1212 replies to this topic

[The Tominator]

Ah, I do have a jar of turmeric (a leftover from one of my many failed regimens). How do you mix it, with water?

I also read that applying it directly to the skin can result in discoloration. Did you experience that at all?

[wapak]

If you have the turmeric roots.. then you must cold it in the freezer to make it softer then crush it to extract the juice. I didn't mix it with anything, just the pure juice.

The discoloration isn't permanent, and it isn't the color of the skin being affected, it's just like a tint over your skin. I put it on at night on affected areas only which is on the neck in our case, and just wash it with water the next day. If there's color still left just leave it be cause it will be gone in a few days.

[Cavemanfan]

Day 9
 StillCap0083.jpg   27.62K   75 downloads
 StillCap0084.jpg   21.6K   77 downloads
So when I started this, I had every intention to not shave for the no wash period. I felt it would be better for a full skin recovery. This proved to be too difficult, I couldn't overcome the itching, so I shaved. I shave using the sideburn trimmer of and electric razor, avoiding every active pimple, I gently maneuver the trimmer over the hairs. I have very dark brown hair, so its very easy to get every hair. The shave was successful though, my skin doesn't itch right now, and I don't think I've irritated any of my skin.

Ive attached two pictures to this post. So I'll briefly talk about the status of my skin based on those.
The left side of my face never used to be a problem, but currently thats where the breakouts are. My nose is completely clear, as is most of my forehead. The problem is in the cheeks (mainly left cheek).
Now a bit of info about my skin type. I get only pustules. Every pimple is the same, starts off with a small red bump, quickly develops into a whitehead.
I never pop them though, it doesn't bother me to have a bit of acne on my cheeks. After all, I spend nearly 40 hours a week with textbooks, and they don't care how my skin looks.

Analysis of the first 9 days

• There has been a decrease in redness
• Oil production has leveled off since about day 6
• No reduction in breakouts
• Skin itches from time to time
• Deadskin flakes occasionally, but mostly just builds up on my skin

Heres a couple quick addendums about my regimen.
I take 2 Fish Oil softgels per day, 1 Dual Tabs multivitamin, 1 50mg zinc, 1 cup green tea.
I also drink a green smoothie every morning.
I exercise and meditate daily.

[Hello!]

Hey everybody,

I feel confident enough to conclude that the caveman regimen has worked for me. I've been keeping a personal log for the past three months, recording various regimens based around washing with water only and not washing at all.

If anyone is interested, I would be happy to post the log, but I warn you, it's a very lengthy read (15 pages!).

Essentially, it boils down to this: I tried washing with water only for about two months, cleaning my skin every 3-5 days with water, and still had breakouts. After my initial failure, I went all in; no washing at all. The results are almost identical to Wapak's and many other users who succeeded with this method: a thick mask of dead skin after three weeks, subsequent removal of dead skin mask after thirty days, and healthy, glowing skin underneath. I will allow a dead skin mask to build every fourteen days from here on out, until my skin is completely healed.

I believe it is also important to stop using shampoo while not washing. I went "no-poo" at the same time I stopped washing, using only baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair every week or so. Before I started this, I strongly believed that I had seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp. After a month of washing my hair with baking soda, my hair is incredibly healthy, and my scalp is clear of any flakes. I'm never using shampoo again.

There's not much more to say; I haven't been breaking out, my skin is healing, my hair is healthy, and I'm happy that I decided to try this regimen. One more person can be added to the list of successes using the "caveman" regimen.

Edited by Hello!, 10 November 2009 - 08:55 AM.

[wapak]

Glad to hear your story Hello!

[The Tominator]

Congrats, Hello. I think I speak for most here when I say I'd be interested in reading your log. Wapak has been incredibly helpful and I believe more detailed logs like his would benefit us all.

