One "shortcut" that really works (and it's more of a trick than a shortcut) is Kiwi neutral shoe polish. Once you have stripped, dyed and brush shined a couple of times, use a diaper cloth wrapped around one or two fingers dipped in water to build up many thin layers of black...your basic spitshine. Once you have those thin black layers, and you've got things really glossy, you can used kiwi neutral to take you over the edge into a glossier, deeper shine than is possible with just black. Use it like you would when spitshining with the black polish. The neutral seems to be a little more scuff resistant and will even out small scuffs and scratches quite nicely.
Also, beware of the peril to which many a knife sharpener and spitshiner fall prey: going one stroke over the line and turning near perfection into complete ruin.
But, the great thing about a really good spit shine is, once it's built up, it really doesn't take much work to maintain.
Al
P.S. Future and other cheats lead to cracking and flaking. Also, edge dressing is great for your "bumpers" but don't use it on your leather.
Al