I've been doing water only for a month now and the flaking is subsiding slowly.

Some things are not meant to be made known to others because they don't have acne and they don't have the slightest idea what we are going through. There are people who does urine therapy (i've also tried that before) and it is normal for people to discuss on this board, but not others who have lived with clear skin their whole life.

I'm not exactly bothered by my appearance since I've lived with acne for 6 years and I'm already used to it. However you don't see much people who walk around with excessive dead skin/flakes on their skin, and therefore it arouses people attention more than acne does.

I've been doing water only for a month now and the flaking is subsiding slowly.

 

Some things are not meant to be made known to others because they don't have acne and they don't have the slightest idea what we are going through. There are people who does urine therapy (i've also tried that before) and it is normal for people to discuss on this board, but not others who have lived with clear skin their whole life.

 

I'm not exactly bothered by my appearance since I've lived with acne for 6 years and I'm already used to it. However you don't see much people who walk around with excessive dead skin/flakes on their skin, and therefore it arouses people attention more than acne does.

yea i understand what your saying, ive also tried urine on my face, that did nothing at all for me and was quite gross. but how often do you wash your face with water? but yea people dont understand how easy they got it, they are so blessed to have nice skin but on the other hand at least we found something that works and one day we could look back and help someone else so they dont have to go through what we are going through. but keep doing your thing and dont get discouraged man, it will get better.

I've been doing water only for a month now and the flaking is subsiding slowly.

 

Some things are not meant to be made known to others because they don't have acne and they don't have the slightest idea what we are going through. There are people who does urine therapy (i've also tried that before) and it is normal for people to discuss on this board, but not others who have lived with clear skin their whole life.

 

I'm not exactly bothered by my appearance since I've lived with acne for 6 years and I'm already used to it. However you don't see much people who walk around with excessive dead skin/flakes on their skin, and therefore it arouses people attention more than acne does.

hey king do you exfoliate your skin at all? my nose had a lot of little white bumps from my pores being clogged? what did you do for oily skin did you pat the extra oil off with a tissue or just leave it greasy? help me out bro. thanks

I read a post yesterday, i forgot who wrote it but it said that he hasnt taken a shower in 4 months, he was saying that his skin was perfect now, and that he rarely has to put deodorant on and never put anything on his skin, not even water. so that proves that this works, maybe not for everyone, but im going to see how long i could do this for.

 

im willing to believe a lot, but that is kind of ridiculous. anyone who has not used water on their skin 4 months does not have perfect skin.

why wouldn't he? my wife hasnt washed her face i a very long time, she hates water on her face and she never breaks out. the only time she gets a pimple is when she washes her face, which is like once a year. she always takes baths, not that she has to but she just doesnt like water in her face. so 4 months really sounds like a long time because we are so prone to constantly wash our skin because thats what we are told to do, and thats what makes sense to us, but in all reality we are just hurting our skin and making it worse. i think you should really try it at least for a week before you start making comments about things you dont fully understand. you can read all you want about it, but until you actually follow through with this regimen you wont really know.

 

 

 

Yikes. If you really believe that not showering for four months is a good idea, well, then im kind of embarrassed that i was considering you opinion. i had a gym locker in high school next to a kid on your same "no shower regimen". I literally had to hold my breath to stand next to him.

 

lets clarify a little bit, I do wipe myself down every night with wipes in my private areas and armpits and wash my feet, and i also use deodorant and brush my teeth. plus im not getting too dirty throughout the day, why are you even in this topic if you are so critical about everything that people are saying. if you were considering trying this then just shut up and do it and get your own results, all i know is that my skin is clearing up and its working so whether i stink or not is irrelevant. good luck to you.

 

wow, settle down. i am not trying to criticize your plan, im just questioning it. i have said consistently that i do believe that there is a lot to the idea of letting your skin heal. Currently i am washing with cetaphil only at night. It might not be as extreme as you, but it is certainely different from using cleanser 3-4 times a day as i used to. Sorry if you took it the wrong way.

I'm really becoming aggrivated with my skin. It's ridiculous. After my last post 9 days ago I began exfoliating more, as I believed that was my problem, and what happens by the reemergence of redness.

 

What's really a pain in the ass is both the no water/water only methods substantially improve skin tone, but it's impossible to go out in public with flakiness and dead skin all over.