I'm nearing the three-week mark of no washing, and I've greatly reduced the number of showers I take (from twice a day to twice a week). I'm interested in the no-poo method also, but not sure if I can hack it. I switched to organic shampoo, which I think is a step in the right direction, but I've noticed that I'm losing several strands of hair with each washing. Kind of unusual considering I cut out all the supposedly harmful chemicals.

[Cavemanfan]

Any word from blaise? Curious if he is still doing this...

Keep it up Tominator; if you decide to drop shampoo let us know
I'm considering going no-poo also.

Hello! Would you be so kind to share that log? It would be so helpful.

Wapak, are you sure you have Sebhorreic Dermatitis? A lot of people misdiagnose themselves with it. Care to share a picture?

[wapak]

I didn't took a picture of the seb derm.. my skin is now smooth though I have 7 spots right now scattered on my face.. it doesn't bother me though and they're drying up fast.

[Hello!]

Congrats, Hello. I think I speak for most here when I say I'd be interested in reading your log. Wapak has been incredibly helpful and I believe more detailed logs like his would benefit us all.

I'm nearing the three-week mark of no washing, and I've greatly reduced the number of showers I take (from twice a day to twice a week). I'm interested in the no-poo method also, but not sure if I can hack it. I switched to organic shampoo, which I think is a step in the right direction, but I've noticed that I'm losing several strands of hair with each washing. Kind of unusual considering I cut out all the supposedly harmful chemicals.

Perhaps the shampoo is still stripping your hair of enough oils to damage it?

I used to shower just as often, and I actually feel cleaner now that I only shower every three or four days. I prefer simply showering when I need it as opposed to scheduling them . Nice, ain't it?

As far as no-poo goes, there is a general transition that will happen after a week or two where your hair gets quite greasy, then keeps itself in check afterwards. You'll look like a hair model from then on out.

[Hello!]

Hello!’s Water Only/No Wash Regimen

NOTE: This is NOT the only thing I’ve done for my skin’s health. Over the past year and a half, I have increasingly cleaned up my diet to eat healthier (no gluten or dairy being the most significant), started exercising throughout the week (I stopped exercising during the period of this experiment, so the sweat would not affect any results), avoided many household allergens, and learned to manage stress, which I believe to be the most important thing of all. This has been a very long, and sometimes very painful process. I did not go cold turkey with topicals, face washes, moisturizers, and the lot; I phased them out gradually over time by substituting gentler products and methods, until I was finally only using a very gentle olive oil face soap and jojoba oil as a moisturizer. I felt confident enough in myself and in my skin to believe I could finally cut these out and try using only water.

This past week I was using Paula’s Choice 1% BHA gel every other day, for about 9 days. I fully expect to break out within the next 5 days; this is supposed to happen. There is generally a 10-14 day transition time in which my skin purges itself after using a new product, so I know it will happen. The preliminary spots have already appeared. I expect to have a breakout (due to the BHA) on or around the 23rd of August. Most likely, I will have another one around September 1st, due to the omission of this and all products from here on out.

Tuesday August 18 2009 – DAY 1

My skin does not feel oily today, so I simply washed my face with water and a light rub from my fingertips and then used jojoba oil.

Before bed, my skin is oily as hell. My nose and forehead are practically dripping, and my forehead/temples feel a bit itchy. Probably due to the jojoba oil; I won’t use it again.

Wednesday August 19 – DAY 2

Only washed my face with cool water; did not rub my nose. The blackheads in my nose are already pushing themselves out. No jojoba oil. Strangely enough, my skin is not oily or dry. It feels (and looks) perfectly normal. I did not get the “forehead itchies” that I had yesterday.

Thursday August 20 – DAY 3

Washed my face with cool water again. Rubbed my fingertips lightly in a circular motion everywhere except my nose. The blackheads in my nose are surfacing; there is almost a film of white junk on the sides of both my nostrils. The top of my nose is red, and looks irritated; only a few of the blackhead on top have purged, the rest look like they’re clogged. Skin today (at the end of the day) felt very dry, and looks red in the mirror. Still not oily, though.

