While I was growing up my mom used mousse to style her hair. She always had relatively short hairstyles. She would generally put mousse in her still wet hair and let it air dry. I would notice how it would help her style keep it's shape and sometimes appeared slightly crunchy- like the hair spray effect.
I haven't had much personal experience with mousse. In college I would "scrunch" my hair... but since my hair has absolutely zero curl/wave, that would mean I would wash my hair before bed, put mousse in it, french braid it in two braids on either side of my head, undo the braids in the morning, add more mousse while bunching my hair, and then finish with hair spray. Besides that, no use for mousse with my super straight hair.
Why didn't anyone ever tell me what an excellent stylist mousse is? Even for straight hair? Some would say especially for straight hair if you want a blow out! So I was reading in People Style Watch about Jennifer Aniston's style. Her stylish gave some tips on "getting her look". For her sleek, straight hair he advised mousse in damp hair, blow dry with round brush, straighten ends with flat iron, finish with spray.
So I thought I'd try the first part of that. Since my hair is ridiculously straight, I don't use a flat iron. I own one... but it's at the very bottom of my "extras" bin... like a junk drawer. So I towel dried my hair, let it air dry while I did my makeup, added mousse, blow dried... and voila:
My locks were sleek. shiny, and had just the right amount of curl at the ends from my round brush. Yes, this is normally how my hair looks first thing in the morning. The difference? That slight curl at the end of my hair stayed put all day! Normally the ends straighten out and stick out awkwardly or curl the opposite way. This is the issue with super straight hair and layers. Problem solved: miracle mousse! I used Tresemme mousse, since that is the brand of shampoo and conditioner I use.
Mousse is now a normal part of my morning routine. For the past five year or so I have generally let my hair air dry. It dries straight so why bother adding the heat, I figured. Now that I am older, a mom, and have a nice office job... I have decided it is time to bring back the blow dry. Older: I want to look my age and air dried hair makes me look like a lazy teenager. A mom: again, want to look the part. I don't want people thinking I'm a teen mom- styling my hair helps. Office job: it's not super professional to come into the office with wet hair. It is amazing the difference blow drying my hair makes to my general appearance. Matt also likes it a lot more, so it's well worth the extra 7 minutes or so it takes.
Moral of the story: learn about different hair care products and make use of them!
