15 replies to this topic

[Pshla]

I just went through a very trying month in terms of acne.

I don't get cysts often right now (maybe 5/yr) due to my 5% BP wash and diet changes. My bacne and chest acne are gone. My puberty is definitely done I think. My periods are regular, and I stopped having premenstrual symptoms most of the time. However, my face is oily and itchy all the time, with small red bumps all over. There have been times when I thought my face is ugly while I had the cysts, but now I look barely human.

I'm going to make a gamble and hope that most of the improvement in cysts is due to the diet changes and hormonal changes....because I'm thinking about trying the cavewoman regimen. I read wapak's posts and I found them very inspiring

. My mother's side of the family never gets acne going back several generations. Most of them never got a single pimple in their lives (I know because I mercilessly grilled all of them about it). The only person in my dad's side of the family who got acne (also in several generations) is my uncle. He's the pampered baby of the family. NEVER eats any veggies (maybe a carrot once every months) and he picked all his pimples (which aren't more than the average person) and got a faceful of scars. I just don't believe that my acne is really due to genetics. I've been destroying my face with harsh soaps, cleansers and topicals for nearly 10 years. I started out washing with handsoap 3/4 times a day. Then I washed with a 10% BP wash, followed by a harsh SA scrub. AND on top of this, I used Benzaclin.

I've really had enough. I just want to be normal. I'm willing to stick to my strict diet (raw veggies, nothing I'm sensitive to, sweet potatoes, probiotic yogurt, salmon and green tea). But I'm seriously done with the harsh chemicals.

[MissAngie]

Kudos to you for being brave and attempting this. I've always felt like wearing makeup and using tons of cleansers and masks are like a vicious cycle that is just plain hard to stop. I wear makeup to cover the acne that I have which may be better without wearing so much makeup in the first place.

Anyway, I'll check in and see how your progress goes. I'm extremely curious.

[vblue]

Hi, I feel for your struggle. It would be good to stop completely all cleansers/face products etc. To compliment your diet you should buy foods organic where possible, and if possible. I would get something better than typical supermarket 'probiotic' yoghurt, such as organic acidophilus yoghurt and a natural bowel cleanser.

For your face it would be ok to experiment with natural only things like undiluted tea tree oil on individual spots, organic coconut oil, ACV etc. You should still wash your face 3 times a day, with warm water only just to rinse things off. Good luck anyway.

[Cubed]

YES!!! Please try it! I did the same thing. I washed my face with soap way too much one week and ended up with dehydrated skin. Dry. Dull. Liney. Itchy. Then Pimples galore. I went like that for about 2-3 months until I read acne.org and saw Wapak and Waterwater. It inspired me to do it. I used to not wash my face at all and my face was normal. I got the odd pimple here and there but my face was normal until I started washing it.

I even remember my skin being normal and nice in high school before my mom bought me proactiv. Proactive, I felt, dried out my skin then and made it shiney. I felt like proactiv ruined my skin because I loved how nice, matte/moist my skin looked before I had even tried proactiv.

Please do this. It will probably be the best decision you make.

REALLY I'll pray for you <3

[Pshla]

For your face it would be ok to experiment with natural only things like undiluted tea tree oil on individual spots, organic coconut oil, ACV etc. You should still wash your face 3 times a day, with warm water only just to rinse things off. Good luck anyway.

I've already tried this before. The organic tea tree oil (diluted with jojoba oil myself) irritated my skin. It did keep some pimples at bay somewhat, but not enough. And it BURNED.

If this thing ends up being disastrous, I can always try to revert to my current regimen: BP wash, jojoba oil, tea tree oil. Maybe I'll take out the cleanser and try MaMa lotion at some point. I'd hate to be dependent on these things for the rest of my life though. Once I went camping and didn't wash my face for 3 days, and my face cleared. I thought I was just lucky at the time, but maybe it wasn't a coincidence.

Just to provide some more info, my mom washes her face every 2 days at night only. She has the most youthful and clear skin. (so jealous!) Meanwhile, my skin, at the age of 20, has FINE WRINKLES when it gets dry! My hopes are not too high just in case this bombs, but I'll give it time. 10 years of damage will take some time to heal.

