I face lather all the time. Everygreat now and then I'll use a mug or similar, but face lathering win's for me.

The nice thing about face lathering is that too much water is fine (for me). If I pull my brush out of the sink dripping wet and swirl it around on my soap puck, I can take it straight to my face super sloppy and get a great lather. The excess water just drips off my chin back into the sink. The lather starts thin, but I just keep swirling on my cheeks and neck area and 20 seconds later I have a great lather. The longer you swirl, the drier it gets.

Next time you shave, try face lathering with what you might expect to be too much water. I'm pretty sure you'll find it to be fine. Or better.