The best volumizing mousses add volume and fullness without weighing strands down. Today’s lightweight formulas can be used to style polished waves, smooth blowouts, dramatic updos and more. Our top pick from Amika was selected for its high heat protection and unique blend of hydrating ingredients like sea buckthorn and vitamins C and A.
While mousse is mainly used to enhance volume, it can do more than just that—like protecting against heat damage or preventing flyaways. “I like to use it to do a very slick, snatched ponytail,” says celebrity hairstylist Derek Yuen, who has been relying on this versatile styling product for over two decades. Ahead, find the best volumizing mousses from budget-friendly options to luxury finds.
Best Volumizing Mousse Overall: Amika Plus Size Mousse
Best Drugstore Volumizing Mousse: Not Your Mother's Refreshing Curl Talk
Best Root-Lifting Mousse: Oribe Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse
Best Luxury Volumizing Mousse : Leonor Greyl Mousse Au Lotus Volumatrice
Best Thickening Mousse: R+Co Bleu Highest Volumizing Mousse
Best Volumizing Mousse For Curly Hair: Pattern Curl Mousse
Best Lightweight Mousse: Starring Shooting Star Texture Meringue
Best Volumizing Mousse For Dry Hair: Virtue Volumizing Mousse
Best Volumizing Mousse For Frizz: Shea Moisture Curl Mousse
Best Volumizing Mousse For Air Drying: Ouai Air Dry Foam
Best Volumizing Mousse Overall
A Medium-Hold Option For All Hair Types
MOST POPULAR
Amika Plus Size Mousse
Ideal for color-treated strands, this airy, whipped, medium-hold mousse protects against heat styling up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. It also includes sea buckthorn, an antioxidant that’s rich in vitamins C and A for added hydration and touchable body. As for its signature scent, this mousse has an aroma of vanilla, clover and citrus.
Best Drugstore Volumizing Mousse
An Affordable Pick With Flexible Hold
Not Your Mother's Refreshing Curl Talk
Even though curl is in the name, this mousse works for all hair types. This budget-friendly option includes a blend of rice, keratin amino acids and enzymes to hydrate, condition and fight frizz. The color-safe formula also has a refreshing citrus jasmine fragrance.
Best Root-Lifting Mousse
A Strengthening Formula With A Magnificent Scent
Oribe Grandiose Hair Plumping Mousse
This whipped mousse delivers terrific body sans crunch. Formulated with starch polymers, sunflower seed oil, panthenol, glycerin and vitamin E, it provides heat protection and helps repair and strengthen strands. It also includes Oribe’s signature scent, a floral blend of watermelon, lychee and edelweiss flower, which safeguards against environmental stressors.
Best Luxury Volumizing Mousse
A High-End Option Beloved By Hair Pros
Leonor Greyl Mousse Au Lotus Volumatrice
Made with lotus, chamomile and marshmallow extracts, this subtle lime-scented mousse delivers instant volume, hold and shine. It’s the ideal solution for the frizziest and finest strands thanks to conditioning organic jojoba and mongongo oil. This alcohol-free iteration is also a hairstylist favorite because its rich foam adds structure and hold to blowouts, beach waves and curls.
Best Thickening Mousse
A Silky, Lightweight Pick With Impressive Hold
R+Co Bleu Highest Volumizing Mousse
If you’re looking for a lightweight formula with impressive hold, this is a great pick. It provides instant lift and volume while strengthening strands and adding shine. “This mousse is very, very light, and it provides just enough hold,” says celebrity hairstylist Hayley Heckmann. “Some versions add a little too much grit at your roots after you blow dry. But this one doesn’t make it feel like the product is in your hair.”
Best Volumizing Mousse For Curly Hair
A Versatile And Moisturizing Curl Definer
Pattern Curl Mousse
This ultra-light, frothy and silicone-free mousse is ideal for all curl patterns. It’s formulated with marshmallow and castor oil to maintain moisture and softness, and the medium to strong hold is great for loose curls and protective styles like locs and braids. It also has a sweet floral scent with notes of neroli, rose and patchouli, a fragrance picked specifically by celebrity founder Tracee Ellis Ross.
Best Lightweight Mousse
An Airy Foam That Doubles As Hair Fragrance
Starring Shooting Star Texture Meringue
Created by L.A.-based hairstylist Ted Gibson and driven by his editorial and red-carpet expertise, this formula has a meringue-like texture and can be used on wet or dry hair depending on the desired look. Although it’s super lightweight, it provides lasting hold with beautiful movement. The unique, comforting scent has subtle notes of fig, amber, coriander, vanilla, coconut and warm woods.
Best Volumizing Mousse For Dry Hair
A Formula That Adds Shine, Hydration And Fullness
Virtue Volumizing Mousse
The Virtue Volumizing Mousse combines nourishing and strengthening ingredients to simultaneously treat and style locks. The star ingredient is the brand’s proprietary Alpha Keratin 60ku, a repairing protein that’s said to be identical to the keratin found in our hair. Other key ingredients include baobab seed oil, panthenol, amino acids and hydrolyzed amaranth protein for shine and fullness. While it’s suitable for all hair types and textures, it’s an excellent choice for severely damaged strands.
