There are affiliate links in this post.
I spent the first two years of the curly girl method using gel. The first gel I ever tried was LA Looks gel. It worked well and it’s super affordable. I just didn’t see a reason to try anything else for quite a while.
I don’t even remember why, but one day I decided to try mousse. I noticed that I had better root volume and my hair dried faster. I have very dense hair and was used to diffusing for over an hour. Cutting over 20 minutes off my diffusing time felt like a huge benefit.
Once again, I stuck with the same product for quite a long time. It was working well, so why change things up, I thought. Then the frugal side of me started wondering if I could get similar results from a cheaper mousse.
At first, testing different mousses on my wavy hair was just for my own experimentation. Then I realized I could make this into a resource for others. So I went back and re-used some for the sake of taking pictures and making detailed notes on the results.
Marketing does not do a very good job of letting you know what you’ll really get from a mousse, in my opinion. For example “level 3 hold” doesn’t mean much if you have never used that brand before. I thought a detailed mousse comparison could be really helpful.
To try to ensure that my results weren’t based on my routine, I used the same hair routine as closely as possible each time I tested a mousse.
The routine I used to test with:
My routine was to shampoo just my scalp, scrunch and pulse while shampoo is in my hair. Rinse. Add conditioner to the lower 3/4 of my strands, scrunch and pulse. Use a wide tooth comb to comb through my hair, then clip all of my hair on top of my head while I shave.
Unclip hair, rinse all of the conditioner out while my head is upside down, use wide tooth comb to align hairs, scrunch hair a few times to squeeze some water out. Then I would plop my hair with a hair towel for about 10-15 minutes, take the shirt off my head, microplop to get more water out and then add the mousse.
I always added the mousse by glazing and then scrunching. I always started testing each mousse with 4 palm fulls as that’s how much I usually need. I’d add one handful of mousse to the left side, one to the right side, one to the back, and then spread the last handful over any areas that felt sparse.
Microplop again, and diffuse. I always started diffusing by loading all of my hair into the diffuser for about 5 minutes. Then I would turn my head upright and align my hair, fix any wonky spots, and then move on to diffusing in sections (left front, right front, left back, right back) until dry. I used medium heat and speed each time.
While testing a mousse, I tried to leave my hair down as much as possible, only putting it up if I had to cook or do something messy, and then taking it back down to reduce the risk of my pattern being damaged by being up. At night, I pineapple my hair the way I described in my how to sleep on wavy hair post.
I did NO refreshing at all. Typically I would refresh when I start to lose definition. However, I specifically wanted to test how long these would all last without needing to refresh because I find it’s far easier to just get good hold from your wash day products vs having to refresh every single day. Also, it seems to be easier to get good refresh results if the hair is still in decent shape before refreshing.
If I didn’t get a cast the first time that I used the product, or didn’t get a cast over my whole head, I tested that mousse a second time and made adjustments to try to get better results. If I got results that felt like I used too much product, I would try again using less. So, some of these were tested multiple times but others worked well on the first try and then I only tested them once.
What you consider to be the best mousse will depend somewhat on what you like from a mousse. The chart below shares the cast, definition, volume, frizz control, and drying time properties of each of 10 mousses.
I also took note of how long my hair took to dry when using these products, and whether or not they are curly girl approved products. Instead of just sharing my favorites, I took note of a variety of properties so that you can decide what might be best for you based on what you prefer in a mousse.
