1213 replies to this topic

[luvh8tragedy87]

They haven't completely gone away but there is a significant difference. I'll just continue the not washing thing, on my cheeks and chin anyway. My face is a little weird. My forehead and nose are the 2 places where I have to wash every day. If I don't it's a disaster. But my cheeks and chin are sensitive, even with water. So I don't bother washing those areas anymore and my face is looking pretty good.

[luvh8tragedy87]

Ok so it's been a week since I haven't washed my face. I'm starting to flake and get this little clusters of zits on my left cheek. Should I continue not washing my face or at least splash some water on there?

[DeeVoo]

I hate the word 'natural'... Vickery and Clark facial cleanser does not look very natural!! And the fragrance probably bothered your skin. Look at Dr. Bronners Magic Soaps.

[arturX]

The bacteria are there to protect from pathogenic bacteria and foreign invaders. It shouldn't cause a skin disease. Now wether it helps acne or not for each individual is another story....

No, leaving bacteria alone for a longer time on an oily skin will surely induce an infection such as impetigo. Sooner or later. You don't want that. And there isn't such a thing as "good" bacteria. Have you ever been on a probiotic diet while suffering from a bacterial infection? If you promote bacterial growth in any way, you promote both good and the bad. That's how it works, a bacteria is a bacteria no matter its role.

has anyone who started this regimen of not washing their face experienced more itchiness than normal?

please continue with your updates.

Itchines probably indicates increased bacterial activity. It's a sign of infection. You should resort to a short-duration antibiotic treatment.

[DroseG]

Alright, well I was doing ok (not amazing) using this for like a month when, idiot me, I decided to try the OCM. I don't know why, but it RAPED my skin. Red zits came up aLL OVER my face. They're dying down now, luckily.
Oh and I finally found out how it feels to get sebum/sweat mix in your eye. It feels something like 'HOLYCRAPMO**ERF*CKER'

[wapak]

@Dr.G

LOL at your discovery! I know how it feels.. XD

[monii]

I know exactly what you are going through... I had clear skin and when I turned 20 my skin just went completely crazy! I tried all those OTC cleansers and medications but none worked. I tried proactiv but that stuff made my skin insanely irritated to a point where it hurt to smile. I saw a derm, he gave me a bunch of topical creams and gels, cleansers and tetracycline.. my skin seemed to improve (maybe because I stopped using proactiv) but the redness is still there, I still get large and inflammed acne, and now I'm beginning to scar especially on my cheeks so I use make up to cover the redness and whatnot (I work in a bank where I have to be presentable). I'd love to try your approach and not wash my face... any ideas on how to go about it since I am a self conscious about not wearing makeup while at work?

Thanks for sharing your results, it really is interesting since I would never have thought of not washing my face esp after workouts..

[hotpink345]

Hey everyone,

Just read through this whole post today and I guess I'm gonna give this regimen a try!
About me.....
Sex: Female
Age: 24
What I've used in the past:
Middle School - Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash after getting one blackhead on my nose. Thus began my battles with zits.
High School - Retin-A Micro and Tretinoin gel. Cleared up most of the zits but made my skin blotchy and flaky and the clearing was only temporary.
College - A slew of over-the-counter products and Proactiv. The over-the-counters did nothing. Proactiv cleared up my skin tremendously at first, but again, this was only temporary.
Now - Recently become obsessed with only using natural products. So, for the past few months I've been using...
Kiss My Face Olive Oil Bar
Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Pads
Desert Essence Jojoba Oil
My face has NEVER LOOKED WORSE. I have terrible acne all over my cheeks, jawline and chin that I've never had before. I'm pretty sure the olive oil bar is clogging my pores and the tea tree pads are irritating my face.

I'm not even sure what kind of acne I really have--if it's mild, cystic, or whatever--since I've been using so many products over the years and don't know if my skin is just really irritated. I do know that my dad had acne, so part of it may be hereditary, but I think he was already over it by age 24. Anyway, I'm absolutely sick of buying products and refuse to spend more money on them, so today is officially day 1 of my caveman regimen. My face is extremely oily right now and feels gross. This is going to be a long journey!

[onceperfect]

Want to know something weird! i too only started having pimples at 21 !!!!!!!!! WTF?

my mom has rosacea and never washes her face! it has helped her alot!