Friday August 21 – DAY 4

Cool water, very light fingertip rub – did not rub my nose or oily areas to left and right of nose – upper cheeks. Some of the blackheads from my right nostril came out last night when I was sleeping, probably from my pillow. The blackheads on the front of my nose are more noticeably coming out now. My forehead felt a little bit itchy after I came out of the shower. Also, skin is slightly dry. Maybe I shouldn’t be rubbing my skin with my fingertips every day. There is a slight pain deep in my right nostril every now and again; maybe a big zit is coming out of there.

Also washed my hair today.

Saturday August 22 – DAY 5

Pain in right nostril ceased.

This morning, rubbed my nose lightly with fingertips to get some of the cheese off of it. I did not force the skin off, just lightly rubbed the bits that seemed ready.

Did NOT rub face with fingertips in the shower. Only let water run over my face. Skin is fairly dull. Not oily. I also showered too hot; face feels tight. Can’t let this happen.

Sunday August 23 – DAY 6

Entire face very itchy and congested. Dead skin mask is prevalent and obvious. Pores clogged; more blackheads are coming out of nose. Upper lip irritated from last night’s shaving.

A small “surface zit” on the right corner of my mouth and upper chin popped while I was sleeping.

Very sick and stressed today – worked for four hours. I shouldn’t have been working, as sick as I am. Perhaps one reason my face feels acnefied.

Washed face for a few seconds with cool water in the shower and did a fingertip rub. Did not shave due to shaving irritation from yesterday.

Monday August 24 – DAY 7

Skin looks absolutely wonderful this morning. Many of the blackheads seem to have come out during the night, redness of yesterday’s mouth zits has dropped substantially, and my skin looks very healthy. It simply looks like normal skin. I’m going to continue not washing every one or two days then doing the fingertip rub. I don’t see the sense in not washing at all, and I really don’t think it would work for me (EDIT: HOW INCREDIBLY WRONG I WAS ABOUT THIS! Nov.12). If I want to work my way up to the point of no washing at all, I’ll do it by phasing out the frequency of fingertip rubs.

Side note – no breakout from the BHA on the magical 14 day mark. Maybe that already came and passed as the breakout of this past week, either way I’m happy and can’t complain.

Let water run over face in shower and that’s it. It was about as mild a temperature as you can imagine. Had to shave; slightly irritating.

Tuesday August 25– DAY 8

No itching, oiliness, or dryness today. Pores are still purging, but no breakouts or big zits or anything. One on my right jaw due to shaving irritation.

Very pleasant shave today with a badger hair brush and shave soap. No irritation.

Did not rub face today in shower, just let water splash me. Washed hair today.

Wednesday August 26 – DAY 9

Went ahead and rubbed dead skin mask off in the shower. A LOT of dead skin. Skin underneath looks healthy and well. No irritation. A few new tiny zits here and there, nothing even remotely worrying.

Thusday August 27 – DAY 10

A couple spots feel like they’re forming on my forehead, and my eyebrows keep having painful zits underneath the hairs. I won’t wash today, my skin looks normal and feels normal aside from the spots mentioned. Three small zits on upper lip due to shaving irritation. Getting in the bad habit of using a Q-tip to extract some zits that are dried.

Friday August 28 – DAY 11

Three spots on forehead coming up; they are the same spots as yesterday. They hurt when I use my face muscles. Also, a new zit on the corner of my mouth. I rubbed some itchy spots on my face (sides of nose and one spot on forehead) and now they’re irritated; I’m thinking I shouldn’t be doing that anymore.

Hair very greasy, washed today. Will not rub face in shower water.