[DroseG]

YAY!
When I tried this in June of this year I had
-blackheads all over my nose and around it
-pimples and zits on my forehead
-dull skin
-a perpetually white face with raccoon-like circles under my eyes
-propensity to be sunburnt, b.c I had no natural barrier for my skin

Doing this helped regulate the oil production of my face (NEVER oily anymore, nor too dry) as well as got rid of basically all acne-action on my nose and forehead.

Btw I gently scratched at the dead skin mask after like two weeks of it accumulating.

After a while of not wearing make up, I started to and then used the CeraVe (I HIGHLY reccommend it b.c it respects the skin's natural barrier) cleanser to take it off. This also worked when I felt too grimy to go on.

Now my face got effed up b.c I tried the OCM one time and my face decided it hated EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). But anyway that's a diff story for a diff time .

[Pshla]

OK Day 1.

Didn't even wash my hair. Still have to figure out how to do that without water touching my face.

So far so good. Hair is disgusting though. I normally wash it very aggressively everyday, and it just gets oilier and oilier. Maybe it'll get better after leaving it alone for a few days?

Morning: Face looks more calmed actually. My mom asked me what I did to my face since the red and irritating bumps look a lot less visible now. The red marks are a LOT less visible. My friend actually said "what did you DO today?" The cyst near my right jaw is going down. The pimple from a few days ago on my left side is all but gone even without the BP and the TTO. It feels disgustingly oily but everyone said it looks perfectly normal. Hah, I don't even know what "normal" is supposed to feel like now. I'm slowly becoming more convinced that my problems were mostly caused by irritation, but the skeptic in me is still anticipating a huge disaster.

Diet yesterday:
- Morning: soymilk + 1/2 mung bean pastry. Rooibos tea cuz I ran out of green tea.
- Lunch: mushrooms + sweet potatoes + 1/2 salmon filet + 1 oyster (boo cravings)
- Snack: half a bag of baby carrots
- Dinner: Red pepper tomato celery salad + tofu (sauce was a teeny bit spicy) + sweet potatoes

Diet today:
- Brunch: sweet potatoes, celery + red pepper salad. 1 cup of green tea.
- Afternoon snack: Half a bag of baby carrots, 1 plum and 3 mung bean pastries (I was HUNGRY)
- Dinner: Cod, celery + red pepper salad. 1 raw tomato (from back yard) and rice (white + red+ mung beans)

By night, the bumps on the sides of my face are all but gone. Red marks less visible. Forehead is disgusting though. Oily and bumpy upon close inspection but looks alright from distance.

[Pshla]

Day 2

Urgh. Face feels SO gross. It takes so much restraint to stop myself from washing my face. Good news is that I managed to wash my hair without getting my face wet. Skin looks a little oily. Previous cysts and pimples have gone down, but a new papule came up on my left cheek. I have a lot of tiny whiteheads in my T-zone and right cheek.

- Brunch: sweet potatoes, cod, 1 raw tomato, 1 cup of green tea.
- Afternoon snack: large bowl of blueberries.
- Dinner: corn, ribs, tomatoes

[DroseG]

sweet deal! So how is everyone reacting?

[Pshla]

Day 3:

Had to go to work today. Nobody seemed to notice anything different about me today. Whew.

My skin is starting to become dry. Skin was particularly bad because I had to pull an all-nighter. Red marks became a little more visible again, but papules from yesterday has dried up already. Skin still pretty bumpy imo, especially in T-zone. Gross part is......whiteheads would come up and then dry up throughout the day, and leave tiny sebum plugs on my face after drying up. Could just brush them away gently but it's still kinda disgusting.

Diet:
Morning: Soy milk, mung bean pastries, tomato
Lunch: left-over from last night's dinner.
Dinner: sweet potato, lettuce, tomato cabbage broth
After dinner: large bowl of cherries.

[Pshla]

Day 4

Urrghh!!! Frustrating day. No flakes/dead skin, just more whiteheads, sebum plugs and bumps all over. Really sunny and hot today, so skin was oily. My face is looking really gross even though it feels alright. I'm seriously thinking about quitting.

Diet:
Morning: Morning: Soy milk, mung bean pastries
Lunch: Salmon, rice, lettuce
Afternoon snack: small bowl of blueberries
Dinner: sweet potatoes, celery+cucumber+zucchini salad.
After dinner: large bowl of blueberries.

[Pshla]

This is day....7?

Anyways, I ended up sticking with the regimen after all. Maybe it was my all-nighter that made my face look all crappy after all.