 

I really wonder if, over time, the problems I've encountered washing with only water would eventually go away. Everyone on this planet who washes their face doesn't have a cleanser or soap available. What about inmates within a prison? I can't cite any evidence, but I doubt there's a growing epidemic of acne issues within our nation's prisons.

hello, i haven't read the posts between yours and mine yet but have you thought of using water only and a warm washcloth? light exfoliation with a soft cloth and warm water can do wonders for your skin. if you feel dry at all afterward use a drop of olive oil. i use burts bee's apricot oil actually cause it is lighter on my skin.

I'm really becoming aggrivated with my skin. It's ridiculous. After my last post 9 days ago I began exfoliating more, as I believed that was my problem, and what happens by the reemergence of redness.

 

What's really a pain in the ass is both the no water/water only methods substantially improve skin tone, but it's impossible to go out in public with flakiness and dead skin all over.

 

I really wonder if, over time, the problems I've encountered washing with only water would eventually go away. Everyone on this planet who washes their face doesn't have a cleanser or soap available. What about inmates within a prison? I can't cite any evidence, but I doubt there's a growing epidemic of acne issues within our nation's prisons.

 

hello, i haven't read the posts between yours and mine yet but have you thought of using water only and a warm washcloth? light exfoliation with a soft cloth and warm water can do wonders for your skin. if you feel dry at all afterward use a drop of olive oil. i use burts bee's apricot oil actually cause it is lighter on my skin.

 

Haha, that's actually what I'm doing now. I'm only washing with water and a wash cloth before going out. All other occasions, even upon returning from a night of boozing, I don't do anything to my face.

And it's sad looking at the date on the post of mine you cited -- I have been going back and forth with battling this regimen for over seven months. In between attempts at not washing I've religiously used BP, AHA+ and sensitive skin cleansers. All at different points, too. Nothing has removed the small bumps or redness from my skin.

After all this needlessly wasted time I have arrived at the suggestion you provided-- it's impossible to avoid washing and exfoliating, atleast for me, at this point.

I'm sure I'm repeating myself with the following statement, as I just noticed I've made 22 posts in this thread (which is third to the thread's creator and his disciple, Adam); but to everyone having trouble maintaining some variation of water/no water, think about this -- even BP, which is sold through this site and claimed by Dan to be the best treatement for acne, may take several MONTHS before results are seen. Look at this thread:

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/state-min...rn-t117898.html

You may as well substitute "BP" with "water," while removing the "if you can't make the time...." section. It's practically the same advice many here have been preaching. The issue here is that the water-only/no water regimen doesn't have the support group that BP has. Not many have gone through with it, or rather, gone through with it and reported back here with what they've done.

I really wish waterwater was still around. If for no other reason than to provide an update. I'm sure if he popped in and said "my skin hasn't regressed and has remained clear" many here would be more willing to go through with it.

During the start of my water only regimen, I started washing once a day everyday. Then down to once every 2 days. Now I wash once every 3 - 4 days.

I don't exfoliate at all. You can see the dead skin and flakes on my skin very clearly. There are alot of I assume is dried sebum clogged in the pores of my nose. I don't bother about my face except for washing. I don't let my hands touch it at all, unless the itchiness is really unbearable. I don't "pat" the oil, I just leave it there. I used to be really bothered about the greasiness but from week 4 onwards my skin don't feel oily at all, even though the pool of sebum is sitting on my face.

Every morning I wake up to find my forehead covered in flakes that are falling off. I just use a tissue and do a light sweeping motion to let the flakes drop off. No pressure is applied.

During the start of my water only regimen, I started washing once a day everyday. Then down to once every 2 days. Now I wash once every 3 - 4 days.

 

I don't exfoliate at all. You can see the dead skin and flakes on my skin very clearly. There are alot of I assume is dried sebum clogged in the pores of my nose. I don't bother about my face except for washing. I don't let my hands touch it at all, unless the itchiness is really unbearable. I don't "pat" the oil, I just leave it there. I used to be really bothered about the greasiness but from week 4 onwards my skin don't feel oily at all, even though the pool of sebum is sitting on my face.

