Hi Sami,
I just wanted to send you some encouragement. I'm sure the mousse would work but I'm not sure it's CG. Does it have any ingredient with the word ending in "cone" like dimethicone or amodimethicone? That indicates that it has a silicone product which means it isn't CG. That kind of product often needs to be washed out with a sulfate shampoo, or a "lo poo" like Deva Lo Poo. I know it is confusing at first!

I'm hoping the other curlies will chime in with suggestions of what you can use instead of a gel. I think some curlies used AG Recoil which is a fairly hard holding curl creme and they are able to use it without gel. The gel just makes the curls stay uniform and helps keep them from frizzing.

I'm awfully sorry that your mom feels that way - millions of girls and women use gel and they don't use it to spike their hair - but hey - she's your mom, so you need to respect her feelings.

Best of luck sweetie. I'll be watching to see what you post and hope all goes well for you.