I'm a beauty editor and this £24 volume-boosting mousse saves me hundreds on salon blow-dries

A wise person once said, "the higher the hair, the closer to God." Now I don’t want to enter into a theological debate but there’s definitely something to be said for the feel-good, almost-divine power of a great blow-dry - and this £24 mousse offers that level of bounce, whilst sparing me a trip to the salon...

If you are blessed enough to find a stylist who can tease your hair towards the heavens, then I’m honestly thrilled for you - but my salon blow-dries don’t always hit the mark. They’re either too flat or too stiff or drop by lunchtime. This is then followed by a lot of stewing, as I sit lamenting the £30+ I’ve handed over to blow hot air over my head.

Suffice it to say, I’ve learned that the person I trust most with my hair is myself. There are times when I experiment with poker straight hair but big, bouncy waves are my default, and there’s one product I apply every time to achieve this kind of silky swish - Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Mousse. It's the best hair styling product I've ever tried and I'm about to outline exactly why...

Why Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Mousse will slash your salon bill

I rave about this mousse to anyone, to the point of being evangelical. It’s a voluptuous blow-dry in a bottle.

Why is it good for your hair?

If you hear the word "mousse" and think "crispy, crunchy curls", then rest assured that this is mousse 2.0. Your typical mousse is filled with alcohol, salt and drying resins, which dehydrate hair and rough up the cuticle to create a fluffed-up, voluminous effect. But forcing open the outer cuticle layer is very damaging and associated with frizz, brittleness, breakage and colour fade.

Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Mousse is a saintly version, replacing hair-dehydrating ingredients with a polymer blend that basically mimics a raised outer cuticle without actually disturbing the cuticle.

Strands are left smooth, strong and intact while giving the impression of thicker, fuller, voluminous hair - making it the perfect buy for those looking for tips on how to add volume to fine hair. Texture-wise, it’s incredibly light - more frothy and bubbly than the whipped cream consistency of ye-olde-mousse - and barely detectable when dried in.

How to use the Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Mousse

I usually apply a few pumps to damp hair then blow-dry with my Dyson Airwrap, but I’ve just learned that it can also be used on dry hair to reinvigorate sad-looking second- or third-day hair. As a diligent Beauty Editor, I’ve just sneaked off to try it and oh-em-gee, the lift is insane. This is the blow-dry equivalent of a fringe wash (you know when you have a fringe and you just wash that front bit so your whole hairdo looks fresh?) - a couple of squirts at the front, a blast with the hairdryer and it looks like I’ve just stepped out of the salon.

Even better, a bottle costs less than you would spend on one salon blow-dry. So if you think about it, you've basically made your money back before you've even pumped out that first deliciously frothy blob. That is some solid girl maths!