 

Every morning I wake up to find my forehead covered in flakes that are falling off. I just use a tissue and do a light sweeping motion to let the flakes drop off. No pressure is applied.

got you thanks i appreciate your help. so no exfoliating huh? i can deal with the dead skin and flakes, but my nose gets so oily and starts to bump up its nasty. im confused on what to do, i just wanna make sure im doing the right thing before i waste months looking disgusting. i wish there was someone on here that has completed this regimen and was successful, we could really use some tips!!!!

Hey every1, Ive recently started doing the no water regime. Ive done 31hours lol and it doesnt feel bad at all (itchyness). Ive triedevertyhing. I have bout 5-6 active spots/pimples and a good few red marks which i hate.

I am starting Multi vitamin (specialy for men), i take omega 3fish oil 1000mg a day, Cod Liver Oil (includes vitamin a,d3 and e), also zinc and I drink a half a pint of water mixed with a tablespoon and a half of apple cider vinegar with mother. Do these sound good to help with clear skin guys?

Also u experts, 'timeforhealing', bad , water water

Im a builder and I work through extreme dust(all kinds) and wearing a mask, do u think this no water will benefit me if i dnt wash at all with huge amount of dust in my pores?

Cheers guys, appreciate all ur help, ive read evry post on this subject(taken me 2 nights lol)

This post is brill .

During the start of my water only regimen, I started washing once a day everyday. Then down to once every 2 days. Now I wash once every 3 - 4 days.

 

I don't exfoliate at all. You can see the dead skin and flakes on my skin very clearly. There are alot of I assume is dried sebum clogged in the pores of my nose. I don't bother about my face except for washing. I don't let my hands touch it at all, unless the itchiness is really unbearable. I don't "pat" the oil, I just leave it there. I used to be really bothered about the greasiness but from week 4 onwards my skin don't feel oily at all, even though the pool of sebum is sitting on my face.

 

Every morning I wake up to find my forehead covered in flakes that are falling off. I just use a tissue and do a light sweeping motion to let the flakes drop off. No pressure is applied.

King...I think me and u are in the same boat, I two am still dealing with some flakey, dead skin. I started this back in early November, but caved in and washed all my progress away around Thanksgiving, and then used cetaphil for about a week before stating this over again. I must say I really regret messing with my face around Thanksgiving (Note: I did it cuz of the flakiness, not cuz pimples were forming) because I am pretty sure they would be all gone by now. This entire arguement of not putting crap on your face makes so much sense to me. Before I was 15 I never even considered traditionally washing my face, I just let bath/shower water touch it freely as it may. Then all the sudden I got into high school sports (where I was sweating a lot) and going through puberty and I got the occassional pimple here and there. So following the general advice of washing 2x a day blah blah blah I started aggravating my acne. Sure I prolly would have had acne anyway w/o using topicals, but no where near the kind of acne I suffered while on OTC products. But now at 19 (ill be 20 here soon) I got to thinking I should be done with acne. Someone posted here before saying you'll never know when you shouldn't be having acne unless you let your body do it's thing and stop smothering it with crap. I firmly believe this statement. Now I'm left to deal with flaking/healing skin hoping that it will go away here real soon. King... I've been eyeing your progress closely because I have been letting water run down my face in the shower 1x a day like you. I'll keep you posted on mine as well. For anybody on the fence about trying this....you can do it. It's helped me alot to know that there are others out there going through the same thing as I am. At the very least I recommend a less is more approach for those with mild-moderate acne. Good luck to all and keep the posts coming!

Hey every1, Ive recently started doing the no water regime. Ive done 31hours lol and it doesnt feel bad at all (itchyness). Ive triedevertyhing. I have bout 5-6 active spots/pimples and a good few red marks which i hate.

 

I am starting Multi vitamin (specialy for men), i take omega 3fish oil 1000mg a day, Cod Liver Oil (includes vitamin a,d3 and e), also zinc and I drink a half a pint of water mixed with a tablespoon and a half of apple cider vinegar with mother. Do these sound good to help with clear skin guys?

 

Also u experts, 'timeforhealing', bad , water water

Im a builder and I work through extreme dust(all kinds) and wearing a mask, do u think this no water will benefit me if i dnt wash at all with huge amount of dust in my pores?

 

Cheers guys, appreciate all ur help, ive read evry post on this subject(taken me 2 nights lol)

This post is brill .

