Best Overall

Bumble and bumble. Thickening Full Form Soft Hair Mousse

$37

$36 at Amazon$37 at Sephora$37 at Ulta

Key Ingredients: Hydrolyzed soy protein, wheat amino acids, panthenol | Hair Type: All | Size: 5 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

The frustration of painstakingly volumizing your hair only to have the fullness drop within a few hours is real. With this mousse from Bumble and bumble., none of your styling efforts will be in vain. The mousse comes out of the dispenser slowly and feels light and fluffy on your fingers. Once dry, there’s no crunch or residue—the weightless foam gives hair instant texture and body, adding bounce and lift to each strand. Credit where it’s due: This mousse has noteworthy staying power. Besides a little static halfway through the day, hairstyles remained intact until bedtime. We could even put our hair up in a clip or bun for a while, and when we shook it loose, the curls were still perfectly coiled.

Rachel, tester with 2A hair: “My hair felt bouncy and thick all day. I could either air-dry or blow-dry and get good results with both.”

Best for Fine Hair

Kérastase Densifique Leave-In Thickening Mousse

$50 at Amazon$50 at SephoraView on Walmart

Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, ceramides, peptides | Hair Type: Thinning, fine | Size: 5 oz | Cruelty-Free: No

When you’re looking for ultimate volume, you need a feather-light mousse. “Pillowy” is the word we’d use to describe this formula, which not only creates the illusion of more volume but actually helps thicken hair over time with top-tier beauty ingredients like strengthening gluco peptide and elasticity-enhancing ceramides. 

After using this volumizing hair mousse for fine hair, our tester’s hair appeared denser, and her curls were defined and bouncy. Although the formula contains hyaluronic acid, it wasn’t noticeably hydrating. If anything, her hair felt a little drier and more static-prone than usual. But all things considered, the volume—especially on curly days—was impressive.

Ciara, tester with 1B hair: “This product does exactly what it states by providing density and hold. It worked very nicely with my hair type and helped give it a little oomph.”

Best Thickening

IGK Big Time Volumizing Mousse

$34

$31 at Amazon$34 at Sephora$34 at Ulta

Key Ingredients: Glycerin, sunflower seed extract | Hair Type: Curly | Size: 6.2 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

This is the formula you’ve been waiting for—one that maximizes your natural volume while also defining and holding your hair’s shape. The heat-activated formula also doubles as a heat protectant. That’s a huge plus for curly hair, which is more prone to dryness and damage than straight hair. 

The ultralight foam didn’t weigh down strands at all, which makes it a great hair mousse for fine hair that already falls flat. In fact, it left hair feeling lighter than usual and lifted from root to tip. We were concerned it might make hair greasy, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, it curbed static, defined curls, and encouraged lots of bounce. We suspect this mousse will really come into its own during the summer months when humidity plays total havoc with curls.

Alexa, tester with 2B hair: “It’s really hard for me to get volume by my scalp, but this mousse managed it. It also added a lot of body and fullness to the lower part of my hair.“

Best for Straight Hair

Aveda Styling Foam

$30

$29 at Amazon$30 at Target$30 at Nordstrom

Key Ingredients: Glycerin, soybean oil | Hair Type: Fine | Size: 6.7 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

There’s no better feeling than leaving the salon with a professional blowout, tresses bouncing in the breeze. No matter how many times we try, we can never quite recreate that level of smooth volume at home—until now. We were totally won over by Aveda’s Phomollient Styling Foam, which gave smooth, shiny, light volume akin to a salon blowout (no small feat given that our tester’s hair is straight and fine in texture but dense in strands, a combo that’s notoriously bad at maintaining volume). The foam formula wasn’t sticky or heavy; once it dried, it left her hair feeling healthy and soft. On the second day, she noticed it helped hold her flat iron waves until evening—another rarity she appreciated.

Erin, tester with 1A hair: “This product worked great with my texture, enhancing it by making it shinier, but still helping it hold styled looks like flat iron waves.”

