Curly Wurly (Alberto VO5 Curl Up Curl Defining Mousse)

Member Name: blonde_girl774

Product:	Alberto VO5 Curl Up Curl Defining Mousse
Date:	03/02/09 (566 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Helps define curls & Keeps hair curly longer.

Disadvantages: Can make hair go a little hard if applied to dry hair.

My hair is naturally quite curly, although it's far from those perfect curls you see on the heads of film stars on television. In fact it's a mixture of curly and wavy which actually, when untamed, can result in quite a wild looking mess on the top of my head! Now I've never quite managed to find the perfect product that produces brilliant results every time, instead I prefer to have two or three different products in my bathroom so I can go with whichever one I choose at the time.

My latest acquisition is quite a cheap product in comparison to many home styling products that I've currently got at the moment. It's from the Alberto Culver brand which has grown over the past fifty years into a global company promoting many different ranges. It produces ranges such as Alberto VO5, Soft & Beautiful, St Ives and Tresemme to name just a few. Alberto VO5 was founded in 1955 and is the flagship brand of the company and is still one of their strongest sellers worldwide.

The product that I'm reviewing is from the Alberto VO5 range and is called Curl Up Curl Defining Mousse. It advertises itself as being able to define and control curls as well as calming fizz on those curls. It is a "control" product meaning that its main aim is to control your hair, other products from the VO5 range have other aims including "create" and "finish." There are around thirty products in the VO5 styling range and that's not including the shampoos and conditioners they offer.

The Curl Up Curl Defining Mousse comes in a metallic red bottle that is very eye catching due to its bright colour. It has a translucent plastic lid on the top which hides the dispenser pump. The bottle itself is about six inches in height, with a further inch or two being added by the lid. The front of the bottle features the Alberto VO5 logo, the product name as well as the aim of the product and the fact that it's a "control" product. The back features additional information and instructions.

To release the mousse the instructions recommend that you shake the can well before use and then, holding the can upright, release a small amount into the palm of your hand. The mousse itself is dispensed fairly easily and is white in colour, it foams as it is dispensed from the bottle. It has a typical synthetic hair care smell to it that is quite common with these sorts of products, it's not perfumed but there is a refreshing and rather fruity smell to this particular mousse that I like.

As for applying the mousse the instructions recommend that you towel dry your hair and then apply the mousse evenly through your hair, from the roots to the very ends. I follow exactly what it says on the bottle but after towel drying my hair I also prefer to comb it through to get rid of all the knots. I then dispense a blob a bit bigger than the size of a Satsuma into the palm of my hand, the amount you need will obviously vary depending on the length and thickness of your hair.

The bottle then suggests that you scrunch your hair into curls to ensure the best results. So once I've applied the mousse to my hair using my fingertips to ensure it has been evenly distributed throughout my hair I then scrunch it up using my fingers. To do this simply grab your hair at the ends and then scrunch it upwards, hold it for a short while and then release it. I sometimes use a little extra mousse when doing this as the hair nearer the roots often doesn't curl as well.

After that you just style your hair as normal. I prefer to let mine dry naturally as I feel this gives the best results and also reduces the amount of frizz. However in the winter that's not always practical, especially when I haven't got long between showering and having to go out. In those instances I do use a hair dryer but keep it on a low heat and power setting. I also constantly scrunch my hair as I'm drying it to encourage curls. Using a hairdryer will result in more volume but can create more frizz.

The end result is that I invariably end up with curly hair; sometimes it can be a little frizzy if I've used a hair dryer and the curls are by no means perfect cork screw curls either! The curls look natural and they seem to last for a day or two, even if I sleep on them I only need to reapply a little mousse the next morning to give them that extra hold for the next day. My hair doesn't feel hard at all except when you apply the mousse to dry hair, this can then give quite a hard, unpleasant effect.

The bottle actually makes some claims about the mousse and so here's my thoughts on them...

~ Defines and locks in curls

Yes the mousse does help to define my curls, if I don't use any mousse I still get curls but they are much more tangled and wild looking. As for locks in curls it certainly does, I can get away with wearing my hair curly for at least two days after using this mousse so it does keep those curls in.

~ Helps protect from heat damage

I'm not too sure about this one as I don't use this mousse often enough to notice any real positive factors. I always think you get more heat damage using GHDs and that's something I never do when I'm wearing my hair curly so I'm undecided on this claim really.

~ Provides long lasting firm hold

As I suggested with the first claim, this mousse really does lock in curls and keeps them looking nice and bouncy for at least two days. When I wake up after sleeping on my curls I often add a little bit of mousse just to give an extra boast and this seems to revitalise the hold.

~ Calms frizz, static and flyaways

I'd probably have to disagree with this point somewhat as although it doesn't give me as much frizz as I tend to get when I don't use any sort of styling product, there does seem to still be quite a bit of frizz and flyaway hairs, especially around my roots.

~ Gives tighter bouncier curls with shine

To be honest I think using any curling product will automatically give you better curls than you have when not using any sort of product. So yes it does make my curls tighter and bouncier, but perhaps not quite as tight, bouncy and shiny as other curling products do.

~ Protects against humidity for longer lasting curls

When I straighten my hair and go out in the hot summer or in the rain it always seems to end up frizzy somehow. However when I have my hair curly with this mousse I don't see that effect at all, I can go and dance away in a nightclub and it'll look exactly the same when I leave. A bit of rain doesn't do too much damage, a huge downpour does!

So would I recommend this product? Well yes I would, it's probably not as good as the Redken one I've got but then I did pay about £12 for that one whereas this one is a bargain at just £3.22 for 200ml in Superdrug. I got mine when it was buy one get one free which meant it was an even bigger bargain. I've used my bottle about ten times now and I've still got about three quarters of the bottle left which is really economical. Four stars from me, a cheap alternative that does a good job!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: A hair curling mousse from Alberto VO5.