The single item that has made the greatest difference for me is the brush. I had a cheap boar bristle brush to start with and always got a sloppy wet lather. My sister-in-law got me a nice badger bristle brush and it's all the difference in the world! The brush appears to not be holding any water at all, but the creamy lather that it produces is amazing.

What I really want to know is, who the hell went out and collected various animal hair 400 years ago to discover that badger hair was the one that works for this purpose?