Ugh. I am here to report negatively, sort of. So the water only method is not exactly working for me anymore.. =/ Right now I have about 5 pimples..let me tell you I think it sucks more when you go awhile without getting any and then BAM here they come..ugh..I seriously had a break down yesterday! My boyfriend talked me through it though, and I feel a lot better. He really has me thinking that it's my make up..I am highly guessing that he's right. Now to the positive part of the water only method. That means water only..no products during the day (which my self esteem won't allow me to do right now, but I'm working on it)..I think guys have a better chance at this working, because they usually don't wear make up. I know some do & if I was a guy I probably would too. Anyways, I will say this, even though I am still breaking out, it is minimal and I can deal with it. I know for a fact that water keeps it from getting worse. I am slowly going to wean myself off of wearing make up, & continue to use the water only method. ..ohnelly do you wear make up? I'm not trying to get off topic here, but just wondering & yes ramsayjay3 water has helped with my pigmentation problems from acne too.. i do notice that they definitely fade waaay faster.I would say less than a month & they fade & I am extremely pale. The way I look at the water only method, is how much damage could you really be doing? Nature didn't intend for us to put hundreds of chemicals on our face. In the long run I think water only will definitely benefit anyone who tries it. One more thing, I read this somewhere and it seems kind of true if you think about it..(can't remember where I read it at) The longer you have used harsh products in your life the longer it will take your skin to completely heal itself. It makes since, I went about 7 years of washing with harsh cleansers and it is slowly but surely getting better.I will never go back to using a soap/cleanser on my face again. As soon as I can stop wearing make up, I will most likely never go back to that neither. Sorry guys long post I know.
Hello Ramsay and XScarring,
No, I never let a single product touch my face in those thirty days. I didn't use any topicals, soap, or makeup of any kind. I never once let a moisturizer touch my face.
I thought it was working really well the first two weeks. Then the explosions began. Ramsay, your true test will come. It seems that people either have great success or around 3 weeks, things go south. If it works for you, then super! Honestly, it probably is the best for your skin.
After I threw in the towel around the 30 day mark, I didn't grab any Finacea or BP. I just started a daily routine of washing my face with a gentle face wash and then followed up with a gentle moisturizer. I have been doing that since and it has worked fairly well. I have not had any cystic acne. My face is covered in red marks and scars from the water-only which I am currently trying to fade with AHA masks (i just ordered a moisturizer with AHA). I still get white heads, which I think are from the remaining blackheads that I have been unable to get rid of because of the water-only method. Those whiteheads are probably 80% less than when I was doing water only.
My face is much better. Remember too, there are millions of people whom are able to wash their face and not have acne. The acid mantle can repair itself after you wash your face. BUT, with that said, if you are using all those medications, then I don't know. I think that's what really ends up destroying it. I think I may have benefited from doing the water-only, if only to repair my skin and start over. But the acne scars are hideous. I haven't brought myself to wear makeup yet but now that I can wash it off, I might just start!
Not sure what makeup I could use though...
Oh, and when I say I gave up around 30 days, it's because I had probably 500 zits. My cheeks looked like they had been permanently slapped. I had 400 blackheads and terrible acne covering every inch of my face including my normally flawless forehead. I had blackheads where I had never had blackheads.
Since leaving that method, my forehead, nose, and chin are clear.
I do agree with you completely there. My boyfriend washes his face with anything damn near & so do my friends. Ugh! I think it has something to do with acne products (washes, topicals, etc.) & acne medications like antibiotics. Ohnelly when you were doing the water only method, what kind of pimples were you getting? Like size wise? This is going to sound silly, but maybe they were recovery pimples. After there is trauma to the skin on the face (acne washes,hot water, tweezing eyebrows, shaving) sometimes pimples will appear. Also, hair conditioners and hair products break me out in cysts. Especially Herbal Essence & all brands of mouse. It really irritates me, but I have come to terms that I am different & my skin is just extremely sensitive. .
i wish I could do water only. What ends up happening is I get these huge cysts in my chin area that hurt so much I can't sleep. I could deal with moderate acne, hell, even bad acne. But when I get cysts, its downright unbearable. Its like a pulsating pain, as if you just cut yourself.
i wish I could do water only. What ends up happening is I get these huge cysts in my chin area that hurt so much I can't sleep. I could deal with moderate acne, hell, even bad acne. But when I get cysts, its downright unbearable. Its like a pulsating pain, as if you just cut yourself.
Have you been using any hair products or make up? When I say hair products I am mainly referring to styling products. Also, I mentioned it somewhere before that Herbal Essence shampoo gives me cysts, not on my forehead like one would think. Instead, it ends up on my cheeks, so dose styling mouse.
I am now a week into the water only method.
I only use COLD water on my face, not a single droplet of even warm water touches my face. Bacteria thrives in warm conditions, so surely it's best to keep your face out of this zone right? Those who say you can not properly cleanse your face with water are wrong. Those who say you should only cleanse with warm water and not cold water are wrong.