Best Mousse For Wavy Hair
| Product | Cast | Definition | Volume | Frizz level | Long lasting | Dry time | CGM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aussie Miracle Curls | Hard | Good | Average | Low | Average | 48 minutes | Yes |
| pantene pro-v curl | Medium | Average | Big | Very low | Fair | 48 minutes | Yes |
| Aussie Sprunch | None | Average | Average | Low | Very poor | 59 minutes | No |
| Suave Professionals Captivating Curls | Hard | Good | Very Big | Low | Good | 39 minutes | No |
| Aussie Instant Freeze | Hard | Good | Big | Low | Average | 40 minutes | Yes |
| Herbal Essences Totally Twisted | Medium | Fair | Big | High | Poor | 43 minutes | Yes |
| Herbal Essences Body Envy | Medium | Very good | Low | Low | Poor | 40 minutes | Yes |
| OGX locking + coconut | Light | Average | Big | High | Fair | 47 minutes | Yes |
| Not Your Mother’s Curl talk | Hard | Good | Big | Low | Very good | 39 minutes | yes |
| Garnier Fructis Curl Construct | None | Good | Average | Low | Very poor | 50 minutes | No |
| Cake Mousse | Soft | Good | Good | Average | Average | 45 minutes | yes |
My personal favorite and what I prefer in a mousse:
I have dense, medium to coarse, mixed porosity hair. Low porosity roots, average porosity upper strands, and high porosity lower strands. My hair does not support itself well, I need a good cast and strong hold to maintain definition for multiple days. My hair is not very prone to getting “stringy”.
I’d say my hair gets weighed down about “average” compared to others with wavy hair. I am not extremely easily weighed down, but it happens with oily products. My hair does not look or feel greasy particularly easily. My hair takes forever to dry, over 6 hours to air dry without any products in it!
In terms of my style preferences, I prioritize volume over definition though definition matters to me as well. I am not someone who is too fixated on frizz. My main goals with mousse are hard hold, big volume, at least decent definition, and long-lasting results. Oh, and I prefer curly girl approved products but it’s not an absolute must.
Based on these, my overall favorite is the Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk Mousse…which is what I started off with! It gives me big volume, good definition, a good hard cast, and long-lasting results while being curly girl approved.
My next favorites are the Suave professionals captivating curls mousse and Aussie Instant Freeze mousse. Lower in this post I’ll discuss each mousse a bit individually so you can read why those were runner-ups for me.
Best mousse for reducing frizz
Other mousses that are good for controlling frizz:
- Aussie miracle curls
- Aussie sprunch
- Suave professionals captivating curls
- Aussie instant freeze
- Not your mother’s curl talk mousse
- Herbal essences body envy
- Garnier Fructis Curl Construct
Most long-lasting mousse
Other long-lasting mousses
- Suave Professionals Captivating Curls
Best mousse for defined waves
Other mousses for well-defined waves
- Aussie Miracle curls
- Cake Mousse
- Suave Professionals Captivating Curls
- Aussie Instant Freeze
- Garnier Fructis Curl Construct
- Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk
Best Mousse For Voluminous Waves
Other mousses for voluminous waves
- Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk
- Cake mousse
- Pantene pro-v curl
- Aussie instant freeze
- Herbal Essences Totally Twisted
- OGX locking + coconut
Mousse that gives a hard cast:
- Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk
- Aussie Miracle Curls
- Aussie Instant Freeze
- Suave Professionals Captivating Curls
Mousse that won’t make hair crunchy
- Garnier Fructis Curl Construct
- Aussie Sprunch
- Cake Mousse
Mousse that dries quickly
- Suave Professionals Captivating Curls
- Not your mother’s curl talk
- Aussie Instant Freeze
- Herbal essences totally twisted
- Herbal Essences Body Envy
- Cake Mousse
Affordable curly girl approved mousse
- Herbal essences totally twisted mousse (~$2.90)
- Herbal essences body envy mousse (~$2.90)
- Aussie miracle curls mousse (~$5)
- Aussie instant freeze mousse (~$3.50)
- Not your mother’s curl talk (~$7.50)
- Pantene Pro-V Curl (~$5)
- OGX locking + coconut (~$7.00)
Best cheap mousse
Most Popular Mousse For Wavy Hair
Herbal Essences Totally Twisted
*This is the only part of this blog post that relies on gathering data from others vs my own testing. “Most popular” requires getting information from other people with wavy hair. So, I put out a poll asking people with wavy hair what their favorite mousse was.
I did two polls, I put one in the Wavy Girl Method Facebook group, and one in the /r/wavyhair subreddit. I asked people on reddit to not do the poll if they happened to also be in the Facebook group, to avoid the risk of repeated answers.
