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Apply styling mousse

For a style that calls for an airy foam. Spreading a label-directed amount before working through the chosen roots or lengths helps avoid one concentrated white patch.

A woman lifts her own damp hair and works mousse through hair near the roots.

Step by step

  1. A woman holds an unlabeled mousse can upright and dispenses airy foam into her own palm.
    STEP 1 OF 4

    Check the label and dispense

    • Confirm the label permits use on damp hair and note whether it directs roots, lengths or both. Follow any shaking and upright-dispensing instructions.
    • Dispense the label-directed starting amount into one palm while keeping the container away from your face, then set it down.

    The aerosol can and foam mound are examples. Pump foams and pressurized mousses have different dispenser directions.

  2. A woman lightly spreads airy styling foam between both palms.
    STEP 2 OF 4

    Spread the foam over your hands

    • Lightly press and separate your palms so the airy foam reaches both palms and fingers.
    • Keep a visible, even film on your hands instead of placing the full mound on one patch of hair.
  3. A woman lifts her own damp hair and works mousse through hair near the roots.
    STEP 3 OF 4

    Work through the directed areas

    • For label-directed roots, lift a reachable section with one hand and use the other to work foam through the hair near the roots without rubbing the scalp.
    • For label-directed lengths, bring a section forward and smooth or scrunch through the mids and ends. Switch sides and add product only as the label allows.

    Use only the placement your label and final routine selected. A root step is not automatically added to a lengths-only mousse.

  4. A woman gently scrunches styling mousse through the damp lengths of her own hair.
    STEP 4 OF 4

    Shape and stop

    • Use the label’s finishing movement, such as gentle scrunching through the lengths. Stop once the chosen areas have an even light coating with no white clumps.
    • Release the hair, wipe the dispenser if directed, close or store the container, and wash product from your hands.

About 2–5 min hands-on for dispensing mousse, distributing across the directed areas, shaping and hand cleanup. Start with hair in the label's damp state. Drying is separate.

Practical editorial estimate, not measured. Root-and-length coverage and the number of sections change the time.

You’re done when…

The selected roots, lengths or both have an even light coating with no concentrated white clump. The container is safely stored and the hair is ready for the label-directed drying step.