COLD WATER DOES CLEANSE YOUR SKIN, in the same way as warm water, just without the overdrying, so you don't necessarily feel like your skin has been washed, but believe me it has.
Since my skin is repairing itself it has improved dramatically already, although small boils on my chin and nose have appeared but ONLY because my face is still in the recovery zone and is reacting to not using any chemicals. To combat these boils I apply beat tea tree oil directly onto the boil with a damp flannel soaked in tea tree oil for several minutes. Once the tea tree oil dries the boil will be significantly less red/shiny and aggravated. Usually my boils would last for 2 weeks but these are already starting to disappear. I expect them to be near enough gone by the morning.
My advice for this is do it with cold water
Let your face air dry
And then apply tea tree oil to any aggravated spots to speed up the healing process
Once this has dried do not wash off,
Wash hands and apply moisturiser to entire face.
Like I said only a week in and my face is already starting to recover. I expect in 2-3 months time my face to be in the same condition as it was when I was a careless 11 year old!!!
Any questions please ask
i wish I could do water only. What ends up happening is I get these huge cysts in my chin area that hurt so much I can't sleep. I could deal with moderate acne, hell, even bad acne. But when I get cysts, its downright unbearable. Its like a pulsating pain, as if you just cut yourself.
Have you been using any hair products or make up? When I say hair products I am mainly referring to styling products. Also, I mentioned it somewhere before that Herbal Essence shampoo gives me cysts, not on my forehead like one would think. Instead, it ends up on my cheeks, so dose styling mouse.
I use a natural shampoo by natures gate with tea tree and other natural botanicals. I wash my mouth with a flouride free gentle toothpaste designed to help those with perioral dermatitis. So I doubt its a cosmetic issue.
I was getting many, many bumps of all sizes. I was getting lots of red dots (not cysts or painful, just red zits but on the tinier side), whiteheads, blackheads, and flesh colored bumps (wherever there wasn't a blackhead or whitehead of inflamed spot, there was a bump, not large..tinier side). In addition to this, I would get pustules or really, really large whiteheads. Some pimples would stay red bumps for awhile it seemed. My skin was both dry and intensely oily. It also felt like sandpaper. It will remain the darkest period in my superficial life, thus far. I never saw an upside, except in the initial week or so. It destroyed my skin. As far as makeup--none of any kind. I also decided on my own to avoid hair gel during this time. I also wored my hair up 99% (during sleep and awake). I used the same shampoo and conditioner I have used forever. The formulas have not changed as I am still using them now and my skin is clearing. I changed my pillowcases every other day. I only allowed fresh towels to touch my face gently. Yes, the the laundry detergent was the same I have always used (for sensitive skin). Formulas have not changed. I became obsessive about not touching my face.
I did everything possible to be as 100% careful about this regimen. I literally analyzed every angle before I gave up. I am not a success story but as I read on here, many are and those that make it past 2-3 months see results.
Some people complain about the dry skin. Oh man, I had tons of flakes...but those were nothing compared to my pizza face.
Ramsay, that's smart of you to use moisturizer. I did not use any moisturizer on the water only and I think that was a mistake. Glad to hear it is working. Very jealous lady here.
Ohnelly- so what is your regime now? And is it working?
Did you every try water only with cold water? AND moisturiser? If not, please give it another shot with just water and a moisturiser.
Now listen carefully.... If you are going to put ANYTHING on your face, make sure it is natural. No bp, no emollients, no creams
All you need is cold water as a cleanser
As a topical spot treatment for any rising boils etc use NEAT TEA TREE OIL
As a moisturiser you can use jojoba oil (what I use, research it) Or you can use aloe vera gel (great for redness, but some people do find it doesn't moisturises enough)
And that's it. That's all you need
Once more....
Cleanser - cold water
Spot treatment - neat tea tree oil
Moisturiser - jojoba oil/aloe vera gel
If whatever your doing now isn't working as good as you'd hope after more than 2 weeks stop and try this.
Tea tree oil and jojoba oil should be top of your shopping list.
I re iterate only using cold water as not to upset the skin. COLD WATER STILL CLEANSES
Oh nelly - it did not work for you simply because you did not moisturise. Any cracks in your skin means damaged skin. Remove the cracks, remove the chances of you getting spots
Remove the dryness through a good moisturiser (jojoba) limit your chances of getting spots. Use cold water, limits your chances of upsetting your face.
It sounds like I'm begging you here haha, but PLEASE just for a single week
Get the essential oils I have recommended and try it for one week, you just might my be able to thank me enough
Not to shoot you down or anything but really you shouldnt claim success on any regimen after only a week, any regimen should be used consistently for at least 2 months before you can say "this works, try it". But I do hope it does work for you long term.
This is very true. Whenever someone writes a review of a product or regimen and has admitted to using it less than a few months I disregard it. It takes skin quite a while to respond to a medication or even a food.
