8 Best Hair Mousse Brands for Women

Hold: This does offer the strongest of holds, though it’s enough to keep most wavy, textured styles in place. It’s not strong enough for those that find their hair never holds a curl.

Shine: While you may find a little extra shine in your hair when using this, you shouldn’t expect it to give you a lot. But, that’s not why you turn to this mousse.

Scent: This smells like a rich and decadent flowery perfume – most people love it and many find it somewhat light and neutral, but there are some that find it’s a little too “old lady”.

What’s inside: The sea kelp extract imparts the same sort of texture and volume to your hair that sea salt does.

So, if you love your hair at the beach, you definitely need to give this product a try. Also, of the few ingredients inside, you won’t find parabens, sulfates, or alcohol. But, it does include added fragrance.

We really like the way this smells and the ingredients on the inside.

We also like the texture it imparts and the hold it provides most users. But you do need to remember that if you have stick-straight hair, it’s not a miracle worker.

That said, if you want good volume and texture without the curls, you’ll get it. And if you have some texture, you can make waves. Either way, you won’t end up with crunchy hair; it will stay touchably soft.

To get the waves you want, you should use this mousse after washing, conditioning, and towel drying your hair.

Work this through your hair before drying and styling. All of 2 pumps of mousse is enough for fine or short hair, and unless your hair is to your knees, you shouldn’t need more than 5.

While the MSRP for this mousse is just over $16, you can find it for under $14 on Amazon – with Prime shipping.

That’s for a 5.1-ounce bottle, which works out to a little less than $2.75. That’s not exactly cheap, but finding mousse of this calibre is tough; just get it.

Hold: The hold on this mousse is a little difficult to explain, it is comparatively light, but it does have a strong lasting effect.

Perhaps the easiest way to describe it is that it will definitely hold waves on long hair for the whole day, but it won’t do the same with artificial curls.

Shine: This definitely gives hair a little bit of shine. We wouldn’t call it high-gloss, but you will definitely get a soft sheen.

Scent: The scent of this mousse is something you won’t be able to escape; it’s simply intoxicating.

It smells like crème brûlée – something like vanilla and toasted marshmallows. Yum…

What’s inside: Not Your Mother’s is a cruelty-free brand and this product is vegan. But, you should be aware that there are parabens in the mix; it also includes added fragrance.

This is the kind of hair styling product that you’ll want to eat; it smells so good. Truly, we can’t overstate that.

But there are other benefits here too. It really does add a superb amount of volume while remaining lightweight.

The hold is long-lasting and the non-sticky formula will leave your hair shiny and soft, working well across long hair and short.

The manufacturer doesn’t recommend a specific application, so feel free to experiment with wet and dry hair.

You’re likely to experience more volume if you apply to damp hair and blow dry it in – but be careful not to use too much. Luckily, it doesn’t leave your hair sticky.

You’ll pay roughly $29 or $30 for 2 bottles of this mousse – that’s 14 ounces, which isn’t bad at all. It works out to a little more than $2/ounce.

It’s not a Prime product, but it does have free shipping which is a plus.

Hold: Provides a touchable, medium-style hold. Works well while still allowing you to comb through your hair with the product in. Great for controlling frizz, particularly in curly hair.

Shine: Intended to add shine to that beautiful hair.

Scent: Users seem to enjoy its coconut like smell.

What’s inside: If you value knowing what exactly is in the product you’re putting in your hair this one probably won’t disappoint you. It is paraben free, vegan, and color safe.

Easy to use on wet or dry hair.

This relatively inexpensive product is available in 3 sizes, so you can test it out with a smaller size first if you so desire to make sure it’s the product for you before dropping much money.

• 9 Fl. Oz. – $22
• 7 Fl. Oz. – $8.80 – $11 (depending where you purchase it)
• 2 Fl. Oz. – $7

Hold: The hold is somewhere between light and medium, as you would expect from most mousse products.

That said, it does last all day and even does a great job through humidity.

Shine: This doesn’t impart any shine, though it does have conditioning agents. Use it more for volume, combining it with a shine-adding product if that’s important to you.

Scent: Most users enjoy the smell of this mousse, though it doesn’t have that much of a fragrance. It’s sort of a clean smell if anything.

What’s inside: It’s paraben, sulfate, and phthalate free, but it does have alcohol in it. Also, it’s not a cruelty-free brand.

But on the good side, it has plenty of conditioning agents, including soy protein and wheat amino acids.

