It took me a quite a few months before I learned how much of a difference a good brush will make. I started with a Wally World special boars hair brush. Thank goodness it fell apart and forced me to order a badger hair brush and what a difference it did make! The first brush made such a poor lather that I would have to lather several times when shaving. With the good brush, I only have to lather twice: once for both cheeks and sides of my neck then re-lather my chin and throat. That's only because I had an injury in my right arm and am limited on the mobility of it. The only way I can shave my left cheek and neck along with stretching the skin causes me to rub some of the soap off. So, yes a good lather does a lot of good. Also, I started lightly lathering up the first time, then I work that lather into my skin with my hand, then re-lather. I then strop while letting the lather go to work on my beard. This seems to help soften up my beard.