When it comes to hair products, it seems to be the year of the comebacks!
Take mousse, for example. Back in the ’80s and ’90s, it helped hold up all of those over-the-top hair styles, but these days, there’s a lot more to this fabulous styling foam than just creating big hair.
Use it for: Body and bounce
The lightweight nature of mousse makes it a winning way to infuse body into fine or flat hair without weighing it down and is especially useful for getting lift at the roots.
Choose a body-enhancing mousse, such as TONI&GUY Prep Volume Plumping Mousse, $9.99, and dry it into the hair with a blowdryer and a round brush, making sure you lift your hair as you dry.
Popping some Velcro rollers into your hair while it’s still warm will help to lock in that extra volume created by the mousse. Once cool, remove the rollers and gently brush out for a natural-looking wave, then lightly spritz with hairspray.
Use it for: Staying power
When you need to make a special style last, mousse can make all the difference.
“To give yourself a good base for setting and styling, prep the hair with a mousse such as L’Oréal Professionnel Tecni.Art Volume Lift, $34, which will help it hold for the entire night,” suggests L’Oréal Professionnel stylist for KTIZO Hair & Spa, Laura Williams.
“I recommend separating the hair into three sections and applying a golf-ball size of mousse onto clean wet hair from roots to ends before drying and styling.”
Laura says you can use mousse on dry hair as well when you want to create texture, or if your hair is fine and you want the curl to hold.
Use it to: Get “lived-in” texture
“The reason mousse is great for hair these days is the products are so much lighter and they don’t leave the hair feeling oily at all,” explains Pureology ambassador and co-founder of Dry & Tea, Louise Pilkington.
She says Pureology Colour Stylist Silk Bodifier, $38, is a great example. It feels lightweight but also gives your hair body, along with that popular “lived-in” look.
Louise suggests applying a walnut-sized ball of product into your palm, rub your hands together, then spread it through mid-lengths and ends, only putting a small amount on the roots. Repeat as needed, depending on hair thickness and length, then dry and style.
“Finish with a light-hold hairspray to keep the fullness achieved by the mousse in place all day,” adds Louise.
Use it to: Freshen up colour
Colouring your hair at home with drip-free mousse formulas has been around for a little while, but Schwarzkopf has come up with a version you can take with you right into the shower to temporarily revive shabby looking colour.
“It’s the perfect product to use between salon visits or when you don’t have time to colour your hair yourself,” says Schwarzkopf NZ technical expert Toni-Anne Arbon.
Spread this semi-permanent, foolproof mousse onto your hair when it’s wet and rinse it out after three minutes – you don’t even need gloves.
“Because it has no ammonia or peroxide, it’s incredibly gentle on the hair,” explains Toni-Anne.
Bear in mind it’s not permanent colour, so it won’t cover greys, but it will help to subtly blend them as well as improve faded looking colour. Schwarzkopf Live Salon Colour Mousse Refresher, $16.99, comes in cool brown, dark brown and red.