Saturday August 29 – DAY 12

The Sept. 1 breakout that I predicted earlier has definitely come. There are roughly 5 big spots on my forehead, an itchy spot on my hairline, another on my lower lip, and irritation on my upper lip from shaving. Aside from that, skin is looking really good. Spots don’t hurt like normal – they feel like “healthy zits” as strange as it may be. I don’t expect them to be around for too long. Also, more of the deeper blackheads on my nose are finally purging. Definitely not regretting the water only experiment at this point. Will only let water touch face in shower today, as skin feels pretty good.

Something I just noticed: the pores on the front of my cheeks (to the left and right of my nose have completely shrunk. They used to be huge, open pores, and I can safely assume now that they were just giant blackheads. In any case, they are all basically gone, and the skin looks very close in pore size to normal skin. I am very happy about this development.

Two small zits have appeared on right temple. Also, all forehead zits have already come to a healthy head.

Sunday August 30 – DAY 13

A few of the forehead zits popped during the night and are basically gone. A cluster of three above my left eye brow remain, as well as the giant one on my forehead. Thankfully I don’t have to work today. Also, the lower lip and hairline itchy spots aren’t itchy anymore, and no zits arrived. One of the temple zits is gone, the other remains.

Shaved today, and did a VERY light fingertip rub with water. So light, it may as well not be considered.

Monday August 31 – DAY 14

Skin looks well this morning – pores still purging out of nose, mostly in the areas that didn’t the first time around (such as on the front of my nose, and the big, deep blackheads). It looks gross up close but unless someone is standing 6 inches from my face there’s no way they’d notice it. Remember, I am only rubbing the dead skin off of my nose every week or so. I think it’s important to not mess with the blackhead ridden areas of your face, as it takes a while for them all to purge.

The giant zit on my forehead popped, but I expect it to come to a head again, it doesn’t seem like it’s “done”. The cluster of three above my left eyebrow are still there, but they aren’t coming to heads, so I think they’re just inflammations, as they don’t feel irritated at all. I’m pretty sure they’ll diminish in redness and just go away. Also, the one on my temple is still there, but it is also has come to a healthy, normal head.

Friday September 4 – DAY 18

I haven’t updated for a few days because there have been absolutely no new changes until today.

New things – Massive forehead zit is still there, although it came to a head, healed, and will now likely come to another smaller head again. It doesn’t seem “done”. The cluster above my left eyebrow is still healing, and doesn’t feel irritated.

There are three spots above my chin, as well. They are small and not really a bother.

Also, I rubbed the dead skin off of my nose yesterday. Each time I do this my nose seems to look better healed. Hopefully in a couple more weeks the dead skin and purging will be over with. I haven’t done a fingertip rub since 5 days ago, and my skin hasn’t felt irritated or itchy aside from the already mentioned zits.

Tuesday September 8 – DAY 22

There wasn’t anything really new to report until today.

Washed my hair; some shampoo hit my forehead in the shower, and I could see white streaks on it, so I decided to run my face under the water. The shampoo didn’t go away, so I rubbed my fingertips pretty well to try and remove it… and the dead skin mask formed such a thick paste it was almost like glue. It’s pretty gross.

Also, after removing the dead skin mask from my nose a few days ago, a zit formed the next day.

All big zits are still healing – they are kind of crusted over. Nasty but it means good things.

Thursday September 10 – DAY 24

There seems to have been no negative reaction whatsoever from removing the dead skin mask from my forehead. The skin underneath looks pretty good; the day it was removed it felt tight and looked red.

The healing big spots look about done. I tried flaking off two of them and they didn’t want to, so I left them; the big spot on my forehead came off, so it looks better now. There aren’t really any new zits at all.

I must note that my skin feels much better at all times than when I was washing every day and using jojoba oil. It looks natural, though dull sometimes with the dead skin mask. It’s healing, and I’m very happy at this point to have tried this. Another thing – I tried doing water only about 1-1/2 years ago while I was still on BP, face wash, and moisturizer, and it absolutely destroyed my face and self esteem for about a month or two. I have many big scars from it. That being said, I do NOT recommend trying this if you were previously stuck on tons of topicals. It did not work for me, and I believe it’s much safer to simply phase them out over time. It is important for me to note that I was also incredibly stressed out, with a full load of college classes and work, and I was not exercising, and I was also eating foods that my body does not tolerate well, including those that I now know break me out. USE YOUR OWN JUDGMENT!