If you want to make your fine hair appear thicker, this is where you should start. Although, you really do need to pay attention to the application instructions or you won’t get the result you want.

It’s a thick, cushioning, sculpting mousse that holds throughout the day. It doesn’t add shine, but you will get volume and body.

This mousse must be applied to damp hair before heat styling, otherwise you will end up with a bit of a flat greasy look.

You can actually layer this on top of itself to build a stronger, but still non-crunchy hold.

This is definitely one of the most expensive mousses on the market. The MSRP is $35, though you can get it on Amazon for $30 (most of the time), which works out to just under $6/ounce.

And while it has free shipping, it’s not a Prime product.

Hold: This spray mousse lifts and holds hair surprisingly well. But, keep in mind that this isn’t really for holding curls in place as much as it is for holding your hair up and away from your scalp. You may want to top with hairspray.

Shine: This isn’t going to give you any shine; in fact, it may even go so far as to add a matte finish. If you need gloss, you’ll need to add it separately.

Scent: This volumizer has a floral scent, though it’s a little difficult to figure out exactly what that aroma is. Nonetheless, most people like it.

What’s inside: If you ever wanted to look at a long list of chemical names that you don’t understand, look no further.

There aren’t a lot of natural ingredients here. It’s also not vegan, nor can the brand call itself cruelty-free. It also includes added fragrance, though it’s paraben-free.

All in, it can make a person cringe, though the product works.

Once you get over the ingredient list of this spray mousse, everything else is so praiseworthy that it would be difficult to ignore it – especially if you have flat hair (of any length or texture).

It’s non-sticky, non-crunchy, pleasant smelling and adds a huge amount of volume with a fair amount of hold. That, and it sells at a terrific price. You’ve got to love that.

This really must be applied to damp hair; don’t attempt to apply it to dry hair.

It’s a spray on that goes into the scalp and root areas and is then blow-dried out.

The MSRP is $19, though it’s usually available on Amazon for less than $12. That makes it less than $1.25 per ounce (and there are 10 ounces in a bottle) which is a really terrific price for a mousse.

Plus, it comes with Prime shipping.

Hold: It’s all about hold here. Yes, it adds volume, but this mousse is all about hold; it’s strong and long-lasting.

And, at the same time, your hair will stay soft and bouncy, not stiff.

Shine: Don’t expect any extra shine. It doesn’t make your hair appear dull, mind you; but don’t think this will give you any gloss.

Scent: The scent of this mousse is not its strong point. It’s got a strong flowery, almost fruity aroma and while some like it, others find it unrealistically strong.

What’s inside: If you’re looking for a totally responsible product, you’re in the wrong place. Pantene isn’t cruelty-free.

In addition, you’ll find added fragrance, alcohol, and parabens here – as well as propane. (Get a good hair mask!)

There are pros and there are cons. On the downside, the ingredient list is far from our favorite and the scent can be a little too strong.

But, you just won’t find another mousse with this level of hold – especially while maintaining soft, flexible hair. And, the price is right.

The manufacturer suggests applying this to damp hair and spreading before blow-drying.

There’s a note about allowing it to air dry for a more natural look, but that almost completely negates the point of this mousse.

As far as price goes, you should be very happy. You’ll pay much less than $1 (roughly 86 cents) per ounce – and you get nearly 19 ounces of product.

You can save even more with Subscribe & Save.

The ingredient list is better than some others, the hold is more than passable even as hair remains flexible and natural.

It also gives some shine and the scent is generally non-offensive. Just take a look.

Hold: This mousse holds very well, though it’s not nearly as strong as the marketing would suggest.

Still, it’s a good, long-lasting, non-crunchy hold.

Shine: Not only does this product seem to add a touch of extra, healthy-looking shine, it seems to be flake fee.

Scent: The fragrance is light and non-lingering. It’s mostly nothing at all and is closer to fresh than anything else.

What’s inside: On the plus side, this mousse is alcohol and paraben free. It also has good-for-your-hair ingredients such as keratin amino acids and lanolin.

No, it’s not vegan, nor is it cruelty-free.

You can apply this thick, very typically textured mousse on both dry and damp hair, but it’s definitely better on damp hair, followed by hair drying.

The price is very good on this product; you get 10.5 ounces for $8, which is 76 cents per ounce (a steal, really).

And, even though it’s not a Prime product, it comes with free shipping.

If you’re on a budget, you really do want to get your hands on this mousse.