Originally Posted by
cpcohen1945
FWIW (I'm late to this thread) --
I bought an EJ 89 Barley a few months ago, based on Obie's (and others') recommendation. It's a great razor -- all my other DE's gather dust.
IMHO, it's more aggressive than the Weishi (which gives a very mild shave). So if you're using any pressure with the Weishi, be sure that your touch with the EJ 89 is _much_ lighter!
I think that every time the blade goes over an area of skin, it abrades it just a little bit. "Scrubbing" -- multiple short passes over the same area -- might work with a cartridge, but it'll be very hard on your skin with a sharp DE blade (e.g. an Astra or Feather) in an EJ 89. The first pass, your skin gets some protection from the lather. But after that, you're running a blade over bare, drying skin -- not a good idea!
It sounds like you're doing multiple passes, hoping to get every last bit of beard off. And the result is irritated skin. So, FWIW, a prescription for improvement:
1. Use a pre-shave (Proraso, almond oil, hair conditioner) -- something to lubricate your skin under the lather.
2. Do two passes -- not more -- and don't try for perfection. Any hair that survives two passes has earned the right to live one more day. You'll get it tomorrow morning.<g>
As I think about this, it might be worth putting pre-shave on your face before the second pass -- that is:
. . . pre-shave;
. . .. . lather;
. . . . . . .shave first pass;
. . . . . . . rinse face;
. . . . . . . . . . pre-shave;
. . . . . . . . . . . lather;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . shave second pass;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rinse face.
I've never tried that myself; my skin isn't sensitive enough to need it.
Charles