I'm on clindatech and differin, but i too do not wash my face anymore andi t has helped tremendously

[onceperfect]

waterway is your skin still clear?

[.JacktheLad.]

yeah hows it looking mate? do you have a before and after picture?

[SkyCaptain]

It's the only thing that works for me but I finally understand, that which works for one person does not necessarily work for another.

There was a time when I could wash everyday with soap in a hot shower and my skin was perfect. That only lasted a few months. Now the only thing that works is leaving it to nature.

P.S You still have to wash your undercarage, pits and hair, can't go around stinking.
You can also wash your hair with your head down over the bath so the water doesn't run on your face and neck. Once you figure out the technique you are golden.

[blaise]

Been lurking on these boards for awhile, and decided finally yesterday to give this regimen a go.
25 year old male, never had really severe acne, but always persistently had some sort of minor problem come and go.
Last spring I was pretty clear but my skin had a really dull tight tone, and I would get minor breakouts after drinking too heavily and whatnot.
This started to frustrate me, so I started using harsh products like tea tree oil toners, and my skin started to get massively oily. When I used alcoholic "oil reduction" products to combat this, things just got worse and I started breaking out worse. Things went further downhill when I used proactive for about 2 months (still breaking out, severe oil).
I eventually decided that these products were what was doing me in, so I switched to products from the malin and goetz line.
These were great for clearing up my skin, but my oiliness and bad skin tone persisted, and I still got minor break outs. I drove myself crazy thinking of possible reasons... I would wash less, exfoliate more, moisturize, not moisturize, try masks, and I think I just kept leading things downhill.
I was hitting rock bottom mentally; my face would be ridiculously oily and I was massively self-conscious all the time. Overwashing my face just lead to small breakouts and this just made things worse.
2 weeks ago I went back to the states on vacation,(live in Tokyo) somewhat because I just couldn't deal with this crap emotionally anymore.
I kind of snapped with the "screw you, face" mentality and because I was with my best friend who I could be with and not give a crap how i looked, i spent 4 days stoned out of my mind figuring hey, maybe this is all emotional and resetting myself will do me some good. I washed my face once, with water. I figured at the end of all this I would end up looking like crap.. smoking always broke me out the past. I also ate a ton of crap... imagine 4 days of massive munchies and literally feasting on nothing but greasy take out and junk food. I also exercise regularly but I sat on my ass and did nothing.
Miraculously, at the end of all this, I looked at my face and it was almost totally clear and considerably less oily. I was shocked. After obsessively striving to do everything supposedly good for my skin I had thrown it all out and gotten the result I longed for.
Then I went back to my regimen, and my skin reverted to its crappy former state in a day or so.
The first thing I figured was that the emotional stress was messing with my hormones, so as an experiment I popped some xanax for a week or so. Didn't do me any good, although I felt like I didn't have a worry in the world. Still oily, blemishes coming and going.
The only conclusion I was left with was.. my skin is all out of whack because of all the crap I have used on it, and washing it is just making it worse. Reading this thread enabled this theory, and so here I am on day 2. Few minor blemishes, massively oily face. MASSIVELY. But I have faith. Surprisingly I feel great mentally as well, since I am not worrying about when I am next going to wash my face or if maybe I should be changing my regimen, or did i eat too much crap today etc etc. I have no choice but to deal with it, so my mind seems to have adapted to that mentality. Will update, fingers crossed!

ps for people who had questions about shaving, i was pleasantly surprised to note that i got a surprisingly good shave with my rotary electric razor despite my oily skin. I had thought that oily skin keeps the electric razor from working well, so i had been worried about that. Seems to not be a problem, going to shave every day.

[wapak]

@blaise

Good luck mate!

@blaise

Good luck mate!