There were 97 total responses.
| Mousse | Votes |
| Herbal Essences Totally Twisted | 40 |
| NYM Curl Talk | 17 |
| Cake Mousse | 10 |
| Giovanni Eco Chic Foam | 9 |
| OGX Locking Coconut Curls Mousse | 7 |
| Innersense I Create Hold Foam | 6 |
The remaining mousses each got 1 vote each:
- Texture ID styling foam
- tigi bedhead foxy curls extreme curl mousse
- Mielle Brazillian curly mousse
- Kenra curl glaze mousse
- Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscuis Mousse
Money-Saving Tip!
If you’re going to order mousse online, sign up for Rakuten. They work with all sorts of online retailers (including Walmart.com, Target.com, Ulta.com and others) and will give you cashback when you spend. It varies by retailer and offers change, but Walmart frequently offers 6% cashback through Ratuken, for example.
If you’re new to Rakuten, sign up with my link and place a $20 order, and you’ll get $20 cash back! This offer is only for new Rakuten members and for people in the US, D.C and Canada only. If you do this, I’ll earn $20 as well, just to be transparent. I have used Rakuten for years when purchasing across the web. Why not get some of your money back, right?
Comparing mousses for wavy hair
Aussie Miracle Curls Mousse. This is a really airy, light mousse. It has a moderate coconut-like scent. I used 4 handfuls to get good coverage. It was not sticky at any point. I found my results “wearable” for the first 2 days, but I had lost too much definition after 48 hours to feel comfortable wearing my hair that way.
Something I noticed about this product is it felt a bit heavy or product-y, despite not weighing me down. Also, the can for this mousse is a bit smaller than most others making it a slightly worse value.
Pantene pro-v curl mousse. This mousse has a consistency similar to shaving cream. It has a mild, sweet smell. I used 3 handfuls of this product which is less than I need of most mousses. I had to microplop a bit more than usual after applying the mousse, as my hair really fell a lot just from adding the mousse.
However, my results when dry were not weighed down. I felt that this mousse controlled my frizz best out of the mousses that I tested. My volume and definition both started out well, but my one side fell flat pretty early on. It also felt a bit heavy or product-y. I suspect that if you used this mouse and didn’t microplop, it would be a good mousse for very low-frizz, really defined waves. Those aren’t my top hair goals, but if they are yours, I’d give this one a try.
aussie sprunch mousse. I was excited to try this because it claimed to be a mousse and leave-in conditioner in one. I’ve struggled to find any leave in conditioners that don’t weigh me down, so I thought having a moisturizing mousse might be a great solution. This mousse is thin and light but not airy/spongy in texture making it somewhat unique texture wise.
It has a mild to moderate sweet smell. I used 4 handfuls which is a typical amount for me. It took the longest to dry out of the mousses that I tried. I got no cast from this mousse, yet my hair did have a wet type look until I scrunched it. My hair felt a bit messy and just not “put together” from the beginning, yet it very quickly fell apart and became overly soft and lacking in definition.
The 2nd photo was the morning after washing (less than 24 hours) yet it had already dramatically lost its shape. It did have some waves to it, but the frizziness and general disheveled feeling made me not want to wear it even on day 2, making it the shortest lasting of the mousses I tried. I could really feel the product in my hair the whole time, too. This was my least-favorite mousse of them all, unfortunately.
Suave professionals captivating curls mousse. This mousse is thick and does not ‘grow” after coming out of the can. It comes out of the can more like Reddiwhip or something. It is airy yet very silky, sort of moisturizing feeling in my hands. I found that a little of this goes a lot farther, I found that 2.5 palmfuls is ideal for me, vs 4 palmfuls of other mousses.
This is a really affordable product, so the fact that I can use less makes this the cheapest mousse I tried. It gave me the best volume out of all the mousses, and I love big volume so that made this one of my favorites. It also was pretty long-lasting, I was comfortable with wearing my hair on day 3 without refreshing.
While it offers good volume, it doesn’t sacrifice definition too much. The scent is pretty light and I couldn’t pinpoint any particular type of scent. It dried pretty quickly which is another big bonus for me seems how my hair takes a long time to dry. It gave a good cast. It did feel slightly sticky when applying, but didn’t feel sticky at all after it dried.
