The Best Mousse for Curly Hair (2024)

Hair mousse may be most well-known for its volumizing benefits, but it's also a star curl styler. Mousses for curly hair increase fullness by creating space between strands with their aerated foam formulas, enhance the shape of spirals with plumping ingredients like polymers, and can provide conditioning benefits via boosters like silicones and botanical oils. And experts agree that mousse is one of the best products for naturally curly hair, to enhance the bounce and shape of fine or thin curls, or to help hold curls in straight hair.

If you have fine or thin curls, live in an environment where your curls tend to go limp, or like the combination of a volume boost, shaping, and softening properties, curl mousses may be for you. Meanwhile, curl gels typically offer stronger definition and hold with less volume and conditioning and curl creams usually provide more hydration with less hold and fullness.

The Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab tests hair mousses both on consumer testers and in the Lab using technical protocols. Testers evaluate the mousses at home for their ease of use and performance, and in the Lab, scientists test them on human hair samples, with half a head styled with no product and the other half with the hair mousse to gauge its effects.

Lush, bouncy curls are right this way with the best mousses for curly hair of 2020 according to Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab experts and shoppers, including curly girl-approved drugstore picks, non-crunchy formulas, curling mousses for fine hair, and more:

A winner of the GH Beauty Lab's hair mousse test, Biolage’s whipped mousse was a tester favorite for curls, thanks to its creamy texture and humidity-blocking effects. “My curls lasted longer after styling with this mousse,” a fan reported. Even better, “there was no real crunchiness or stiffness,” another said.

You'd be hard-pressed to get a better dealon a curl mousse than this formula from Herbal Essences, priced at less than $3. And it's not just affordable; consumers report that it really works for uplifting and defining curls. "Best mousse ever," a Walmart reviewer noted. "I have natural curly hair and this mousse is perfect — it gently lifts and separates my curls, butdoesn't leave my hair feeling oily or heavy."

At an affordable price point, reviewers are obsessed with this hydrating mousse that's part cream, part foam for hydrated spirals that are totally crunch-free. Over 4,400 reviewers love theshea butter and coconut oil formula, saying "this is holding my curls softly but with control," and "the mousse is very creamy and the residue on my hands was not sticky."

Created by hairstylist Kim Kimble, known for styling some of the most famous celebrity curls, this whipped mousse is more than just a curl shaper. The formula is enhanced with nourishing ingredients like aloe, hydrolyzed silk, and argan oil to deliver conditioning and softening effects at the same time.

A GH Beauty Award winner, this airy, feather-light Not Your Mother’s texturizing mousse made with coconut water helps enhance hair’s natural shape and bend. “I’m not a regular mousse user, but this converted me,” a tester revealed. “My hair felt bouncy and fuller, and there was zero sticky or stiff residue.”

In the GH Beauty Lab’s hair mousses test, this Joico foam scored high for boosting volume, key for fine or limp curls. “It helped accentuate my curls and added volume to my hair, and holds the curls well,” a tester reported.

This specialized quick-drying curl mousse fromKinky-Curly was created to be used as a prep step before twisting or rolling curls. "One of the few products that gives coily hair definition and also useful for just twirling the hair around the index finger to get curls," an Amazon reviewer noted.

For serious curl staying power, look no further than this strong-hold Pantene foam."I use this as part of my curly styling routine, and it’s been my favorite mousse I’ve tried!” an Amazonreviewer said. “It is not drying to my hair, but it provides good hold and is also good for touch-ups after my hair has dried."

This unique mousse for curly hair from Mixed Chicks was formulated to be used on dry hair torevive second (or third or fourth) day curls. "Literal life saver— this product is so amazing!" an Ulta reviewer raved. "It quickly recurled all my flat 2-4 day old curls and didn't leave them sticky or crunchy."

Treat your curls to this decadentOribe mousse, infused with vitamins, protein, andbotanicals like sweet almond oil and sunflower extract. "I don't mind paying the price because it keeps my ringlets perfect in all weather," an Amazon reviewer reported. Another agreed: "This is the best hair product for curly hair that I've ever used— it's light but gives my hair body and holds curls for several days."