Also – if you are the self-conscious type, always worried about other people examining your skin, this is not for you. You will very likely fail unless you gain confidence. I decided the time was right for me to try this, because instead of trying to convince myself that “I don’t care what other people think” I actually accepted it and STOPPED CARING.

Sunday September 13 – DAY 27

Most of the blackheads on the sides of my nose have completely purged. However, there is still going to be dead skin building, I suspect, to allow the pores to close up and heal (CORRECT). The top of my nose is a different story; the blackheads are coming out VERY slowly, and there are a number of inflamed zits/ red spots up there.

I have gotten some small zits around my temples – nothing serious. The cluster above my eyebrow that I’ve mentioned a number of times is still healing. Another zit has appeared near it; this is how it always happens on my face. The giant forehead one is nearly gone.

Zits under my eyebrows have appeared aggressively and are quite painful. There are probably three underneath each eyebrow. They’ve been around for maybe a week now.

Monday September 21 – DAY 35

A MASSIVE zit is emerging out of my left temple.

Tuesday September 29 – DAY 43

Aforementioned massive temple zit didn’t really become active. It stopped hurting and has gone down in size and doesn’t hurt anymore. Skin is doing very well; nose continually looks better as do cheeks, forehead still gets some spots, mostly after I rub off the dead skin. Dead skin also seems to be slowing down. Not oily, not dry, it definitely seems like my skin is working at a continual pace in rebuilding itself. I am quite happy with this. Red marks are fading quickly as well. Under-eyebrow zits have become reduced as I flake off the dead skin underneath (INCORRECT – they stopped ONLY when I COMPLETELY stopped washing. These were the most numerous, painful, and stubborn of all the zits I had). Been growing out a mustache. It is painful and after four days or so a few irritated (ingrown hairs?) were bleeding. Almost at the 2 month mark!

Sunday October 4 – DAY 48

I need to get back on track and record what I do every day again – I’ve broken out a bit lately. Two or three spots on my forehead (small) and one large one on my right cheek. I don’t know exactly why this has happened, but I assume it’s because I’ve rubbed the dead skin off my dry face a few times (CORRECT). I am going to stop and not touch or wash for a few days.

Monday October 5 – DAY 49

Didn’t wash today. Aforementioned zit on cheek is HUGE.

STOPPED WASHING COMPLETELY TODAY.

Tuesday October 6 – DAY 50

Feeling incredibly discouraged. My skin is having the worst breakout since I’ve started this regimen, and I assume it’s because I rubbed the crap out of my skin a week or so ago to get rid of the dead skin build up (CORRECT, dry rubbing is HIGHLY irritating to my skin). I have a few spots on my forehead, nothing huge or scar-worthy, but the one on my cheek is probably going to scar (INCORRECT, it has healed VERY nicely).

Wednesday October 7 – DAY 51

It looks like my nose has become plugged with blackheads everywhere. On top of yesterday’s reasoning, this also may be due to the fact that my showers have gone from lukewarm to hot. Something else to note: I had a number of early morning and late night shifts at work these past two weeks, which were very stressful. In retrospect, I have slipped up multiple times, in major ways. It seems to me that the less I do the better. I will not let water touch my skin anymore, nor will I remove dead skin buildup UNLESS it looks as though it is already about to flake.

Notes: skin has not been oily, or dry. I am most certain that I broke out because I screwed up on my own, not because my skin couldn’t tolerate this regimen (CORRECT). Giant right cheek zit has already gone down to about 1/2 its original size. I remembered the giant forehead zit I got early on in this regimen – it was as large or larger than the one on my cheek. It popped, resurfaced as a cluster in the same spot, healed, and then went away – and now there is no trace that it was ever there. This is incredibly encouraging and reason enough to continue on.