The only downside of this product for me is it is not curly girl approved. It has two silicones. However, in my opinion they are more acceptable silicones than some others. One is dimethicone which is a water soluble silicone so it won’t build up as badly as some other silicones.
The other is amodimethicone which is somewhat unique because it specifically adheres to damaged portions of the hair only. It also will not “stack up” on damaged areas, so if you use this twice in a row, it won’t attach to layers deep to the same area of damage.
So while this is not a water-soluable silicone and will need a good cleanser to fully remove, it is going to help smooth damaged areas without causing as much build up as other silicones.
Because this mousse offers so much of what I want in a product, and because the silicones are not the worst of the worst, I’ll be repurchasing this product. This is my second favorite mousse from the group I tested.
Aussie Instant Freeze Mousse. This mousse has a texture similar to light shaving cream. It had a moderate sweet scent. I used my typical amount, 4 handfuls, to get good coverage. It dried quickly compared to other mousses. It gives a good hard cast, and has pretty good frizz control. I had almost no frizz on day 1, but noticed a bit more as days went on.
I had good volume on day 1, though I do feel like my volume dropped a bit quicker than I would have expected based on my initial results. It gave me pretty good definition, and I was comfortable enough with my day 3 hair to still wear it out. This mousse is curly girl approved and only about $3.50 at most stores.
Overall this mousse hit almost all of my goals for a mousse, making it my #3 favorite. I’d recommend this mousse for people who are new, think they want a hard hold mousse that offers good volume, and are looking to stick to a very tight budget but want a curly girl approved mousse.
Herbal Essences Totally Twisted. This is the mousse I see recommended to newbies most often. It has a shaving-cream like consistency, and I didn’t notice any scent at all. It dried a bit faster than some other mousses that I’ve tried. It only gave me a light cast, and did not have good frizz control, I had moderate frizz from day 1.
It gave me some definition, but not very good, and my hair fell a lot after 24 hours. I didn’t find it wearable after day 2, making it one of the worst mousses in terms of how long it lasted for me. It gave decent volume overall, but my roots didn’t have much volume so I think they were a bit weighed down. It is curly girl approved and very affordable at a bit shy of $3.
Overall, I didn’t find this to be a very good performing mousse for me. I wonder if this works better on other hair types. Perhaps for those who don’t need a hard hold it works better, or for those who are prone to stringy hair? But, if it is recommended due to the low price, I’d recommend trying Aussie instant freeze mousse as it performed much better and for only about .60 more than this costs. Below you’ll see that I also had better results from another Herbel Essences mousse that is the exact same price at my store.
Herbal Essences Body Envy. I see the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted mousse recommended a lot, but after finding that it didn’t have enough hold for me, I decided to try this Body Envy line. It’s rated as having a 4 hold, while the totally twisted is rated 3. This mousse is the same price as the totally twisted, and is curly girl approved.
This mousse is an interesting texture, it looks similar to shaving cream, but when you spread it, it is extremely airy or spongey in texture. The most spongy/airy of all the mousses I’ve tried. It has a strong citrus smell. I used my typical amount, 4 palmfuls to get a cast. It dried quickly compared to some other mousses.
It gave me a noticeable cast, though not a super hard one. It doesn’t have great frizz control, I’d say I had moderate frizz immediately. It also didn’t help my curls clump very well. I had some stringy pieces that were lacking a cast and those were especially frizzy. What curls did cast had good definition, but in noticeably smaller clumps than I usually get. My volume was lower than I usually get.
My hair fell apart a lot in the first day, so I re-washed in 2 days instead of my usual 3. Overall, this mousse was not my favorite due to not controlling my frizz well enough, and due to not lasting long enough. I do prefer it a bit over the totally twisted mousse though.
OGX locking+ coconut mousse. This mousse felt more unique from the others in several ways. The texture is like a heavy, moisturizing shaving cream. It has a strong coconut scent. The first time I tried to use it, I felt really oversaturated with 3 handfuls, but then I got no cast. So I tried again using my usual 4 handfuls.
