you probably know this Roger, but if you shave every other day , your face has time to heal up from any irritation during your last shave ,that's why it seems to work better but everyday is a good indicator that it is razor burn, from too much pressure , trying to get it smooth and its still healing from the day before. I am an every day shaver who had the irritation in the beginning , and I tried different prep methods. the most helpful to me was pressure ,or lack of it. I realized the beard was coming off even if I didn't bear down , so now I use a smooth feather light touch with a sharp blade and now no irritation ,, still shaving every day except my goatee, got to have some hair flapping in the breeze while riding the sled tc oh BTW I tried oils , didn't work for me , and I tried proraso pre shave , and it helped the burn, and I used it after the shave as a post shave , but then my wife ,, said Noxema was the exact same thing for about 10 times less cost and at wally world she was right