If in fact he did lather up a storm, how much of the lather would in fact contact his skin or his whiskers close to where the cutting is happening? Not much probably. His first pass did the heavy lifting, it will be, beard or not, the second and third pass that brings the shave up nice and tight.

Whether it's using water and a razor for the first pass or just dry with a beard trimmer, I'd break out the brush and soap for the second and third pass.

For a much thinner beard like in the Manliest shave video, sure, lather makes sense, but in the Feather video, can't really see lather making that much difference. Now, if he used that Feather and did a dry shave...you might get my attention.