Did not wash at all today.

Sunday October 11 – DAY 55

Skin is healing well now that I’m not washing again. Rubbed a little bit of dead skin off the sides of my nose today. Must resist this temptation. Cheek zit is healing quickly and well.

Tuesday October 13 – Day 57

Have not let water touch my face in 9 days. Nothing new to note. Skin healing. I should also watch how much sugar I take in; I’m sure I go through plenty of spikes and crashes by how much I eat.

Wednesday October 14 DAY 58

Nothing new to note; skin looks dull but the zits (cheek, one on my mouth) have been healing very well.

Thursday October 15 – DAY 59

Washed hair.

Friday October 16 – DAY 60 (DAY 12 OF NO WATER)

Skin is LOVING not being washed at all. My cheeks and jawline have a very healthy looking glow to them. There is of course dead skin all over my forehead and nose, and under my eyebrows, and facial hair, but it is only noticeable when wet. Any spots I may have had are healing very quickly and very well. Cheek spot is virtually nonexistent now. Washed my hair last night, and got some baking soda on my face, so I let some water from the shower hit my face also to wash it off, but only for about 1 second.

Saturday October 17 – DAY 61 (Day 13 of no water)

My skin looks so much better. I’m going to have this dead skin mask for another 2 weeks but I’m okay with that. I’m not bothered by it really. My nose is the only place where it’s noticeable, and some flakes coming out of my eyebrows. Aside from that, my skin is clearly healing. I do now have one of those weird patches on my nose that you can see in WAPAK’s gallery.

Monday October 19 – DAY 63 (Day 15 No Water)

One new thing to note; two new spots under my left temple. They are underneath the giant zit that was healing. Skin looks very dull and feels tight.

Wednesday October 21 – DAY 65 (Day 17 No water)

Skin is steadily improving; took off a little bit of the dead skin on the sides of my nose. It did not seem to bother my nose at all. Temple zit is not becoming inflamed, it is healing, and there are no other new spots to consider.

Thursday October 22 – DAY 66 / Day 18 N.W.

Skin looks absolutely disgusting after showers; aside from that, all is well. Cheek healing zit flaked off, and two of the old zits on my forehead are about to do the same. Skin feels slightly itchy after shower/ induced flaking with a bit of toilet paper; DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN!

Friday October 23 – Day 67/ Day 19 N.W.

Skin looks terrible from the dead skin buildup.

Monday October 26. 2009 – DAY 70/ Day 22 N.W.

Skin looking better. Flaking seems to have slowed down on the upper lip and chin, as well as sides of the nose. One new spot that is very painful – above right corner of the lip. Some “scars” seem to be filling in.

Tuesday October 27. 2009 – Day 71/ Day 23 NW

Spot above lip came and went already – within one day. Eyebrow zits are relentless. Perhaps I have been itching them too much, or flaking them too much. Aside from that, all is basically the same. Healing is going well.

Thursday October 29.2009 – Day 73 / Day 25 NW

Not much to note, flaked off skin from my chin and mustache areas. No reaction thus far.

Friday October 30, 2009 – Day 74/ Day 26 NW

Skin is doing well! I electric shaved a bunch of facial hair off the other night and had no bad reaction to it. Much of the dead skin caught in the hair was eliminated. Dead skin is so thick on forehead that when I remove a small bit, the skin underneath is pinkish and raw looking – almost like new tissue. It’s a bit strange. Tomorrow is the monumental 27th day – I have yet to decide whether or not I remove the dead skin mask.

Tuesday November 3rd 2009 – Day 78/ Day 30 NW

Going to remove the dead skin today. It is really quite horrible now. I’m a bit scared to do it, since I removed some dead skin above my left eyebrow and got a massive zit there…We’ll see how this goes.

REMOVED IT!

