i reckon that the bottled water did more harm than good. The water is fine but i think the water removed some dead skin which i prob needed to be there (whilst the skin repairs itself underneath etc)..this morning my skin felt a bit more irritated than usual as a result..Im going to leave it alone from now on.

 

at the moment, there is like a battle between having dead skin or irritated skin. I think im going to settle with the dead skin for the moment and hope that it goes away

 

Hey. Just wanted to consult with you since we're both in the same boat. I've using only WATER for like the past 2-3 weeks. Anyways, my skin is completely filled with dead flakey skin. I don't know if I should exfoliate or just leave them there. I'm trying not to use ANYTHING on m yface, so I don't even use lotion anymore (which I always suspected did more harm than good). I'm currently only putting olive oil on my face for 15 mins before taking a shower as a "moisturizing" thing, but I guess it cant get rid of all the dead skin I have. My nose especially, is filled with dead skin. I'm not sure if the excessive flaking is because I'm strictly only using water or because I have a thyroid disorder (excessive dry skin is one of the symptoms), but its pretty flakey. The flakyness subsides after like 4-5 hours after I take a shower but it just being there annoys me. I don't know how long its going to stay there for. Should I exfoliate (with baking soda)?

 

Firstly, im glad someone out there is having a similar experience. to be honest, right now im just hoping (yeh, thats all, just hoping) that the dead, flakey skin will just go away. In some areas, it certainly has. I came to conclusion that if i could put up with acne for close to 4 years, then i can certainly put up with some dead skin for a few weeks (I hope!). I read somewhere that it takes 14-17 days for the acid mantle to repair itself and i think 28 days for the new skin cells to reach outer layer of the skin..I hope by this time the flakes will be gone.

i think showering, from memory, worsens the appearance of dead skin (my experience). Now I pull off my showerhead and do a body wash..

Exfoliation? I know that if i do it, yeh the flakes will be gone but i will irritate the heck out of my skin and i'll be back to where i started. The way i see it ive come to far to go back now. There is honestly nothing i can do at this stage..im not going to exfoliate and moisturising will only make it look messy..prob a good thing actually cos im not gonna get off this regimen anyway. My hope that the dead skin will go away on its own also comes from the experiecne of waterwater, alexalmighty and others. They left it alone and swore it eventually went away..I keep telling my self to be strong.

also: i think we need to ask ourselves what exfoliation achieves? I mean if i were to exfoliate i would remove a lot of dead skin leaving my face unprotected. Then my skin will just produce some more dead skin. Then again, exfoliate. More dead skin etc etc ..Maybe that doesnt happen (Im not an expert on exfoliation but i reckon thats the way my body will respond). The dead skin is there for a reason and im leaving it there. I trust that it'll take care of itself

This is probably a men's only regimen huh

I don't think any girl that wears makeup would be able to do this. Damn. Sounded promising too

I think what I'm going to do is just stop washing my face at night, and just take a shower in the morning. That will subside the flaking, but since flaking is a part of this regimen, I guess it'll go away sooner or later. Funny thing is I've ALWAYS had flaky skin, but its never gotten this bad. Since I started using water only (started with cetaphil-only), my flaking's gone up lke 70%, which means all the dead skin is just accumulating. The skin has a natural shedding process, correct? So, if I limit washing to once a day, technically speaking the flaking will decline and eventually my skin will renew itself. It's all an experiment though. Keep us posted man.

I'm not trying this regimen, but i suggest an option. Why not go further, buy some dirt, like the one used for plants, and rub it in the face? I suppose cavemen were dirty in the face most of the time, so that would further simulate the environment.

i actually look forward to rubbing dirt into my face. it's something i'll do when im clear. ahh the freedom.

^ I don't think you get the point of the regimen. Like I say, 100 years ago, we never had half the sh*t for acne that we have now, so I'm pretty sure the high rates of acne nowadyas past the teenage years are made worse by the onslaught of "cures" for acne that have come on the market, most of which fuck up your skin in one way or another. If you let your skin get back to its natural state then one, your skin is healthier generally and 2. it can actually do its job without being weakened by layers upon layers of chemicals.

 

People on this site put 3-4 different medications on thier acne in a DAY. I remember one guy saying he put BP, Duac, Differin and took a oral tetracycline. That is called overreacting to a problem.

 

The only reason I'm doing this (although mine is modified to include water daily - no cleansers though) is because I have no family history of persistent acne. My dad had spots as a teenager, but all he used to use was water, and he was clear by the time he was in his 20's. My brother had my type of whiteheads as a teenager but he never once used anything on his face. He stopped seeing spots after he was 20, and only gets like 2 spots a year nowadays. Me on the other hand, I've consistently thought using a plethora of products was the best way to go. So, where has that led me? I'm 19, 5 years going on this battle and I've never been completely clear (except for when I used clindamycin....but lo and behold the acne got resistant to it!).