[blaise]

Day 4: An update and some more indepth info because I am slacking at work

Conditions before i started:
Regimen: Malin+Goetz products. Washing 2-3 times a day with cleanser, exfoliating + moisturizer 2 or 3 times a week, detox mask once a week.. changed the frequency of stuff all the time because i was going insane.
Oil: Really oily. Like whole face covered with oil 1-2 hours after washing.
Irritation: Just applying pressure on my skin would leave a red area for like 30 min to an hour. Spots of random redness after washing. Sun would literally destroy me, leaving me with angry red skin with a blueish undertone.
Skin tone: Dull, lifeless. Like after id wash and dry and look at my face under harsh lighting, id literally look like a zombie since the skin around my eyes was purplish too. Awesome.
Rosacea: Think i had a mild case, when I was using proactive my face would have these outbreaks of feeling hot and inflamed. Went away when I junked that crap, but nose and the cheek areas near the nose are still mildly red.
Acne: Mild. Small whiteheads would contantly pop up, id have 2 or 3 somewhere constantly. Once in awhile id get a bigger one. Recently (before starting this) had really tiny bumps pop up on the forehead near the skinline.

The reason I started this is mostly because of the extreme oiliness of my skin. Yes, it's only been 4 days, but I haven't really seen an indepth log of people with this same condition, which is why I feel inclined to post on my progress.

Update:
Oil: Still oily, but no more than I would have been after washing and then being out for a day. Also, before the oil seemed to be sitting on the surface of the skin but this seems to not be the case anymore. Clearly it is seeping into my pores and clogging everything up, yeahhh D Fingers crossed that this is but a myth.
Irritation: A few red spots after shaving, went away in 30 min or so.
Skin tone: Hard to tell under all this oil lol.
Acne: 2 tiny tiny whiteheads on chin and 2 on the cheeks, probably from shaving. 2 blocked pores on forehead, much less noticeable than when I was washing.
Mental State: I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I dont look at my reflection at every chance I get because I know I look like crap and there's nothing to do about it. I dont stress about tweaking my regimen. Also, for the first time in forever, my skin actually feels like part of my face. That may sound weird, but for he longest time ive had this weird sensation of my facial skin being some alien entity. I also don't get the feeling that a certain part of my face is going to break out.

Some stuff to add for reference:
Shaving: I am shaving every day with a rotary electric razor. My facial hair grows fast and I can't go to work without shaving. Seems ok so far, getting some irritation but hoping this will get better as my skin repairs.
Sweating: I run a lot (8-10km 5 or 6 times a week) and it is massively hot and humid here. So my face is literally swimming in sweat throughout most of the run and at the end. Patting off what I can afterwards but mostly just leaving it be.
Sebum in the eyes: Wow. I had read about this and doubted the level of pain. WJHEIO@HREO THIS HURTS. After running yesterday I had so much streaming into my eyes that I literally couldn't stop tears from waterfalling out of my eyes. Going to run with a towel or something to take care of this from now on because the pain is ridiculous lol.

[wapak]

^- Haha.. the sebum in the eyes really hurts.. XD

[Moonface]

No, leaving bacteria alone for a longer time on an oily skin will surely induce an infection such as impetigo. Sooner or later. You don't want that. And there isn't such a thing as "good" bacteria.

WRONG! There is such a thing as "good bacteria". These bacteria are indeed still bacteria, but they're harmless as long as their concentration is not allowed to grow beyond unhealthy levels. A normal healthy body can keeps these bacteria perfectly in check though.

These "good" bacteria are needed to defend our bodies from more aggressive, bad bacteria. "Good" bacteria basically make up our body's immune system. Our body's first line of defense.

But You have NO CLUE what you're talking about. Why do people like you come to this forum and start spreading wrong information, while they have absolutely no experience or education in this area (except the false "information" they read in bad advertisements)?

It disgusts me when people like you act like they have knowledge while basically they're just making things up.

Sorry for going off-topic there, but I'm sick of people spreading lies.

[blaise]

Day 9.

Definitely seeing the dead skin buildup. Looks like a total mess after running and getting all sweaty with the dead skin absorbing the sweat but during the day it is hardly noticeable except when it flakes a little. Oiliness has subsided considerably, I now wake up with very little oil and it doesn't even look much worse at the end of the day. I can honestly say that despite not washing my face for over a week, my face looks much better than it would have looked even in the afternoon when I had been washing. I couldn't be happier with these results. For a couple days the sebum kept getting in my eyes even during the day and this was hell, but for the last few days this problem has gone away with the oiliness. Hopefully things will keep getting better, I have never been this optimistic since I started having skin problems, and it feels great.

