In my first shaves, I was taking 40-45 mins and the lather kept drying out. Someone suggested to instead, only lather up a section at a time, so I tried it, doing 4 areas, and now I no longer have drying lather. I'm getting a little faster, and now I can do about half of my face at a time, so I'll lather one side, shave, lather the other, shave, rinse and repeat for the next pass.

I've also been applying pre shave, before applying lather, and that seems to help. Lastly, I've had times when I apply too much water and the lather wasn't coming out slick.

Some things to try....