Hiya,
The soap lathering thingy has always been the weak link in my technique. It rarely looks as luscious as many of the pics other people post, although it performs fine.
Creams are a different story.......the lather looks nicer when certain (but not all) creams are used. Heh, the only problem is I don't care for the performance quite as much and I hardly ever use em.
I think the right brush makes a difference.....some of mine work better than others and those are the firmer types. Floppier ones seem to handle creams the best, at least for me.
You might like to try a cream or two, just for the hell of it. Or; just stay with what you have now and things should come together before too long. Main thing is how it performs. It's kinda tricky to figure out.
Martin
Oh yeah, I just remembered something from a while back about that soap you're using. When the tallow was removed, there was sorta mixed reviews on how it lathered up. I think there may have been some issues that were resolved in the next version, but I can't be positive about that. I know that was true when Floris first switched their formula.
Heh, you can tell if yours has tallow by the price you paid. A refill alone goes for $50-60, and with a bowl, who knows.