To be able to use that much, I had to give it time to absorb between handfuls. After using 4 handfuls I got a cast, but not a hard one. I had some stringy pieces not in clumps, and I had some frizz immediately. Due to the lack of a hard cast, I expected that my hair would fall apart really quickly. I liked the volume it gave me, though.
I was pleasantly surprised that my 2nd day hair was pretty good! It really fell apart on the third day though, too much for me to wear out. It gave me pretty good definition. This is curly girl approved. I got this on Walmart.com for under $5 on sale a couple weeks ago, but it is usually closer to $8 in stores. It feels heavy in my hair, but didn’t weigh me down.
If you’re someone who doesn’t need or want a hard hold but likes volume, and are okay with refreshing your hair a lot or washing frequently, this might be a good one to try.
Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk mousse. This mousse is sort of a mid-weight shaving cream texture. It has a mild, fresh smell. I use 4 palmfuls, and it dries a bit faster than some other mousses. It gives me a nice, hard cast despite the brand rating it 2 out of 5 in terms of its hold. I have minimal frizz with this. It can be sticky if you use too much, but won’t be if you use the right amount.
It gives me big volume, and good definition. This is the best lasting mousse out of all that I tried. I am still very happy with my hair on day 3. It is curly girl approved, and usually around $7.50 in stores. This does make it one of the more expensive mousses on this list, though it’s still affordable in my opinion.
Overall this is my favorite mousse because it gives me big volume, good definition, and it lets me hair look good the longest.
Garnier fructis curl construct. This is another shaving cream type mousse, but it’s quite airy once spread. It has a moderate citrus scent. I used my usual 4 palmfuls. It took quite a long time to dry. It didn’t give me a cast. It controlled my frizz well. My initial results looked okay, I thought. I had a bit less volume and definition than usual.
My hair really fell apart fast with this mousse though, day 2 was significantly straighter and less defined than the first day. This mousse is not curly girl approved. I did notice that this seemed to help my hair clump well when wet. I had almost no wet frizz! If you don’t need long-lasting hold or hard hold, but are really concerned about frizz, this might be worth a try. It was a pretty bad match for my hair goals though, making it one of my least favorites.
Cake Mousse. This mousse was compared several months later which is why my hair is shorter. I also DID refresh my hair each day in this, where I did NOT refresh my hair with the other mousses. This mousse does not hold up well without refreshing. However, it is a very light mousse that feels like it totally disappears into my hair, so I don’t mind adding more mousse on day 2 and day 3 to refresh.
Even refreshing 2 days in a row with more mousse, my hair doesn’t feel “producty”. Prior to trying this mousse I had always strived for a mousse that would last without needing to refresh. This is one where I don’t mind using it to refresh. This mousse does have a strong scent (lemon) that I don’t care for but it fades after my hair dries.
What I like best about this mousse is how it leaves my hair feeling product-free, yet it lends support and definition to my hair. It doesn’t do a great job of containing my frizz. It gives me a soft cast. I had seen many others online say a little gets a long way with this mousse.
I tried using less than my normal amount at first, but I found that it works best when I use my typical amount (Which is 3 palmfuls now that my hair is shorter). This mousse really has changed my view on mousse a bit. I still really like the Not Your Mother’s Curl Talk Mousse because of how long it lasts.
However, this Cake Mousse is now my #2 favorite – and for much different reasons than why I like the Curl Talk Mousse. It’s really nice to have really soft, natural feeling hair sometimes.
Check out my wavy hair product recommendations post to see other product types that I recommend.
Several-day reader, first time commenter here. Emily!!! Thank you so much for all of this information. I have loved reading up on your wavy takes on CGM, as I am about to start my own wavy girl journey. I’ve been gathering a ton of info and product recommendations from people like you and Alyson (real life+curly girl). I also noticed/read that you are also from Michigan! I grew up in Battle Creek, but now I’m in Seattle. I, too, love true crime and cults and all the weird shit (I’m a Karen if we are talking about MFM.)
