I used to whip soap in a scuttle until I had lather that had standing peaks, like meringue. As my shaving as evolved, I've gone to a "less worked" lather, sometimes (often) face-lathering. I've found that the key for me is slickness not heaviness. I can recall the barber, when I was a kid, using his thumb to smear a lot of the lather off while he stretched my sideburn and neck areas to shave them. That type of minimal thickness but great slickness is what I look for now, and what gives me the best shaves -- SR or DE.