 

If you yourself haven't tried it, then you have no right to try and ridicule others. Just because the notion of putting loads of shit on your face is the one thats prevalent doesnt mean its right, as you can obviously see by the fact that theres 300-500 people online at any given time on this board.

 

Now, I'm not exactly doing the caveman regimen because I cant NOT take atleast a shower a day and I love running my face in the water, but water only could be something that other people try in the meantime if they feel the traditional caveman ways aren't for them.

I'm not ridiculing anyone, i'm being dead serious. I think it could be a very valuable experience, to test the living conditions of the Propionibacterium acnes bacteria. And don't laugh, because this really is a good experience, to see how the bacteria survives. I might try it myself, but my skin has been floating between days with no pimples, and days with only few, so i'm not sure i'd be the best subject for the experience.

Oh, lol, I thought you were just putting the experiment down. My bad.

did you begin with a couple of zits then start scrubbing your face? if yes, perhaps this regimen will be really good for you..

To answer your question about if i broke out worse after i scrubbed,

i never had typical acne. My acne was just mostly inflamed clogged pores. No actual zits with a head. I had maybe 4 inflamed pores at any given time. My mom bought me some soap that dried me out really bad, but she told me it was supposed to reduce the oil on my skin. (this was before i realized that is completely wrong) Anyways the soap made my face get super dry, and then realy oily a few hours later. Because my face became oilier, my mom told me to use the soap even more, which led me to wash my face with it 3 times a day. After a month of doing that the area i was washing in ( only my t-zone) always felt dry, but oily at the same time, and it was always red. I then realized that the soap had ruined my face and i stopped using it. this was 2 years ago and since then my skin has been really sensitive to anything and is always red. Even using water to wash my face makes it dry out. Well up to about 2 weeks ago i was using retin a, but now i just wash my face with Head and Shoulders because it keeps my cheeks less irritated. I have tried to just wash my face with water for a while but i always get discouraged with the innitial breakout and i go back to the retin a.

Anyways i have no acne anywhere but my t-zone. No acne on my cheeks or chin at all. Just on my t-zone and its mostly just a few whiteheads. The acne is not really a big deal. But my skin is horribel, its always irritated and red and always oily only at my t zone. Do you think the caveman regimen would work for me?

did you begin with a couple of zits then start scrubbing your face? if yes, perhaps this regimen will be really good for you..

 

To answer your question about if i broke out worse after i scrubbed,

 

i never had typical acne. My acne was just mostly inflamed clogged pores. No actual zits with a head. I had maybe 4 inflamed pores at any given time. My mom bought me some soap that dried me out really bad, but she told me it was supposed to reduce the oil on my skin. (this was before i realized that is completely wrong) Anyways the soap made my face get super dry, and then realy oily a few hours later. Because my face became oilier, my mom told me to use the soap even more, which led me to wash my face with it 3 times a day. After a month of doing that the area i was washing in ( only my t-zone) always felt dry, but oily at the same time, and it was always red. I then realized that the soap had ruined my face and i stopped using it. this was 2 years ago and since then my skin has been really sensitive to anything and is always red. Even using water to wash my face makes it dry out. Well up to about 2 weeks ago i was using retin a, but now i just wash my face with Head and Shoulders because it keeps my cheeks less irritated. I have tried to just wash my face with water for a while but i always get discouraged with the innitial breakout and i go back to the retin a.

 

Anyways i have no acne anywhere but my t-zone. No acne on my cheeks or chin at all. Just on my t-zone and its mostly just a few whiteheads. The acne is not really a big deal. But my skin is horribel, its always irritated and red and always oily only at my t zone. Do you think the caveman regimen would work for me?

 

Yes, i do. Bear in mind though that there is an adjustment process that needs to take place. Your skin may magically improve or it might have to get worse before it gets better. It may take some guts to stick with it.

at days 3-4, i found my skin to be red/more blotchy than its even been but that quickly went away and skin tone much improved. Now just dealing with the dead flakes. My skin has never been oily though (in my whole life that is). Some people have experienced an increase in oil production at the beginning of this regimen.

okay so ive come to the conclusion that i spend far too much time on this website at the neglect of doing study and other things. I'll be back in a week with updates.

lol, last night I didn't wash my face before I went to sleep (first time in my life, not counting days when I went to party and was too drunk to care and just passed out). Apperently overnight I formed a pimple, I woke up in the morning, saw the pimple. It was a whitehead. I go to the shower, I come out and the whitehead kills itself. The pimple lasted a grant total of I think 4 hours lol. The flaking was a little smaller since I've only washed once, but it's still there.

