an after thought ...in between passes and before the first pass after lathering my face with brush and stroping the razor...I will take a little lather off the brush onto my two fingers and rub more lather into my beard ...a brush unless very stiff has little resistance against your face wheras using your fingers allows a firmer application...infact after the initial lather and brush, I use lather and fingers on additonal relathers...this allows me to put lather on my face exactly where I want it...not overlap...I can see exactly where I want to shave...the barber at trumpers along with every professional Ive been shaved by does the same thing...