I would check and see if the multi-vitamin has Iodine in it because many here in other threads (including myself) actually saw that it promotes acne. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Acne-Vita...48105&st=20

I took a multi-vitamin for about a year and a 1/2 along with zinc and vitamin a and didn't notice a difference in my acne. I just kept taking them becuz I thought they couldn't hurt until I found out about the iodine on the web and I just really got tired of making sure I take them everyday and for what purpose ya know? I hate to be johnny raincloud, but I just thought I would share my testimony for you. Hope this helps u bud!

Hey every1, Ive recently started doing the no water regime. Ive done 31hours lol and it doesnt feel bad at all (itchyness). Ive triedevertyhing. I have bout 5-6 active spots/pimples and a good few red marks which i hate.

 

I am starting Multi vitamin (specialy for men), i take omega 3fish oil 1000mg a day, Cod Liver Oil (includes vitamin a,d3 and e), also zinc and I drink a half a pint of water mixed with a tablespoon and a half of apple cider vinegar with mother. Do these sound good to help with clear skin guys?

 

Also u experts, 'timeforhealing', bad , water water

Im a builder and I work through extreme dust(all kinds) and wearing a mask, do u think this no water will benefit me if i dnt wash at all with huge amount of dust in my pores?

 

Cheers guys, appreciate all ur help, ive read evry post on this subject(taken me 2 nights lol)

This post is brill .

honestly, i would say that you should try no water for a week/max then take a bottle of purified water every couple nights and just pour it over your skin, not like a whole gallon but maybe like a lil 15 seconds purified shower. no hands tho and definately no soap or cleansers, only water. you can try and adjust this regimen as you see fit, you might wanna just try and work your way down by just doing the bottle rinse everynight for a week, then every other night for a week and so on. but only do it after the initial no cleansing period for about a week to let the acid mantle rebuild and give your skin a chance to heal. i tried apple cider vinegar and i did a lot of research and there is really no evidence that shows that it actually works. make sure you wash your mouth out because the ACV is very acidic even at the recommended 5%, try your best to be all natural, your body knows how to heal itself its just going to take some time. there is definately no quick cure for acne, its an ongoing battle until your body is allowed enough time to heal. good luck to you and if you need any more advice let us know.

update.... day 7 of no washing, i think im going to take a pure bottle of waterr and let it run over my skin fo about 10-15 seconds tonight. i think this regimen might be best to work your way into, and not just go cold turkey. my hair gets so oily but im hoping my body will balance the ph levels in my skin with im hoping will cause my skin to not produce so much oil. this regimen of no washing worked perfectly for my back and chest, which cleared up within about 3 days. just my face is not following suit, my face is still kinda red but not as red, i am going to rinse my whole body tonight with pure water very briefly 10-15 seconds, no hand or cleansers just water. i am going to do that for about a week or two and see how my skin reacts to that, im not going to exfoliate at all, which is gonna suck but hope fully the rinsing each night will help shed off dead skin. after that initial period im going to try and start weening myself down to every other night, then every third night and so on.

yepican.... what type of skin do you have? is it oily or dry? i know you tried this before but if you had oily skin then hopefully you could help me out with this.

yo just a quick note before i forget... for everyone thinking about just standing in the shower and letting water hit they're face, dont do this for more than maybe 10-15 seconds at most or else your just going to strip your skin of all of its oils and cause your skin to be super dry and flake like crazy. i have tried this before and the results were terrible, also make sure that your skin is not too sensitive to tap water, i know my skin is and tap water jacks my skin up. thats why i say to use pure water, just buy a filter for the faucet and get a bottle each night and fill it up, its cheap. so be very careful with what water you use. here in VA the water sucks.

yo just a quick note before i forget... for everyone thinking about just standing in the shower and letting water hit they're face, dont do this for more than maybe 10-15 seconds at most or else your just going to strip your skin of all of its oils and cause your skin to be super dry and flake like crazy. i have tried this before and the results were terrible, also make sure that your skin is not too sensitive to tap water, i know my skin is and tap water jacks my skin up. thats why i say to use pure water, just buy a filter for the faucet and get a bottle each night and fill it up, its cheap. so be very careful with what water you use. here in VA the water sucks.