Tonight will be day 2 of trying the "one shower/one wash a day" method. I was previously doing the "two washes, both with water" method.

Hey Adam08 props to you for your determination, that's a really interesting thread

Man, I can't imagine doing this...then again, I am a female and wear makeup so that pretty much excludes me.

Even if I didn't...I would feel like my face was truly clean without using some kind of (mild) cleanser, or even a toner.

My flakiness went down like 70% since I've been applying olive oil to my face for 15-20 mins at night, and then rinsiing it before I go to sleep. I dont know if its because of that or because its been more than a week that I had the excessive flakiness, but its gone down considerably. There is still flaking though, but much less.

well tomorrow im going to start exercising again so this shall be interesting. Interesting because im not going to apply water to my face afterwards. Yeh i'll shower of course but i still wont let water touch my face. Everyone says oh, make sure you wash the sweat off afterwards so that it doesnt clog your pores etc etc well nah, im not doing it. People also say to wash your face twice a day and look where that got me. Im radicalising the experiment even more which im pretty excited about.

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

 

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

fortunately, i dont have much scarring. i have a few (like 3-4) red marks on one cheek that have been there for like over 18 months (no doubt the use of topicals contributed to that). Im not sure if they have changed. I have given up on them anyway. Imagine if they healed? That would be interesting

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

 

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

 

 

fortunately, i dont have much scarring. i have a few (like 3-4) red marks on one cheek that have been there for like over 18 months (no doubt the use of topicals contributed to that). Im not sure if they have changed. I have given up on them anyway. Imagine if they healed? That would be interesting

 

Yeah that is what I would like to find out. By following paleo diet, having omega 3 fish every day I have clear skin, I am just waiting to see if it will effect scars, my skin tone has already improved. I was using apple cider vinegar to cleanse my skin at night a while back, but decided not to use it and see how the scars and tone heal without it.

How is the flaking of your skin at the moment

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

 

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

 

 

fortunately, i dont have much scarring. i have a few (like 3-4) red marks on one cheek that have been there for like over 18 months (no doubt the use of topicals contributed to that). Im not sure if they have changed. I have given up on them anyway. Imagine if they healed? That would be interesting

 

 

 

Yeah that is what I would like to find out. By following paleo diet, having omega 3 fish every day I have clear skin, I am just waiting to see if it will effect scars, my skin tone has already improved. I was using apple cider vinegar to cleanse my skin at night a while back, but decided not to use it and see how the scars and tone heal without it.

 

How is the flaking of your skin at the moment

 

flakes have reduced substantially. fortunately, i only got flakes all over my chin (and a bit in other places but yeh mostly the chin). My chin has been smashed by topicals over the years so it makes sense that much of the healing is occurring there. Interestingly, in the places where i dont get acne (forehead especially) i didnt get any flakes at all even though no water touches my face. i think that says something about the need for water to be touching my face.

this may seem a little exaggerated (and prob is) but it looks like i can actually see my acid mantle building up (if thats possible??)..its great to see. whether its the acid mantle or not, my face is obviously healing. what im trying to say is that the flakes that i have dont really look like flakes anymore. Looks more like dead skin or something which is far less visible. ive been doing this for 3 weeks.

Time to bring in the topical ketoconazole Adam.

Check my post on the first page. It has over a year's worth of experience of exactly what you're trying to achieve.

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

 

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

 

 

fortunately, i dont have much scarring. i have a few (like 3-4) red marks on one cheek that have been there for like over 18 months (no doubt the use of topicals contributed to that). Im not sure if they have changed. I have given up on them anyway. Imagine if they healed? That would be interesting

 

 

 

Yeah that is what I would like to find out. By following paleo diet, having omega 3 fish every day I have clear skin, I am just waiting to see if it will effect scars, my skin tone has already improved. I was using apple cider vinegar to cleanse my skin at night a while back, but decided not to use it and see how the scars and tone heal without it.

 

How is the flaking of your skin at the moment

 

 

 

flakes have reduced substantially. fortunately, i only got flakes all over my chin (and a bit in other places but yeh mostly the chin). My chin has been smashed by topicals over the years so it makes sense that much of the healing is occurring there. Interestingly, in the places where i dont get acne (forehead especially) i didnt get any flakes at all even though no water touches my face. i think that says something about the need for water to be touching my face.

 

this may seem a little exaggerated (and prob is) but it looks like i can actually see my acid mantle building up (if thats possible??)..its great to see. whether its the acid mantle or not, my face is obviously healing. what im trying to say is that the flakes that i have dont really look like flakes anymore. Looks more like dead skin or something which is far less visible. ive been doing this for 3 weeks.