Anyway, I have been reading your blog and taking notes for a few days now so I just wanted to express my gratitude for all the honest information you have given your readers and the selfless experiments you have performed on your beautiful hair. Thank you, I hope 2021 is good to you!
Sorry, I Thought I had replied to this but now it looks like it never went through?
Thanks so much for the kind words! I hope that the notes you’ve taken help you a lot with your wavy hair journey. I listened to real life + curly girl a lot when I was brand new to CGM! I found that some things that work for her work for me as well, and others don’t, but that is true with most everyone. We all have slightly different hair so what works for me may not work for you all the time. Still, I hope it’s able to give people a good jumping off point at least! Alyson’s hair is a lot lower density than mine which I think is a main reason why her hair reacts differently to some things than mine does as mine is quite dense.
I lived in battle creek for a couple of years! About 2 years while attending KCC. So, definitely a small world. 🙂
I love your blog! New to trying to get my wavy/frizzy hair into curls and this has helped so much. Keep doing what you’re doing, you are super pretty! xx
Aww that’s so sweet! Thank you!
Hiya, firstly wanted to say a big thanks to you for all your amazing posts – so detailed and useful for someone taking their first steps into the wavy world!
I was especially excited about this article because I’m finally ready to buy some products – was about to rush off and order NYM mousse/Suave! Unfortunately, I’m based in the UK so quickly realised that they’re pretty much not available here 🙁
Would really love to hear your thoughts/reviews on any UK-based products! From research/friends, have you come across any good UK mousse recommendations?
If not, would you be able to signpost any websites/online groups with UK product reviews/recommendations for wavy hair?
(I’ve come close to ordering UK products but can’t figure out if they’re predominantly for really curly/kinky hair or if they’d work for wavy too…)
Thanks so much! And again, really appreciate all your efforts with this incredible blog 🙂
Thank you! I’d recommend checking out this subreddit that is for people doing CGM or otherwise with curly hair who are in the UK so they could help with product recs, I bet! https://www.reddit.com/r/CurlyHairUK/
I just wanted to tell you, thank you so much for your blog! Im mixed, asian and Caucasian so it took forever for me to learn to like my hair. It’s wavyish, born curly. I used the wrong products for years thinking I had straight hair like the majority of my family. You helped me save so much money, time, and each review you had was detailed. All the details you wrote in this blog helped a lot. I’m still healing my hair from damage but it’s helped a lot.
Aww, thanks! Glad my blog has helped some. 🙂
Thank you for sharing all the results that you worked so hard to get. I’m very interested in your data but there’s one thing I’m very concerned about that I didn’t see you in your reports. Which of your products are cruelty free? Could that data be shared as well?
with thanks
You’re right, it would be a good category to include in the chart! I need my boyfriends help to edit the hTML for the table so I cant’ do that right now but for your reference, the following brands are cruelty free: Aussie, Suave, Herbal Essences, Not Your Mother’s, Cake beauty, and Garnier. So the only brands in this post that aren’t cruelty free are Pantene (they don’t test on animals but aren’t considered cruelty free), and OGX.
Also, I know sometimes people interested in cruelty-free products are also interested in vegan products. Cake Beauty is also vegan. The Not Your Mother’s brand is primarily vegan though they do have a few non-vegan products, the mousse shared in this article is vegan.
This is fabulous information! I am wondering how you know the porosity of your individual strands of hair?
I have a blog post that I’ll link below that goes through how to determine your wavy hair type. 🙂
https://wavyhaircarer.com/how-to-determine-your-wavy-hair-type/
Amazing post, thank you so much for doing the extra mile! Very helpful, indeed!
Thank you so much for including the different pictures! I can’t tell you how much that helped me! I’ve been really trying to find something volumizing, but staying within the CGM, and it’s difficult to choose within recommendations when it’s just: ‘this worked for me’. I will definitely be saving this article and recommending it to others. Thank you for your dedication and work. 🙂
Aww, thank you! This was a huge investment of my time. I’ve been blogging over 15 years but this post and my gels comparison post are the two that have taken the most of my time to create, by far! So I’m glad that it has paid off by really helping people. 🙂