Well, best shave routine for me is 2-3 days.
Regarding irritation: changing the direction of the pass could improve experience.
My daily routine is:
1. Up-down strokes along the face and neck=WTG on the cheek and mustache/XTG on the neck area due to the direction of stubble growth
2. On the cheeks from the ear to the mustache including (XTG) and on the neck area from left to right (WTG for the neck)
3. Classic ATG movement on the neck and cheeks. (On the neck it is actually XTG)
4.Only on the neck and jaw line right to left (proper WTG for my stubbles)
Alumn block on while I clean hardware. Rinse clean with cold water an apply AS.
Now if I am in a hurry I might do only 1 and 4.
But when going ATG after first step I usually have a mild irritation and sometimes nicks. So the way you make the passes do affect post shave experience.
Another thing I found to improve post shave experience is that SOTN is better then SOTD in many aspects: calm skin in the morning, better post shave experience and feel.
PLUS: Shaving before bed takes away the stress pilled over the day and you can use lotions and in morning the aftershave splash that makes your skin feel much better.