 

So what do you think about swimming in the ocean? Would this completely be going against the regimen? I really think that this makes sense. If you were a caveman though, there would be times when your face would get wet, when it rains, when they fish. Anyway, has your skin improved quite a bit since the beginning?

Time to bring in the topical ketoconazole Adam.

Check my post on the first page. It has over a year's worth of experience of exactly what you're trying to achieve.

i dont think i have seb derm. Just overnight, the flakiness reduced substantially even more so. If i have flakiness in months to come, i'll prob consider other options but at the moment, im pretty confident/hopeful that the flakes will be gone pretty soon by doing nothing (thats what happened to some other people like waterwater and alexalmighty).

I hope this experiment goes well for you, when I changed my diet I also stopped using topical solutions and just splashed cold water on my face and let it air dry, changed pillowcase every day etc and noticed a huge improvement (I am not sure if it was due to diet alone or combined with skin care regime). However I noticed after a few days that I would get flaky skin dead skin cells and so I used the baby brush method. Now I am using the oil cleansing method which is working very well so far, I am going to see how this goes for a month before I decide to use absolutely nothing on my skin.

 

Also, do you find this has affected the appearance of scarring?

 

 

fortunately, i dont have much scarring. i have a few (like 3-4) red marks on one cheek that have been there for like over 18 months (no doubt the use of topicals contributed to that). Im not sure if they have changed. I have given up on them anyway. Imagine if they healed? That would be interesting

 

 

 

Yeah that is what I would like to find out. By following paleo diet, having omega 3 fish every day I have clear skin, I am just waiting to see if it will effect scars, my skin tone has already improved. I was using apple cider vinegar to cleanse my skin at night a while back, but decided not to use it and see how the scars and tone heal without it.

 

How is the flaking of your skin at the moment

 

 

 

flakes have reduced substantially. fortunately, i only got flakes all over my chin (and a bit in other places but yeh mostly the chin). My chin has been smashed by topicals over the years so it makes sense that much of the healing is occurring there. Interestingly, in the places where i dont get acne (forehead especially) i didnt get any flakes at all even though no water touches my face. i think that says something about the need for water to be touching my face.

 

this may seem a little exaggerated (and prob is) but it looks like i can actually see my acid mantle building up (if thats possible??)..its great to see. whether its the acid mantle or not, my face is obviously healing. what im trying to say is that the flakes that i have dont really look like flakes anymore. Looks more like dead skin or something which is far less visible. ive been doing this for 3 weeks.

 

 

So what do you think about swimming in the ocean? Would this completely be going against the regimen? I really think that this makes sense. If you were a caveman though, there would be times when your face would get wet, when it rains, when they fish. Anyway, has your skin improved quite a bit since the beginning?

 

yeh my skin looks great. rainwater? yeh fantastic (the other day it rained where i am and the water felt really nice on my face). The ocean? Yeh great BUT im only going to go swimming at the beach when my skin has fully recovered (i.e. when the flakes are totally gone). Alexalmighty said that the effects of salt water on skin is temporary (and i tend to agree with him). It dries out your skin making it look better (may also heal as well). my skin is not oily though so it prob worsens my dehydrated skin. I live in a beachy area and summer is almost here where i am so yeh, when my skin is strong again, i'll be in the water. By strong, i mean that my acid mantle is back

Just reporting back. My flakes are completely gone. I got a break out this weekend, but that was because I pulled almost 2 all nighters last week and I was super stressed because of midterms. However, the pimples have been healing pretty fast. I dont want to jinx it though, every time I write something on here I always jinx everything (no lie lol).

My flaking is like 90% gone....I'll credit it to the olive oil.

So, as of today, both mine (water only) and Adam's (limited water only) methods are both working to a great extent. I will not lie, I still do get pimples, but I feel better about my skin now then I used to when I put on topicals, mainly because I know WHY I'm getting pimples now (stress in last week's case). If any of you need encouragement to join us, you have it infront of you.

i have this spot next to my mouth. But i tell you what is great about it. It's incredibly TINY..Unbelievable. If i ever got a zit near my mouth/chin it was almost always a nasty one. I prob had a clogged pore or something prior to the regimen, and then my new acid mantle destroyed much of the bacteria (thats what im telling myself anyway hehe).

oh good times ..

hmmm i have been doing this method too but i shower once every 3-4 days is that fine? i used to do this a year ago before i had acne and when i started getting acne i showered more to "clean" the acne but i guess it had the reverse effect. Or should i stay without water every week? more?