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Home • Coily • Curly • Hairstyles • Protective Styles

Crazy, Sexy, Cool Style: The Half Updo How-To

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Crazy, Sexy, Cool Style: The Half Updo How-To
By ilead sayidagroup · Updated March 9, 2017

Spring’s sneaking up on us again. It’s time to think about renewal, rebirth, and retooling our looks! That means it’s tutorial time again, y’all. Our curlfriend Nicollette aka @modelesque_nic styled herself using every single product in our sponsor’s amazing Coconut Restore line, and we had to share the results!

Let’s get started!

The first part of any style is to start with a good clean and conditioned base. Nicollette is using the Moisture Replenishing Shampoo, Daily Strengthening Conditioner, and Keratin Intensive Repair Masque to cleanse and hydrate her hair, making it soft and strong for styling.

Then she tops it off with the Curl Control Leave in Conditioner to help enhance curl definition and keep strands elastic.

Nic stepped off camera to blow out her curls, using a lower temperature. This is where the strengthening and leave-in conditioner combo will really shine in keeping the hair healthy through heat styling!

Once you’re at the post-blowout point, divide your curls in about a 2:5 top to bottom ratio. Set the top half aside for later.

Next, rub Revitalizing Whipped Coconut Oil onto your hair for extra shine. To control frizz, add the Styling and Setting Gelee .

Bring on the Style!

Section out and rubber band the bottom half of your sectioned hair.

Each section will be vertically stacked twists, each banded together in an upward larger twist. Secure the top of the twist with bobby pins.

Article continues after video.

Follow up with more of the Gelee on top.

Then add your perm rods to ensure that the ends of the hair are curled!

To set your style, you’ll need to use heat.

Sit under a hood attachment for about an hour, hour and a half. Pop in a good movie and turn on the subtitles!

Now that everything’s dried and set, perm rods come out, big curls get divided into smaller ones, and you can add some more volume by picking out your roots.

The finishing move is to pin everything in place! Now, set phasers to “stun” and get ready to turn some heads!

Gifs not enough for you?

Check out the full, Nature’s Protein-sponsored video with @modelesque_nic here, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube channel for more looks you’ll love!

Weigh in, curly community—is this a ‘do you’d do? Let us know in the comments!

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Home • Curl Products

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

What do you think of when you hear the word "mousse?"
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Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t
By Cristina Cleveland · Updated December 19, 2024

Let’s play a game. What do you think of when you hear the word “mousse?” If you’re anything like me, it may bring up associations with crunchy curls, the 80s, and drying alcohols, but you should know that things have changed. Hairstyles, techniques, brands, and product formulas have all evolved since the days of teased, crispy curls. But because we still get flashbacks when we pick up a bottle of mousse, we spoke with a few curly hair experts about when to use mousse, who should be using mousse today – and who shouldn’t. 

Why use a mousse?

Brooke Michie, curl stylist and owner of Lyric Salon in Austin, Texas, first made me reconsider mousse when she used it in Grace’s wavy hair transformation. She loves using mousse on her curly haired clients because it’s “easy to apply, economical per use, has buildable coverage and hold, and can be layered with so many other types of products.”

What hairstyles is mousse best for?

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A post shared by Maya Smith and Brian Smith (@ouidoux)

Image Source: @ouidoux

Maya Smith, International Master of Natural Curls and founder of The Doux®, a haircare line she created specifically for naturally curly hair, says mousse can be used for “any style that requires definition and light hold. It can be used not only to set wash & go’s, but for twist outs and rod sets as well.”

As I’ve been starting to experiment with mousse more, I’ve wondered if I can use it on my dry hair as a refresher on second-day hair. According to Maya, “Mousse is best applied to wet hair for Wash & Go styling, but it can also be used to set a dry twist-out and to redefine the curl pattern. I wouldn’t recommend using it to replenish moisture on next-day hair.” 

What causes that crunch?

