Hey ladies! I haven't been here in a while because life got crazy and my hair took a backseat. It has been neglected more than a little bit, but I've recently gotten my act together.
Right now I'm getting my consistently good W&Gs by styling mostly dry hair with Nairobi mousse and Earthtones Max Curl gel. Wet styling is usually a miss for me and I tried to make it work anyway following my See Some Curls membership, but it just never worked out well for me. My hair needs to be more saturated with product, rather than water to get the best results. I also played around with the Doux mousse, but despite the good slip, it didn't make my hair feel as wet as Nairobi did. So I ended up having to use more product to get the same result as Nairobi.
Coarse curlies, I don't know what it is about xantham gum-based gels, but they work well for my thick strands. I get flexible, yet strong hold, shine, and silkiness when I use them. There is a higher risk that it'll flake compared to other gels, but with practice I've learned how best to apply it to avoid that. I'd definitely recommend a xanthan-based gel like Earthtones if your strands are coarse like mine.