Current status: bumps are mostly gone. Skin feels normal. No itchiness. Red marks have faded slightly. Clear except for a few whiteheads. I still have a lot of flesh colored bumps on my forehead though. I'm starting to wonder if I have some sort of folliculitis or dermatitis. They're not visible unless up close and they don't itch, so I'm not too bothered right now.

I think I'm going to do this for 2 weeks or a 1 month depending how everything is going. Anything more feels a little too unsanitary.

[clearskinn]

wow!!! Your Boss!!

I might do this as soon as clindoxyl clears me (benzoyl peroxide) and just quit everything.. just water and and a face cloth.. All through highschool i never really washed my face, and I played sports and everything.. when university came i started using those oxy pads, face scrubs and some other shit just cause i got one pimple.. then came benzoyl peroxide, and with it cysts.. now im finally recovering a year later so I think im in the same boat as you.. One more question, why are you eating all the sweet potatoes? How do you cook them? and what are mung beans?

good luck, and please stick with it for all of us... Much Love

[Cubed]

This is day....7?

Anyways, I ended up sticking with the regimen after all. Maybe it was my all-nighter that made my face look all crappy after all.

Current status: bumps are mostly gone. Skin feels normal. No itchiness. Red marks have faded slightly. Clear except for a few whiteheads. I still have a lot of flesh colored bumps on my forehead though. I'm starting to wonder if I have some sort of folliculitis or dermatitis. They're not visible unless up close and they don't itch, so I'm not too bothered right now.

I think I'm going to do this for 2 weeks or a 1 month depending how everything is going. Anything more feels a little too unsanitary.

what did i tell you!!! it really does make the bumps go away

i'm so glad another person has realized thissssss wooootttt

i just want to say, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE
no matter what! i will stress this again

DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE
it will make things worse and if you have a rash it will spread it
just don't touch the spot, if you have to put vinegar on it or wipe it with plain water

[fantasyevil]

I recently discovered natures cure two step acne treatment I started using this two days ago
prevous to that I had about twenty zits on my face grose ewww no joke i disguest myself
im a hot woman with zits and scars but anyways now I have about fifteen and most
have faded they sell it at walmart for about ten dollars read the reviews on here about natures cure i got it because kids on here say its the bomb shiz and so far so good I dont use
any chemical washes i recently discovered that chemical washes only make the face blister and puss its damaged so it blisters and pusses and we call it acne i call it damaged
use gental washes i use apricot scrub for sensitive skin without chemicals alvino baby lotion with oatmeal for egzama a thin layer after I wash twice a day and pills twice a day
not that i have egzma but its its safe enough for baby its safe for us
and i only use the cream in the natures cure as a spot treatment so my skin doesnt get further damaged my skin is starting to get reallly oily but most pp say thats the skin
improving itself so far so good hope that helps you too.....

[Pshla]

UPDATE:

Long time no post.

I did the no face washing regimen for 3 weeks. Although initially it sounded like a pretty stupid idea, it did actually work for me.

When I started the regimen, my entire face was very sensitive and full of itchy and painful bumps of various sizes. These eventually faded away during the course of 3 weeks, and now I'm mostly clear. (Except before my period or when I binge on junk food).

The most important progress I made is that my skin is now a lot healthier. My pimples now rarely last more than 2 days whereas they lasted for weeks or months in the past. The red marks fade away a LOT faster. Now I only have to worry about the red marks from my last 2 breakouts, which are rapidly fading away. The rest are either very faint or completely gone. My skin care regimen is very simple: cleanse + moisturize like a normal person. I now tolerate products a lot better so I can now use regular Drugstore products like Nivea or Shiseido. I try to go for the gentle products because my skin is still a bit on the sensitive side. I don't really like Cetaphil because I've always broken out while using it.

I think my main problem now is getting rid of my oily skin and clogged pores, which are causing blackheads, whiteheads and small pimples. The Facialiscious treatment at Skoah spa in Vancouver does the trick nicely. Although at $100/treatment, the price is pretty astronomical for a student. I'm going to buy the Turbo Tonik and the Klearity mask next time I go so I can do some of the maintenance myself.

By the way, for people who don't mind paying a little extra, I highly recommend the Skoah line of products. They have quite a following here in Vancouver. It's really pretty great stuff.

Edited by Pshla, 20 October 2009 - 09:30 PM.