King...I think me and u are in the same boat, I two am still dealing with some flakey, dead skin. I started this back in early November, but caved in and washed all my progress away around Thanksgiving, and then used cetaphil for about a week before stating this over again. I must say I really regret messing with my face around Thanksgiving (Note: I did it cuz of the flakiness, not cuz pimples were forming) because I am pretty sure they would be all gone by now. This entire arguement of not putting crap on your face makes so much sense to me. Before I was 15 I never even considered traditionally washing my face, I just let bath/shower water touch it freely as it may. Then all the sudden I got into high school sports (where I was sweating a lot) and going through puberty and I got the occassional pimple here and there. So following the general advice of washing 2x a day blah blah blah I started aggravating my acne. Sure I prolly would have had acne anyway w/o using topicals, but no where near the kind of acne I suffered while on OTC products. But now at 19 (ill be 20 here soon) I got to thinking I should be done with acne. Someone posted here before saying you'll never know when you shouldn't be having acne unless you let your body do it's thing and stop smothering it with crap. I firmly believe this statement. Now I'm left to deal with flaking/healing skin hoping that it will go away here real soon. King... I've been eyeing your progress closely because I have been letting water run down my face in the shower 1x a day like you. I'll keep you posted on mine as well. For anybody on the fence about trying this....you can do it. It's helped me alot to know that there are others out there going through the same thing as I am. At the very least I recommend a less is more approach for those with mild-moderate acne. Good luck to all and keep the posts coming!

Yea I had a similar history as yours. I didn't actually care about my face, even when the occasional pimple came up, until my dad gave me the advice to wash my face as many times a day as possible, and pop every single pimple. Well, needless to say that was probably the worst advice for my skin.

I started BP treatment when it got uncontrollably worse, since my skin was already stripped of all its natural defense with all the constant washing. My 6 years of acne journey was full of ups and downs. Some days I get serious breakout and some weeks I'm clear as day, but it was still a downhill overall.

i have only been washing with water or doing the oil cleansing method for a few months now. i also have stopped using shampoo and conditioner. my hair looks the best it has ever looked in 36 years but my face i'm still having issue with. hormones play a big part of it but there really is nothing i can do about it so i am trying the nothing on my face experiment now. i use bare minerals when i have to go out and show my face and then use olive/castor oil mix to take it off. i'll try to come back and let you know how it works for me.

I would check and see if the multi-vitamin has Iodine in it because many here in other threads (including myself) actually saw that it promotes acne. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Acne-Vita...48105&st=20

I took a multi-vitamin for about a year and a 1/2 along with zinc and vitamin a and didn't notice a difference in my acne. I just kept taking them becuz I thought they couldn't hurt until I found out about the iodine on the web and I just really got tired of making sure I take them everyday and for what purpose ya know? I hate to be johnny raincloud, but I just thought I would share my testimony for you. Hope this helps u bud!

Thanks for the advice water water, yepican. Its now been 52 hours since water and its feeling better than last night if im honest. I can see 2 new apots coming out on my forehead, thats expected right?

Also I can see a tiny bit of flaky skin which i dnt give a damn as it aint bad at all. Im back on the roof tommorrow and it aint too bad with dust, sometimes get saw dust all over me but fuk it lol i aint still washing. The coldness of this weather is harsh to the skin dnt ya think? My brother is lucky if he washes his face once a week and his skin is perfect fair play for him(hes 25 I am 23)

How is your skin today time fo healing, king, yepican everyone??

Cheers thanx so much for the replies mates

timeforhealing....i would consider my skin to be combination while i was using products everyday, a bit oily on my forehead and T-zone area and a lil dry around goatee. But since doing this my face feels normal, its awesome! My skin is really healing and adapting real well up into this point. carmathenshire....So I'm about 3 1/2 weeks in on this (for the 2nd time) and I have only 1 active pimple in between my eyebrows, but I attribute that to roughly wiping all the skin off that area the the day b4 I restarted this. As far as flakiness goes, it is mainly concentrated around my mouth area, but as King and others have attested to, has been decreasing/becoming less noticable slowly with time. From about 2 feet or more away from the mirror my face looks remarkable, even displaying a glowing quality which I have not recalled having for years. Like I said b4 my only regret is giving in on my progress around Thanksgiving. For those of you experiencing whiteheads in such during the early stages of this should NOT be discouraged as I had some too. Remember that acne can take up to a few weeks to surface so let not a few initial zits n such lose your faith in this. Also I think for people who were exfoliating regularly b4 this might experience more extreme flaking/healing because you have been sloughing away the outer layer of your skin for much time and your face is dealing with that & the tampered acid mantle accordingly. Hope all is well with u guyz....keep the updates a coming!

