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Home • Curly • Wavy

How to Get Big Volume On Type 3 Curly Hair

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How to Get Big Volume On Type 3 Curly Hair
By Nina Sultan · Updated August 1, 2017

Hey NaturallyCurly Community! It’s Nina Sultan here.

After years of experimenting with all kinds of different products, I can officially say that I have found my ultimate set of holy grail products. I have been using them religiously for the past 6 months and my curls have never looked so moisturized and defined.

I usually start styling my curls right after I get out of the shower. Using a t-shirt to scrunch my curls, I wrap my curls up and leave them for about 10 minutes. Once I take off the t-shirt I continue to scrunch any excess water out of my hair before I begin to apply any styling and finishing product.

Leave-in

The first product I use is my DevaCurl Supercream Coconut Curl Styler as a leave-in. I use about two pumps and rub the product between my palms before gently finger combing the product all throughout my curls for a nice even distribution. I love this leave-in because it doesn’t weigh down my curls at all, is easy to distribute, and has a lovely coconut scent. It’s 100% free of sulfates, parabens, and silicones which I love, and it gives my hair incredible moisture. I have found this leave-in to work really well with fine curly hair, which is perfect for me.

Styler

The next product I apply is my Bounce Curl Light Crème Gel with Aloe Vera and nigella sativa.

I use slightly over a quarter amount and rub the gel between my hands, and again, gently finger comb throughout. I love this gel because it doesn’t leave my hair feeling crunchy or sticky, rather, it soaks into my curls and leaves them with incredible definition. The combination of the DevaCurl with this product, never fail to make my curls look amazing each and every time I use both of these products. This product also has a light fruity scent to it which I find to be quite pleasant.

Finisher

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The final product I add to my hair is my Ouidad Mongongo Oil as a finishing product. I use two pumps of this and again, rub it between my hands, and then lightly scrunch the ends of my curls with this all the way around my head. I love this oil because you can use it for many different reasons such as a leave-in, heat protectant, or a finishing oil. This product really provides my curls with the enhanced shine and softness that I desire. It smells like a light mixture of essential oils and is a lovely oil to try if you are looking for something that will leave your hair feeling soft and looking naturally shiny.

Dry

After my products have been applied, I give my curls a gentle shake or two to allow them to fall naturally before I begin to dry them. Before, I used to let my curls air dry for about an hour before diffusing, but lately, I have started diffusing my hair almost immediately after all of my products have been applied. While there is some controversy that doing that isn’t good for you hair, I have been doing that for months and so far and haven’t noticed any damage to my hair. I love the enhanced volume I get from diffusing that I wouldn’t get otherwise from air-drying alone. Once I’ve finished diffusing my curls, I shake them gently to fluff and even them out.

Hack for even more volume

While diffusing and shaking gives my curls incredible volume, I have been into really big curly hair lately so I have been using my little hair pick to add even more volume to my hair. This is optional because sometimes shaking and diffusing can be enough, but for my purposes, I take the pick and slide it gently near my roots and fluff upwards to get that desired extra height.

What products are you loving right now?

Do you prefer diffusing or letting your curls air-dry? Let me know in the comment section below!

Read next: How I Trim My Own Curly Hair

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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?

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@nehachudaryy

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♬ Mrs. Right – Mindless Behavior
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

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:

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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.

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