That's what Secret Shave directs you to do. I've done that. It's okay. It's passable.
I like to apply secret shave by rubbing it into the skin and then laying on a hot washcloth and letting it cool, doing that twice... then I make my uberlather from a dab of shaving creme and 3 drops of glycerin in my palm. I wet my brush in hot water, run it over the soap of the day a few times, then I move it to my palm and start doing circles in the creme/glycerin... uberlather in seconds. It is extremely slick to the touch and stays moist. If you haven't tried it before, I strongly suggest palm lathering. You will wonder why you ever needed a cup. If you need to reapply, squeeze from the bottom to the top of your shaving brush and use that to build a second batch of lather.
A buddy of mine picked this tip up from The Art of Shave in Dallas, TX. The barber shaved him and gave him a straight shaving tutorial at the same time. Awesome.