I throw my brush in a sink full of water for a minute or so to soak, put some water on top of the puck of soap for a bit (soften it up) then dump it off, get your brush out of the sink and shake it out. start swirling it around on the soap to load it (tips only). Then I go straight to my face with the brush, dipping the brush tips in the water (if needed) until I get the consistency I want. Bowl lathering would work the same way, just add a little water at a time, swirl & mash until you get stable peaks of lather and test it out. There's nothing that says if it dries on your face that you can't dip the tips in water and go over the dry lather that's there.