[MAXIROGERLEDES]

Day 9.
Definitely seeing the dead skin buildup. Looks like a total mess after running and getting all sweaty with the dead skin absorbing the sweat but during the day it is hardly noticeable except when it flakes a little. Oiliness has subsided considerably, I now wake up with very little oil and it doesn't even look much worse at the end of the day. I can honestly say that despite not washing my face for over a week, my face looks much better than it would have looked even in the afternoon when I had been washing. I couldn't be happier with these results. For a couple days the sebum kept getting in my eyes even during the day and this was hell, but for the last few days this problem has gone away with the oiliness. Hopefully things will keep getting better, I have never been this optimistic since I started having skin problems, and it feels great.

l thought of this,not wash face,no cleaner even not touch any water,its amazing, my face become less red ,less flake.l dont know why but it really does

[notgivingaf]

No, leaving bacteria alone for a longer time on an oily skin will surely induce an infection such as impetigo. Sooner or later. You don't want that. And there isn't such a thing as "good" bacteria.

WRONG! There is such a thing as "good bacteria". These bacteria are indeed still bacteria, but they're harmless as long as their concentration is not allowed to grow beyond unhealthy levels. A normal healthy body can keeps these bacteria perfectly in check though.

These "good" bacteria are needed to defend our bodies from more aggressive, bad bacteria. "Good" bacteria basically make up our body's immune system. Our body's first line of defense.

But You have NO CLUE what you're talking about. Why do people like you come to this forum and start spreading wrong information, while they have absolutely no experience or education in this area (except the false "information" they read in bad advertisements)?

It disgusts me when people like you act like they have knowledge while basically they're just making things up.

Sorry for going off-topic there, but I'm sick of people spreading lies.

thank you so much for correcting this.
i'm a medical student and always getting angry at people spreading wrong information.
there is such a thing called skin flora, consisting of bacteria and fungus. they're called commensal and will protect your skin from harmful microbes etc. same with the intestinal flora and genitals.
those bacteria are GOOD for you.

i've been lurking around for a while, but feel the need to contribute some information to this thread now.
i have been suffering from mild to moderate acne for about 1 1/2 years. believe my, i tried almost every single treatment you could imagine. everything i did made my skin actually look worse and worse.
i had started off with a few pimples on my forehead, during a stressy period of exams. here begings the story, and i will make it short: i simply seemed to have overtreated my skin. the area around my mouth and nose always seemed to be irritated, red and flaky. at one point it even looked like i had exzema (major redness, itching, thickening of the skin), so i changed my cleansers and they would become milder and milder and more natural, hence WAY more expensive.
my skin still was oily, but not overly so, but as far as i can recall, it was the oiliest with the harsh treatments (thanks to l'oréal etc). during this period i had this REALLY big and painful comedos that would even hurt while frowning. my skin was just bumby and aching, but looked nothing like acne. all of my friends were staring at me and kept asking me what was going on with my skin.
i had no idea, neither the dermatologists i was seeing.
after being on antibiotics for about 2 months, i gradually developed acne, yay! that was last year in summer and from then on i switched my regimen about every other month, because i was impatient and needless to say i was desperate to regain my old skin condition.

well, now i'm here and i started not washing my face about a week ago. i splash it with water every 2 to 3 days, but i will even stop doing that now, because i think, i will have better results just leaving it alone.
my skin has not developed any oiliness at ALL, however it looks somewhat healthy, but i was heaving some new comedos on my forehead again, which are slowly disappearing now. my skin is peeling off a little, which indicates that it is starting to heal.
the big cystic pimples on my cheeks (i had about 4-5 of them) i had when i started not washing are completely gone now. no red marks, no scarring, just healthy new skin.
i'm overly happy now. i can leave the house without giving a f*** (that's why i chose this nickname), because i don't have to worry about my regimen, the cleanser, toner, masks etc.
my skin actually feels like it's part of my body now. not itching, no alien feeling.
i LOVE it!

i will update in a few days.


p.s.: i'm female, i'm not using any foundation right now (which i had only used when i went out at night before i started breaking out). i think this is also immensely important for any of you having sensitive skin. just skip it. i know it will make you feel like shit in the beginning, but you will get used to it. also foundation will not be able to cover up your impurities anyway.
the only i make-up that i use is for my eyes. i remove it with a cotton pad and eye make-up remover.

Edited by notgivingaf, 17 September 2009 - 03:07 AM.