Best Volumizing Mousse For Frizz
A Frizz-Fighting Pick With A Tropical Aroma
Shea Moisture Curl Mousse
This coconut and hibiscus-scented mousse makes you feel like you’ve escaped to a tropical vacation. Formulated with silk protein and neem oil, this frizz-fighting mousse is best for enhancing natural curls. It’s also extra nourishing, thanks to shea butter and coconut oil, so you’ll get defined curls and coils without the crunch.
Best Volumizing Mousse For Air Drying
A Time-Saving Option Made For Air Dried Hair
Ouai Air Dry Foam
Haircare minimalists should appreciate this mousse, which is designed to be applied to wet hair for the perfect air dried curls or waves—no heat required. The formula includes carrot protein to reduce frizz and protect against humidity and kale extract for touchable hold and texture. It also has a rich floral scent with hints of bergamot, Italian lemon, rose de mai and violet.
Best Mousse For Thick Hair
A Must-Have For Hairstylist That Gives Plenty Of Movement
Bumble And Bumble Full Form Soft Mousse
Ideal for air dry waves and heat-protective styles, this mousse provides hold for medium to thick manes without compromising movement. A longtime favorite of Yuen’s, he says, “It gives a soft, cushiony kind of texture, holds volume at the root and bends at the end.” It also has a pleasant fragrance of lemon, bergamot, crisp apple, water lily, cedar wood and white musk.
MORE FROMFORBES VETTED
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
- At Forbes Vetted, we’ve researched and written dozens of haircare stories. Author of this piece Jayme Cyk is a regular contributor with more than a decade of experience covering beauty and lifestyle topics.
- This story was overseen by deputy editor Jane Sung, who leads the beauty and grooming category and has 15-plus years of experience covering lifestyle topics.
- Cyk also gathered key insight and guidance from two L.A.-based celebrity hairstylists: Derek Yuen and Hayley Heckmann.
How We Chose The Best Volumizing Mousse
- To select the best volumizing mousse, we carefully evaluated options from various brands, paying special attention to each product’s texture, hold and ingredients.
- Our final list is inclusive of different hair types and concerns, ranging from frizzy hair to dry, damaged locks.
- Additionally, our experts chimed in with recommendations based on their own experiences, while customer reviews were examined for standout product traits.
- As everyone’s haircare budget looks a little different, we included both affordable and luxury options.
What To Consider In A Volumizing Mousse
Mousses don’t all deliver the same results, so it’s helpful to understand the features you’re seeking and how much volume and hold you’re after along with other factors. Here’s what to consider.
Ingredients
Volumizing mousse hasn’t always included hydrating ingredients, but alcohol-free and moisturizing formulations have emerged over the last decade. “Nowadays, brands blend them with oils like avocado, coconut and jojoba and butters like shea and cocoa,” says Yuen. “These are so moisturizing that you can now get that defined curl or hold without the crunch.”
Finish
Volumizing mousse is considered a styling product rather than a finishing product. However, if the formula contains certain ingredients like amino acids or sea buckthorn, it can boost shine. Yuen recommends choosing a true finishing product to alter the texture and shine in a more dramatic way. “The only thing that can change the finish is a finishing spray, hairspray or shine oil,” he says.
Formula
Heckmann recommends a lightweight mousse for fine hair and most hair types so it doesn’t weigh down strands. “I like to see the texture of a mousse in my hand before I pick what I’m going to use,” she says. “I prefer something that’s not super watery or heavy. The best way to describe it is a silky foam.”
Does Volumizing Mousse Really Work?
Yes, volumizing mousse works, and there are ways to manipulate it to enhance the lift and volume. “The thing about a mousse is it needs a little heat, which softens it; otherwise, it can get crunchy,” says Yuen.
Heckmann is a fan of using mousse on second-day hair. She sprays the root down with a water bottle, goes in with a little bit of product on her fingertips, presses it through and pinches it to give it a little lift. Then, she finishes by blow drying with a round metal brush and setting it with rollers.
Which Mousse Is Best For Thin Hair?
For fine hair, Heckmann loves the R+Co Bleu Highest Volumizing Mousse because of its lightweight consistency. “I would start with less product, about half a handful, because it’s very easy for someone with fine hair to weigh down their strands with too much product,” she says. Other options include Amika’s Plus Size Perfect Body Hair Mousse, which has a hydrating whipped texture without weighing down strands, and Starring By Ted Gibson Shooting Star Texture Meringue.
How Often Should I Use Volumizing Mousse?
You can use volumizing mousse as frequently as you want. Many formulas offer heat protection and added hydration, so they treat and style simultaneously. “If you want to give yourself a voluminous blowout one day and then want beach waves the next day, you can use mousse to do both,” says Heckmann.