Rule of thumb is 6-8 weeks to see if something is really working. Of course if your skin severely worsens due to a regimen or medication (with the exception of retinoids) than its safe to say its not for you and you should discontinue it.
From my personal experience little red dots & small white heads mean the skin is healing. Last year around July, I completely stopped washing my face for a while to test it out. I went from July-January. Most people would think the skin would get worse or dirty ( I wore make up during this time too)m but my skin improved dramatically. I stopped getting cysts and painful acne. At night, I just wiped my face off with a paper towel, but I didn't over do it. I did NOT stop breaking out, but I definitely stopped breaking out as much. Now I have been using water only, I wipe my face off with a paper towel to remove as much make up as I can before getting in the shower. While I'm in the shower, I let the warm water run over my face and somewhat massage my face. It hasn't completely stopped my break outs, but right now I don't have any active pimples. The pimples that I do get heal in about 2 days (without any treatment). I guess my overall opinion on the water only method is that it definitely works better than all of the products I have wasted my money on. I will never go back to washing my face with cleansers or soaps. Basically, I am content with little pimples, because a lot of people get those. Another thing, when I think too carefully about a *routine* it defeats the purpose. You shouldn't over analyze everything, you're just going to stress yourself out. Quit paying so much attention to your skin, get out have fun, exercise, sweat & don't worry about your skin for awhile & see how it goes. I thought I should add this in here, I do NOT use conditioner..that stuff is so bad for anyone. Besides acne, it makes hair fall out..
Hi everyone! I'm 27 years old And had suffered from mild acne for so long that I can't remember a time without acne in my life. In December 2012 I decided to stop washing my face and I can't begin to tell you just how much my skin has been transformed! I don't get cystic acne any more and in the last week have been applying fucidin ointment twice a day to help decongest my skin from the last of the stubborn blackheads and tiny pimples you get that you can only see up really close. Guess what? I have perfect, clear, moist skin for the first time since i was 14. The cosmetics companies are lying to you. Don't wash your face!
Hey I just wanted to update and also get some advice. I believe this regimen has helped me to learn a lot about my skin. Like some others who have gained positive results, I'm thinking my acne may be caused primarily by irritation from warm/hot water, stripping soaps, over-exfoliation, and touching my face too much. If the water-only approach wasn't working for me I would definitely be looking internally at my diet or hormones.
However, where my acne has improved another condition has been driving me nuts. I can't get the damn dead skin build-up under control. I said before that I was using a wash cloth to gently remove dead skin, but I stopped because it didn't remove it well enough. I then started using a tissue to gently wipe my face (while it was dry) to remove dead skin and followed it up by rinsing my face off with cold water. This method removed the dead skin too well actually and started to dry my face out, thus causing breakouts. I can't figure out how to reach a happy medium. I'm at the point where it feels like a choice between having acne vs clear skin caked in a thin layer of dead skin. Is there actually a problem with leaving this build-up on your face other than being gross? Is it just an aesthetics thing? Anyway there has to be a way to gently remove the dead skin build-up that isn't irritating. I'm open to suggestions, thanks for any help.
I wasn't getting a few little red pimples. I would guesstimate that my entire face had a red dot/ blocked pore / white head. Some of them were larger whiteheads that looked disgusting. I looked like a teenager in high school suffering from severe acne but with no big cystic acne. I'm still reeling with blackheads. I have so so so many from attempting the water only method. I never had a problem with blackheads on my cheeks prior to starting this. Now it seems I have permanently enlarged my pores.
I guess the issue here is that I never really had an acne problem but I gave myself one. If I could go back in time, I would gladly welcome the few cysts i would get from time to time on my cheeks that I could cover up with my beloved makeup. Now I have a constant cycle of whiteheads and blackheads everywhere that will not go away. My face is oilier now too.
I'm just a sucker for natural methods. I like them better and am very skeptical of the topical products. I don't think I did enough research about this method before trying it. I had no idea that it would destroy my once beautiful skin and now I fear I am facing a lifetime of blackheads and oily skin. I had read about people who did not have success with this method but wrongly assumed they just weren't doing something right.
Again, it probably would've worked for me if I had a year to dedicate to it.
I enjoyed the simplicity of this regimen, but it's just not ideal at the moment. My skin became really itchy and I know it was trying to heal itself, but I gave into the pressure and used a cleanser. I remember when I was 13-14 and had ONE small pimple on my face, I went out and bought treated cleansers, astringent pads and creams. Ever since then, it's been downhill.
I don't understand why the only type of acne I get is whiteheads. I get like 1 a day and they're gone (leaving a red mark) by the end of the day. It's the most annoying form of acne because I'm so close to being clear, but so far a way. It's also really noticeable when I get a HUGE whitehead on my chin. That's another thing, I only get acne on my chin and around the creases of my nose.
I'd love to have kept this regimen up, but I'd need months of being indoors away from the rest of the world. I know it would work too. When I dropped out of school and spent two years at home, I never had acne. UGH!