Wednesday November 4 2009 – Day 79 / Day 31 NW

Removed the dead skin last night with some soft cloth. Skin was irritated and red for the night but has lessened today. So far no negative reaction. The skin that was underneath the mask is very fresh and healthy looking. Strange note – I let my unibrow grow the entirety of my no washing trial and plucked all the hair out over the past three days…I did not break out like normal. I only had one TINY zit that quickly disappeared.

Sunday November 8 2009 – Day 83 / Day 35 NW

5 DAYS SINCE REMOVAL OF MASK.

Not much to note, really – Skin looks very good and is obviously healing. I’ve had a few small spots that were expected, but they have come and gone quickly. I don’t know how long I’m going to let the mask build before removal.

Thursday November 12 2009 – Day 39 NW

Skin looks better daily. All the blackheads on my nose are basically gone; only very slight purging in some spots. I simply don’t break out anymore.

Edited by Hello!, 12 November 2009 - 05:36 PM.

[Cavemanfan]

Thanks for posting that Hello!
I definitely agree with you that to do this regimen, you need to be able to not feel self conscious about what other people are thinking about you. Thats actually why I quit this regimen the first time, because I was embarrassed about the deadskin mask.

A healthy diet is also very important. If your from America, chances are you've been poisoning your body all your life. American's have the worst diet of any country in the world.

One major difference between your regimen and my own, is sweating during the no wash phase.

How do you know when your skin is ready for the first removal of the dead skin mask. I am not going to just remove it because I've reached a certain day mark, I want signs that my skin is ready for it.

Oh and congratulations on your success!

Edited by Cavemanfan, 14 November 2009 - 08:11 AM.

[j_lee143]

hey waterwater. Ive also stopped washing my face and putting all the topicals on and went the vitaman way... ITS BEEN WONDERFUL!!!! I have NOT ONE blemish on my face. I think maybe my face always broke out because i was always putting something on it, whether it was face wash, moisturizer, tazorac, differin, retin-a, oxy pads... there was always something on my face. When i decided to stop washing and using topicals and go for the vitamins and ACV, my face cleared up almost instantly! Maybe i finally found my chemical balance for my skin! But i think its mostly my face was able to breathe and find itself!

[Hello!]

Thanks for posting that Hello!
I definitely agree with you that to do this regimen, you need to be able to not feel self conscious about what other people are thinking about you. Thats actually why I quit this regimen the first time, because I was embarrassed about the deadskin mask.

A healthy diet is also very healthy. If your from America, chances are you've been poisoning your body all your life. American's have the worst diet of any country in the world.

One major difference between your regimen and my own, is sweating during the no wash phase.

How do you know when your skin is ready for the first removal of the dead skin mask. I am not going to just remove it because I've reached a certain day mark, I want signs that my skin is ready for it.

Oh and congratulations on your success!

You're welcome

I agree about diet in America - we are an incredibly, embarrassingly misinformed country when it comes to health and diet (as well as many other things).

My skin was probably NOT ready to have the mask removed when I did remove it - although I have not had any negative effects from removing it at that time. I think the best time to remove it is when it's flaking heavily enough to where it almost looks like it will fall off on it's own; however I can't say for sure whether or not this is accurate. You may want to ask a user who has gone through this process multiple times.

Edited by Hello!, 13 November 2009 - 10:08 PM.

[sverd]

New to this thread but I find it interesting. I came to the same conclusion as the original poster that all the facial washes and products were probably doing more harm then good. A week ago I stopped using all products and simply started washing my face twice a day with water only. The skin tone on my face has improved, its no longer as red but still its not perfect. I'm going to cut down to washing only once a day and see how things go from there. I thought that without the products I would experiencing massive breakouts but that is not the case. The dependence was more mental than physical.

Edited by sverd, 14 November 2009 - 02:25 PM.

[Cavemanfan]

Day 14

• OK. Not much has changed in the past 5 days.
• Breakouts have slowed slightly.
• Dead skin mask is thickening on my cheeks, jawline, and t-zone.
• Existing breakouts are trying out and flaking off.

