I find that the way you lather your beard can make a profound difference in the quality of a shave. I used to just use light circular motions holding the brush with my thumb and forefinger.

Now for the best results I use paintbrush motions wtg then atg on my neck and up and down and side to side on my cheeks. I mix in some up and down on my neck and then really defined carefully placed circular motions on my beard everywhere.

Sounds more complex then it is and it really does work very well. The paintbrush motions seem to do the best. This is how I will lather from now on.