It’s 2019, and mousse is back. I know what you’re thinking: Isn’t that the reason my mom’s hair had hurricane-level wind resistance in 1984? Didn’t we send that ish to the beauty graveyard, along with frosted lipstick and Paris Hilton’s perfume? Yes, it is, and we did.

But here’s the thing: My hair is now the longest it’s been since 2014, when I chopped it into a bob as a preemptive strike before losing it entirely to chemo. Once it grew back, I kept it short—partially because I loved it, but mostly because I also hated how long hair made me look. When it’s past my collarbones, I channel Keanu Reeves in role of Severus Snape, since my waves weigh down the rest of my hair, leaving it flat and frizzy. But a combination of sheer laziness and morbid curiosity led me to grow my hair out again. Would it still be bad? The answer is yes—but not 24/7, thanks to this magical little thing called mousse.

With mousse, my hair looks fuller at the crown, its wave pattern is more uniform, and said waves keep their shape all day long. That’s because mousse, shoved to the side in favor of cooler-sounding things like dry shampoo and hair serum, is the original multitasker: It delivers volume, light to medium hold, and even texture. And it’s quick. All I do is brush out my hair while it’s damp, work a baseball-size amount of mousse through it, scrunch, and let it do its thing as it air-dries.

Plus, 2019’s mousses aren’t the kind you’re thinking of—you know, the ones that gave it a bad rap in the first place, leaving a crunchy, sticky texture and inspiring ’80s-era hair bands (called hair bands for a reason). Instead, new formulas keep frizz at bay and even condition hair. To find the best hair mousse out there, I put 11 of them to the test to see what holds up—and what doesn’t.

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