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

Maya says, “It’s common for mousse to be combined with gel or cream because most mousse on the market contain alcohol to make the hair dry faster. They are also polymer-rich, which creates a sticky coating on the hair, much like a hairspray. This can leave hair feeling dry and stiff. We formulated our Mousse Def as an all-in-one solution for this problem. It creates the shine and definition of a mousse, yet leaves hair soft and touchable with no flaking.”

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A post shared by T H E D O U X (@ilovethedoux)

What are some ingredients to watch out for?

Maya recommends watching out for ingredients such as sodium laurel sulfate (SLS, Isopropyl, and Prolyene, which “have been found to cause breakage and dry out your hair). The best way to achieve healthy hair is to have that balance between protein and moisture.”

Who should use mousse?

Article continues after video.
Image Source: @nehachudaryy

Brooke says it depends on the mousse, “lightweight, airy mousse or foam is great for wavy hair. Denser mousse is great for 2s and 3s and as a thin layer of added hold for more definition over a moisture foundation for well-hydrated 4s even!” For Maya, it depends on the hairstyle: “I recommend mousse for hair up to Type 4B, depending on the desired results.”

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Image Source: @therachelhodge
Article continues after video.

But before you rule mousse out for your Type 4C coils, Gerilyn Hayes, NaturallyCurly Senior Copywriter, loves using mousse on her 4C wash and go (like Camille Rose Spiked Honey Mousse). “I use about 5-6 pumps of mousse in my hair after shampooing and conditioning. I do this because I want to make sure that I’m starting with a clean scalp and curls that are free from any other previous products. And because my curls are very coarse and need lots of hydration, I make sure that my curls are soaked with water (which is why the shower is great for applying mousse to my hair).

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

To avoid product and water getting into my eyes, I flip my head over and scrunch my curls’ ends to my scalp. Although I do not have a lot of length, I still use this ends-to-root scrunching method to get the optimal curl definition. Sometimes I rake the mousse through my curls and then wrap them in a scarf, giving them more shine. Although rake versus scrunching may look similar to any onlooker, the textural differences are apparent to me!” 

Who shouldn’t use mousse? 

“Curls with moisture as the number one priority,” says Brooke, “or those who don’t need a product with general hold, but seek more of a product/product combo to hydrate than seal.” So if your curls are thirsty and your top priority is moisture, then you may want to opt for something like the LOC Method, which layers a leave-in for moisture, an oil to seal in the moisture, and then a cream for hold.

When to use mousse

Mousse 101: Who Should Use It, and Who Shouldn’t

Brooke prefers “the lightest weight mousse (she loves Bread Beauty Supply Hair Foam) in wavy hair for primary, general hold,” and this is how she recommends applying it:

  1. On freshly rinsed detangled hair in the shower, glaze a small amount over the surface area of the hair.
  2. Then flip and glaze another small amount over the underneath surface area.
  3. Then, apply the majority of it via scrunching and distribute it in your palms, making sure not to flatten the airiness of the foam.
  4. Before scrunching the ends of the hair up toward the scalp with a flat palm into a clenched fist motion, rotating your head to reach curls on either side.

If you’re using a denser foam and need more moisture, Brooke recommends applying it:

Article continues after video.
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Image Source: @curlsbykeish
  • Once a leave-in or moisture foundation is either combed through or scrunched in sopping wet hair.
  • Then add a little denser mousse by finger combing detangled sections, or for longer curls, scrunching as above. 

“This will create a cast of hold,” says Brooke, but before you worry about the crunch, remember you need to break that cast by scrunching out the crunch. “Release the cast once hair is fully dry by touching curls gently, or scrunching once more to release the wet-looking hold that was necessary during the drying process to maximize definition.”

Interested in trying a mousse? Check out the Best of The Best Styling Products 2024 options for your curls, waves, and coils.

OUR EDITORS INDEPENDENTLY SELECT ALL PRODUCTS FEATURED ON NATURALLYCURLY. HOWEVER, WE MAY EARN AN AFFILIATE COMMISSION WHEN YOU BUY SOMETHING THROUGH OUR RETAIL LINKS.

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