Review: New Suave Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse

Remember a little while ago when I told you about all of the new 2011 products from Suave that are headed our way? Well I was fortunate enough to receive a few of them for review, and today I'd like to tell you about my experience with the brand new Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse.

Suave Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse

(retail: around $2.69, 7 oz)

From Suave:

NEW! Suave Professionals® Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse
Helps define and hold natural curl patterns for 24-hour touchable curls.
• Salon proven to define curls as well as Redken® Fresh CurlsTM Spring Mousse³
• Alcohol-free formula with anti-frizz complex
• For best results, use with Suave Professionals® Captivating Curls Shampoo and Conditioner
$2.69 – $2.99 (7 oz.)

³Redken and Matrix are registered trademarks of L’Oreal USA Creative

Before I get into the this review, I want to tell you a tiny bit about my hair. I always feel like haircare product reviews don't really amount to a hill of beans for you, the reader, if you don't understand the reviewer's particular hair. How can you possibly get an idea for how a product is going to work for YOU, if you don't know about MY hair first, right?

In a nutshell, I've got long hair that's fine in texture but I have a lot of it. My hair is wavy, and on my BEST day, I can achieve loose, beachy-type ringlets. On my WORST day, my hair can look poufy and frizzy with inconsistent waves. I rarely straighten my hair, and I usually use a blow-dryer on my roots and then let the rest of my hair dry naturally. I normally use shampoo, conditioner, and some type of leave-in conditioner. My hair is oily at the roots, dry at the ends and it's color-treated. I hope this gives you enough background information!

On to the review:

It's difficult for me to photograph aluminum cans because of the glare, so I hope you can read the above images. The stylist recommendation for application is interesting and different from how I usually apply mousse. I should also tell you right now that I used to use mousse A LOT back in the 90s when I had a spiral perm (remember those?) but I honestly haven't used mousse on a consistent basis since that era. I usually associate mousse with crunchy hair, so I've pretty much stayed away from it for years.

Back to the stylist recommendation: it says to emulsify this product in your palms, and then SQUEEZE the mousse into wet hair. After that, you're supposed to gently blot the excess water out of your hair with a squeezing motion and the help of a thin towel.

The first time that I applied this product to my freshly-washed, wet hair, I tried my best to follow these directions, but I didn't have a thin towel on hand so I skipped that step. But since I did not apply this to soaking wet hair (I'd say my hair was about 10% dry at the time--it had been in a towel for about 5 minutes) I didn't find I had a ton of excess water to be squeezed out.

And let me tell you, the texture of this product makes it SO much fun to "squeeze" your hair! I honestly have never used a mousse that feels quite like this one (although I've never used Redken Fresh Curls Spring Mousse, which is what this product can be compared to, so it may feel exactly like that product).

This product is just so creamy, yet it's springy at the same time. I can't explain it, but it feels like it's enveloping your hair as you work it in, rather than just sitting on top of your hair (the way most mousses feel on my wet hair).

It really does look like whipped cream!

So after I applied it, I used my blow-dryer on just my roots (like I always do), then gave my hair one final round of scrunching. After that, I just let my hair air-dry as usual.

Now let's take a look at some pictures!

OK, so this is my hair on a normal day. This picture was taken after washing my hair, and then running a bit of leave-in conditioner through the middle portion of my hair, down to the roots. Then I simply let it air-dry. No additional styling products were used in this photo:

And this is my hair on a day when I used Suave Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse:

It was difficult to capture in photos exactly how my hair looked that day, but I hope you can see that I've got a TON of well-defined, loose ringlets going on! I was absolutely stunned at how curly my hair looked after using this product. I applied this mousse to my wet hair right after my shower and I "squeezed" it into my hair. Then I used a blow-dryer on just my roots, and I let the rest of my hair air-dry.

The most amazing thing that I've discovered after using this product several times now is that it honestly never, ever gets crunchy. One day I accidentally used way too much, and if this were a regular mousse it would have been a 10 on the crunchiness scale. I've overdone it with mousse so many times in my life, and I've paid the price by having to walk around all day looking like I'm wearing a wig made out of curly fries.

So when I overdid it with this mousse, I was so pleasantly surprised to see that my hair did NOT have that extreme crunchy look I was expecting. When Suave says "softly defines curls with natural movement" they are NOT lying. Every time I use this mousse my curls are so well-defined, but they are still so soft and touchable it's almost hard for me to believe I've used a mousse.

The fragrance of this mousse is sweet and fruity, but I get a hint of floral and also a bit of a clean note. To my nose, it's very pleasant, but then again I love sweet and fruity scents. Also, I didn't find it overpowering, but I could smell it on my hair by the end of the day (although I did have to put my hair right up to my nose in order to smell it).

FINAL VERDICT: The new Suave Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse has taken away the shudder that used to run up my spine whenever I'd hear the word "mousse". If you haven't used a mousse in a long time due to the "crunchiness factor", please get those preconceived notions out of your head and open your mind to this one. If you've got wavy or curly hair and you're looking for a new styling product to enhance your curls, you might want to consider giving this product a try. It certainly won't break the bank (I cannot believe it's under $3!) and I think you might be very pleasantly surprised by the results. You might experience a bit of a learning curve as you figure out exactly how much product to use in your hair during application (it took me about three uses to figure it out) but even if you over-apply, I don't think you'll experience crunchy hair. I have officially said my final goodbye to my "wig of curly fries."

Do you have wavy or curly hair? If so, do you think you might give this product a try? Have you spotted it in your area yet? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.