75 hours gone and my face is not very oily at all guys, how come? I had about 3 new pimples today (waking up) and a coleslaw (howeva u spell it) on my lips! Should I treat the coleslaw?(or ulcer) or leave it? i think i should leave it, ive also just bought a new Phillips electric shaver, A196 in Argos and out of stock thank god, found a site A136 wahey lol

Cheers guys and wats occuring? lol progress?

It has been four days since I've washed my face, and the oiliness has noticeably decreased around the cheeks. It's still present on the nose, though.

In the right light, it actually appears like some of the small bumps around my face are decreasing. However, when I look at myself in the bathroom, full lighting and upclose, it looks terrible. Such is this regimen in the beginning stages.

Tomorrow I'm picking up several job applications so I'll have to shave/wash my face. I plan on only using lukewarm water and a washcloth to remove the dead skin/sebum/etc., and shaving cream to shave. The shaving cream is really the only non-natural item I plan on using on my face. Even then, I'm only using it around the lower part of my face and neck. The redness is more pronounced in the cheek area, anyways.

And unlike past occasions, I won't revert back to cleansers twice a day after breaking the cycle. Additionally, I only do this when leaving the house. When I return home, no matter how dirty I am, I won't wash my face.

Cant u get an electric shaver NEC? I wouldnt put shaving cream on your face as u are breaking the cycle and it will throw u bck a few days in my opinion. Good luck with your job.

Yeah im the same, work got so dusty yesterday, I was covered in dust but neva washed lol! Its been 86 hours now, and today the skin looked a little bit healthier and I can only see a small new spot on my lower lip. I so need to shave do u guys think an electric shaver would throw me back a few days? Also what shall i do about the ulcer on my lip (coleslaw)

Cheers guys

Cant u get an electric shaver NEC? I wouldnt put shaving cream on your face as u are breaking the cycle and it will throw u bck a few days in my opinion. Good luck with your job.

Yeah im the same, work got so dusty yesterday, I was covered in dust but neva washed lol! Its been 86 hours now, and today the skin looked a little bit healthier and I can only see a small new spot on my lower lip. I so need to shave do u guys think an electric shaver would throw me back a few days? Also what shall i do about the ulcer on my lip (coleslaw)

 

Cheers guys

[/quote/]

 

No i don't think using electric will throw u off just as long as you're careful not to rub off all the flakes or dead skin.

I'm still breaking out like I did before the start of my water only regimen.

The flakes are clearly noticeable(sp?) and are subsiding really slowly.

Cant u get an electric shaver NEC? I wouldnt put shaving cream on your face as u are breaking the cycle and it will throw u bck a few days in my opinion. Good luck with your job.

Yeah im the same, work got so dusty yesterday, I was covered in dust but neva washed lol! Its been 86 hours now, and today the skin looked a little bit healthier and I can only see a small new spot on my lower lip. I so need to shave do u guys think an electric shaver would throw me back a few days? Also what shall i do about the ulcer on my lip (coleslaw)

 

Cheers guys

I've thought about purchasing an electric razor, but it'll have to wait. A good electric razor will run you near $100 and as a poor college student I may have to wait a month or so until I'm back in school and books/etc. are paid off.

I agree that shaving cream may set me back a few days. Although I figure, if anything, it'll be the equivalent of 2 steps forward, one step backwards; since I'm shaving once every five days (or so) and thats the only occasion I use anything aside from water and a washcloth.

What I did notice when shaving was how easy the razor glided over my skin. I'm used to more resistance, and there was substantially less than what I'm used to. This is even including the occasions when I'd shave once every day. I believe not using any cleansers/topicals for coming up on two weeks has helped heal some of the raised, colorless bumps around the lower edge of my face.

Also, it the oiliness took longer to return than what I'm accustomed to. I shaved/etc. around noon and it become oily two hours ago.