First I,m sorry it,ll be impossible without seeing the brush n hand. Second all soaps and creams can be done. Had water or not you just have to experiment and unlock it's secret. Three, the brush is probably to floppy and is holding on to the lather, and the painting strike works better.
Onto user error, your maybe soaking your brush too much and then loading it up real rough getting it deep into the brush, try just wetting the tips and then just load it lightly on the tips only. Or try face layering adding a little water at a time till it's right. My friend it could be a lot of things unfortunantly. But my tastes would say get rid of the floppy brush and get something with a backbone. Tc