With my recent experiences with slicker lather, I was wondering if poor lather can make a great blade feel poor and can great lather make a lesser blade feel better?
I don't think so. Bad lather with a great blade feels like bad lather with a great blade. Great lather helps maximize whatever blade you choose.
I recently used a soap that really didn't lather that much. But it still provided me with enough protection to produce a nice shave.
Not in my experience. A great lather helps the blade perform as well as it possibly can, but it won't make a bad blade feel like a great blade. I cannot stand Merkur blades and no lather I've ever made will make them perform like an Astra SS.
Bad lather can make for a really bad shave, no matter what blade you use, and good lather will never make up for a bad/dull edge. Everything works together as a whole. You need both. MHO
I'd say that bad lather with a great blade feels like bad lather with a bad blade. I'd also say that if you've been paying attention, you can still make that bad lather give you an okay shave, even with a bad blade. You just won't be happy about it.
Not in my thinking. Bad lather feels like bad lather. Will not help a dull razor. A blade is a blade if sharp. They will feel about the same with whatever lather. I mean bad lather will not make blades feel that different from each other.
Good lather can't make the blade but bad lather can break the blade. You're always going to be limited by the weakest part of the shave, whether that's the lather, the razor, the blade or your technique. You can usually save the shave from one weakness by optimizing everything else, but that's just saving it, not making it great.