As you can see. The next two pictures look almost identical to Day 9 pics. I'll keep this board updated on a weekly basis.
 StillCap0088.jpg   27.98K   55 downloads
 StillCap0087.jpg   22.5K   53 downloads

Heres my personal skin quote/philosophy of the week
I must stop feeling sorry for myself when I look at my skin.

[wapak]

"I thought that without the products I would experiencing massive breakouts but that is not the case. The dependence was more mental than physical."

This is so very true that I can call it a fact. Thank you for stating that sverb!!

[Wesclo]

Hey everybody this is my first post on this site and its probably a little overdue since this thread basically saved me. I remember the exact day i started using this caveman method after finding this topic somehow through google anyway on the 6th july this year i threw out all my bp, antibiotics, topicals and facewash....they just werent working and i was sick to death of it. i had cystic acne all over my face prominantly on my cheekbones and temples and the more i tried to treat it the worse it got.

So its been about 5 months now and the improvement is massive basically both sides of my face from my temples over my jawline and cheeks is clear though my right side seems to heal more slowly, thats not to say im completely clear i get a few of pimples and some acne around my mouth and chin still(probably cos this area gets wiped the most) the thing about the pimples i have now is that they,re almost impossible to pop my skin seems alot stronger these days hopefully when they dry out it will be left healthy and strong enough to deal with any more coming through.

I probably havent been as hardcore as some in following this regimen as some people. In the first month or two i had a no water, nothing can touch my face attitude though lately ive been putting my face under the shower alot more, also a handy tip for those not completely committed to no washing i often use a make up removal pad to remove excess dirt from around my neck,jawline and forehead it takes off a surprising amount of dirt but leaves all the good stuff trying to heal you.

My only other problem area is my forehead which gets one or two spots but also has these tiny flesh colored bumps which never develop into anything, im not too worried about these and in the coming month im going cut down on water again and see if i can get my chin/mouth and forehead up to the rest of my face(i think theres still to much irritation going on)

So for any of you who are not sure about trying this i urge you to give it a go, its the best decision i ever made, also i would be happy to answer any questions about my experience as this has only covered the major details.

good luck

[sverd]

Interesting update: I've started washing my face once per day, well not scrubbing it all just letting water run over it in my daily shower. Since starting this I've noticed my face feeling much dryer after the shower then it used to, even though I'm not washing it throughout the day anymore. This leads me to conclude that my natural oil production has lessened to the point where I only need to wet it once per day, perhaps if I stop washing my face altogether it will decrease even more. My skin tone has improved as well, my face doesn't get as red and its closer to the color of my neck. It looks best right after waking up with nearly 24 hours since my last wash.

Edited by sverd, 15 November 2009 - 10:55 AM.

[thabai]

Hi, I've only just noticed this post and had a quick flick through but there are 31 pages now! A lot of interest in this topic obviously. So anyways I was just wondering how many people have used this caveman regime with sucess?
Also, what do each of you do? Like how often do you actually put water on you're face?
How do you exfoliate the whole dead skin that covers you're face
Sorry I'm new to this postingness hehe
Oh yeah! I forgot to ask what like vitamins etc you lot are using? How much exercise too

Edited by thabai, 15 November 2009 - 03:40 PM.

[Wesclo]

I let water actually touch my face once or twice a week for about 10 seconds in a cold shower, after doing this my face usually looks its worst but i cant help doing it sometimes, other than that i use a cotton pad most nights to lightly remove excess dirt around my nose and jaw/neck area. i dont take any vitamins but eat plenty of fruit and veg plus fish is good as well. As for exercising i usually do something everyday like a run or weights. with the exercise i think its more important that you do it if you spend most of your time in air-con which i find rips my face up so i go for a run after work to build up some sweat and oil on my face, it just feels way to dry if i dont.