Best for Curly Hair

PATTERN Beauty Curl Mousse

$25

$24 at Amazon$25 at Sephora$14 at Ulta

Key Ingredients: Marshmallow root, castor oil, glycerin | Hair Type: Curly | Size: 8 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Another great pick for curly and coily hair types is this mousse from Pattern. If you wear your hair natural, you’ll love that this one adds volume and keeps static at bay while hydrating the hair, so that your mane is soft and touchable all day long. It also works to set your hairstyle. so your curls stay defined even longer without falling or losing their shape. We love that it comes in two scents (one with notes of neroli, rose, and patchouli and one with notes of mint and citrus) to keep your curls smelling great.

Nikki, tester with 4A/B hair: “My curls are defined and frizz-free, and my hair looks healthier and shinier than it did before I used this product. Compared to other mousses I have tried in the past, this product is much more soft and smooth and less drying.”

Best for Fullness

R+Co BLEU Highest Volumizing Mousse

$42

$38 at Amazon$42 at DermstoreView on Randco.com

Key Ingredients: BLEU molecule complex, biotin | Hair Type: Fine, curly | Size: 6.3 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

If the illusion of fuller, thicker hair is your goal, give this volumizing hair mousse from R+Co a try. A dollop of this light and airy “whip” gave our tester’s hair a real boost, whether they air-dried or heat-styled. They also appreciated that the formula is made with biotin to help strengthen strands in the long term. 

The finish was voluminous and residue-free, although they did notice their hair felt a bit drier than usual and lacked shine. It was nothing a little hair oil couldn’t fix, though. 

Michelle, tester with 1C hair: “The product gave my hair more volume and body. My hair appeared fuller compared to normal, whether I air-dry or use heat protection and blow-dry.”

Best for Heat Styling

Nexxus Mousse+ Volumizing Foam

View on AmazonView on Ulta$17 at Target

Key Ingredients: Hydrolyzed elastin, keratin amino acids, glycerin | Hair Type: Fine | Size: 10.6 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

For head-turning volume, heat styling is key. Nexxus’s Volumizing Foam Hair Mousse works like a dream with a hair dryer, effortlessly creating the appearance of fuller, thicker hair. The light, fluffy foam didn’t weigh down extremely straight strands or disappoint in terms of hold. Hairstyles stayed put until the end of the day, admittedly with a helping hand from hairspray. The mousse is designed to boost fine hair while still allowing plenty of natural movement, which we appreciate, but the hold was a little too light for fine hair. 

Terri, tester with 1A hair: “I would recommend this product to ladies who style their hair with a hair dryer. It works really well with heat.”

Best Hold

Kérastase Hair Mousse

$40 at Amazon$40 at SephoraView on Kerastase-usa.com

Key Ingredients: Argan, marula, and camellia oils | Hair Type: All | Size: 4.6 oz | Cruelty-Free: No

Not aligning with a hair product’s scent can be distracting at best and a complete deal breaker at worst. We recommend the Kérastase Bouffante Hair Mousse for the more discerning noses out there. It’s formulated with a blend of antioxidant-rich, moisturizing oils, including argan, marula, and camellia, creating a light, pleasant fragrance we genuinely enjoy smelling every day.  We were equally satisfied with its styling capabilities. The mousse felt lightweight on our tester’s strands and created noticeable fullness without causing any dryness or greasiness. Crucially, it also kept hair in place throughout the day.

Paden, tester with 1A hair: “I like the smell and how light it felt in my hair. It worked best when I only wet my hair and didn’t shampoo it. That made my strands seem more full.”

Best for Shine

Joico Power Whip Whipped Foam for Volume & Shine

$23 at Amazon$23 at Ulta$23 at Jcpenney.com

Key Ingredients: Hydrolyzed keratin, beeswax | Hair Type: All | Size: 10.2 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

With a name like Power Whip, we were expecting big things from this mousse, and we were not disappointed. The lightweight foam, enriched with keratin to add strength and beeswax for volume and hold, delivered shinier, fuller-looking hair from the get-go and eliminated the need for additional styling products (a time and money saver). The formula (which felt almost like a gel) wasn’t sticky or heavy. Plus, it lasted a really long time. After our tester had blown out her hair, it stayed bouncy and lifted for the next 48 hours, with only minor touch-ups necessary. This mousse created volume and shine so significant that friends commented on it, and she was very happy to share the secret. 

Susan, tester with 1A hair: “I LOVE this product and will continue to use and buy it in the future. I do not have to use any other product to maintain the volume all day, so it is saving money.”