the desire for souped-up strands is as sought-after today, with the hashtag #hairvolume boasting almost 340 million views on TikTok.
Mousse is renowned for its ability to create extra-controlled hold to lock definition and structure in place. Best for thin, limp and lifeless locks, the new guard creates a dramatic level of volume and body that results in a fuller look, while remaining ultra-soft to the touch and feeling lightweight.
Celebrity hairstylist Jason Collier explains: “If your hair has trouble keeping curls in all day, try smoothing a little bit of mousse into your hair after your heat protectant and before styling with heat tools as this will hold in the style for longer”. This will allow you to create some of this season’s most sought-after hair looks - be it the curly updo, mermaid-inspired waves or bombshell blow out - and make them last.
For best application, you want your locks to be super clean. Prep is also essential so double shampoo to strip away any previous product that may dampen the va-va voom and cause your hair to feel heavy or dull. Always shake the can, dispense a little into the palm of your hand, and apply the mousse evenly through damp hair to enhance natural waves, boost your blow-dry and create mirror-like shine. Let hair dry naturally, or blow dry with a diffuser. The professional stylist top tip is to apply to the crown to lift the roots. To do so, flip your hair upside down and then proceed to back comb to amplify the volume. Towering tresses, here we come.
Look out for formulas that work double duty for heat protection too as well as those designed for curly hair types to revive elasticity and maintain their pattern without that dreaded crunch.
Shop the best hair mousses below
Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Volumiser
If you subscribe by the motto ‘go big or go home’ - especially when it comes to your haircare - say hello to the big guns. Color Wow is the brand behind some of the most iconic styles (think J.Lo’s iconic Superbowl half time show) and ensures each of its products are safe for colour and chemically treated hair alike.
The same is true for the Volumiser, considered by beauty editors to be a haircare holy grail product. Just one spritz will transform tresses from fine to full, limp to voluminous, adding instant body and hold without the use of drying alcohol or the likes. The innovative brand has incorporated a proprietary polymer and bamboo blend that surrounds the individual strands to boost without affecting their health.
Buy now £11.00, Cult Beauty
Bumble and bumble Surf Wave Foam
If you’re looking to create that effortless textured style from your most recent beach break, this is the product you need in your kit. The beautifully scented foam has been formulated with sea salts to create that summer breeze feel for your locks all year round and give your style extra longevity and hold.
You can use as a top up on dry hair to maintain your waves between washes, while there’s also UV filters to shield from external aggressors. As you squirt the satisfying whipped cream-like texture into your hands and apply to your strands, it is quickly absorbing and feels lightweight too, giving that tousled look with no surfing lessons necessary. Best of all, there’s no crunch.
Buy now £26.00, Boots
Hair by Sam McKnight Cool Girl Volume Blow Dry Foam
The Hair by Sam McKnight Cool Girl collection was inspired by the original 90s super Kate Moss and is all you need to create the legendary hairstylist’s signature undone tousled look.
Redefining everything you once believed about a mousse, this innovative formulation is weightless in the hair, giving the benefits of a more voluminous, fuller appearance without the heavy crunch that was once part and parcel of these foam products.
Apply into freshly washed locks and it will get you well on your way in replicating a professional salon-like style when used in tandem with a hair dryer. It smells great too and leaves your mane silky soft to the touch with no stickiness.
Buy now £32.00, Cult Beauty
Larry King Hair Care My Nanna's Mousse
Larry King is the man behind some of the most well-coiffed locks in London and beyond with his brick-and-mortar salons across the capital. This is where he puts his eponymous haircare range through its paces and one with the seal of approval from King and his celebrity clientele is the My Nanna's Mousse. The root-raising formula takes inspiration from the stylist’s grandma and her bouncy blow dry.
The lightweight styler should be applied before employing the use of a hair dryer in order to give the resulting look XXL volume and a glossy finish. The product plumps the individual strands, giving a thicker look but with a silky texture that feels like there’s no product applied at all - let alone a mousse.
Buy now £22.00, Cult Beauty
ARKIVE The Body Hybrid Mousse
The brainchild of hair stylist Adam Reed, The Body will allow you to take a laid back approach to coiffing. Introduce this mousse into your routine to create that sexy tousled style - minimal effort required. The featherweight formula will help to give a natural - and not stiff or crispy - finish where your strands retain their flexiblity but you also get long-lasting volume with a price tag that won’t put too much of a dent in your wallet.
Buy now £8.67, Boots
JVN Embody Volumising Foam
For the enviable body and bounce of brand founder Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, see the Volumising Foam from the Embody collection. This range is centered around thickening and volume and, much like every product from JVN, does so with sustainable ingredients.
Without a sticky feeling or leaving hair desert dry, it locks your style in place and this hold goes hand in hand with smoothing, frizz-control and imparting nourishing nutrients and fortifying proteins.
Buy now £25.00, Cult Beauty
Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse
Fine hair types will be no stranger to the styling and restyling process - often throughout the day. But if you’re looking to give your locks lasting power, you need to revive the strands from root to tip with a volumising boost. Living Proof has just the ticket for texture and definition.
It’s a very lightweight product that is enriched with the brand’s patented Thickening Molecule so that it’s giving a fuller effect with every application. This is only enhanced by a blow dry as well as when it’s applied onto freshly washed locks. The Full Thickening Mousse has the miraculous ability to provide a strong hold for lengths that still appear natural-looking and flexible, without being sticky or weighing down the strands.
Buy now £25.00, Space NK
Virtue Full Volumzing Mousse
Virtue’s Volumizing Mousse will give your hair the oomph it deserves. The product is formulated with the brand’s signature and trademarked Alpha Keratin 60ku that is designed to mimic the protein found naturally in the hair for strenghtening and growth. The ingredients binds to the hair to fill cracks, therby smoothing and defrizzing. In this formula, it is set alongside baobab seeds that are credited with bringing bounce and fullness. No unpleasant residue or feeling left behind, it just bringing body and protects against heat damage and external aggressors.
Buy now £38.00, John Lewis
EVY Technology UV/Heat Hair Mousse
EVY Technology has created this mousse to protect both your hair, and more importantly your scalp, from burning. For anyone that has ever experienced the latter, you know the pain and the stress of when it starts to peel. This powerhouse contains a cocktail of vitamins and oils to protect against temperatures of up to 210oC so its good to use in advance of heated styling tools too. The UV filters and nourishing ingredients like vitamins B3, B5, B6, E and C strengthen, and offer shine at the same time.
Buy now £25.00, Cult Beauty
Percy & Reed Turn Up The Volume Volumising Mousse 200ml
A non-sticky mousse that you can barely detect once dry? Enter Percy & Reed’s uber-volumising product, a formula that promises to supersize your locks. Simply apply a few pumps to washed hair and style with a hairdryer, or for full-blown Oscar-worthy waves, let heated rollers do the heavy lifting for you.
Buy now £18.00, John Lewis
