Acne.org Products
I'm 8 days into this and- I don't see much dead skin (except for eyebrows)
- And I get tons of tiny pustules/whiteheads everywhere including the areas I never break out. I'm sticking with it, but its concerning.
don't be concerned! please stick it out.
the dead skin will form and you will be happy 
Try to think about the no water/limited water regimen in these terms -- using Dan's regimen (washing/BP/moisturizer) as recommended may take MONTHS for results to come about. Check out the 'right state of mind' thread: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/state-min...rn-t117898.html .
If people are willing to accept BP may take months to work, I don't believe it's unreasonable to suggest that a similar amount of time may be required when using no water/limited water regimen. The whole entire goal is to repair the face from years of using cleansers and topicals. It wont happen overnight.
I will definitely stick with it. I promised myself that, and I believe in every point of doing this. It's just that it doesn't seem normal to be getting so many bumps and small pustules/whiteheads. It's day 10 I think, and I had some minor flaking this morning. They go away fast though. Will update in the weekend probably.
I've followed the following regimen so far:
-4 days without washing, then I washed with Purpose cleanser
-5 days without washing, then I washed with Purpose cleanser
-2 days without washing, then I just wiped a wet cotton ball over my face (this is my new preferred method)
-Now, I'm going on 4 days without washing. It's obviously not the same as being under one continuous streak of not washing, but I have noticed the difference. For one, my skin is nearwhere as oily now (in day 4) as it was after the original four days. I can still swipe over my skin and come up with oily, though. The nose seems to be the one area that hasn't had a visible reduction in oil. It still looks the same as any other time over the regimen.
It does give my slight satisfaction knowing that over the course of 15 days I've only washed my face 3 times. Figure if I used the conventional method I'd be at 30, which, if I were to follow a similar course under the current regimen, would take me 150 days to reach. I'm definitely going to stick with this as well and keep everyone updated.
You know what? Fuck it. I'm sick of worrying about my skin all the time.
I will be showering 2 - 3 times a week (with room-temp water) and only wetting my face once a week in order to shave with a Mach 3. I have the entire summer (3 months) to experiment with this regimen. My skin leans toward the dryer side and I have moderate acne.
I suspect my mild back acne is caused by frequent hot showers, and my facial acne is caused by all the shit I rub onto my face. I hope this is the truth.
I will bookmark this thread and update you guys on the 15th of June. Wish me luck.
Ok so I've been on this anti-regimen for 2 weeks now and I finally feel like I should write about it. So a little back story first;
I'm 19 years old, I'm Asian-Australian and I'm a man. Last month I had moderate acne on my face. These were big red, aggressive looking things which were also painful. I was getting pretty self-conscious about my appearance and whatnot and while surfing on net for a cure I came across acne.org. I didn't check the forums but that Dan guy was pretty convincing and I bought his product hoping it would work. I remember being pretty optimistic when I got the package. So I was on his regimen for 2 weeks and at first it seemed to be alright; I mean initially the acne went down. Then after 1 and a half weeks it flared up pretty bad on one cheek. Also around this time my skin was drying up and flaking from the extreme dose of bp.
I figured this was a test of resolve so I stuck with it. Many people, including Dan had said that it'd get worse before it got better. So I kept with the regimen for a few more days until I felt completely uncomfortable in my own skin. I mean it was so dry, and the previous breakout just didn't heal at all. Also my eyes were really dry too. I actually developed a weird throbbing twitch in one eyelid during this time.
That's when I decided that this wasn't for me. If I couldn't feel at home in my own skin then forget it.
So I quit the regimen and decided to do nothing. I started reading posts on these forums and found a lot of people going on about not washing your face to allow the skin to heal. I did some research on acid mantle and skin pH and it made a lot of sense. What did I have to lose? I'm a pretty lazy person anyway so not having to bother washing my face seemed alright.
At first my face got really oily. Before when this happened I would wash it with water and feel really refreshed only to have the oil come back soon after. But on this anti-regimen I just left it. For the next 2 weeks I didn't wash my face. I didn't even wash it after exercising and left the sweat to air dry. Since I read that sebum + sweat = acid mantle whenever I felt like my face was really unbearably oily I went for a run.
My skin improved gradually. The breakout mentioned before went first and whenever new pimples came up they would be gone in 1 to 2 days. And now after 2 weeks even the really persistent cysts are fading. All I'm left with at the moment are red marks, tiny cysts and everynow and then some whiteheads pop up around where I shave. The whiteheads are so small though, I pop them in the morning and the marks are healed by the end of the day.
I know people who've done this anti-regimen have commented on flakiness caused by the dead skin build up. I know some have quit because of this too but I just didn't experience it that bad. My face would only flake around the nose and that was only if I rubbed it. I did wash my face today and found that I did have the dead skin mask. I didn't really make an effort to remove it. I just gently got rid of whatever was already peeling from the warm shower. Anyway the plan now is to wash my face every few days, maybe even weeks if I feel like the skin is still benefiting from not washing.
Ok so I've finally caught up to the present. Basically I can offer advice based on my experience to people with similar circumstances but obviously I'm not gonna be discriminating to anyone in need. Ok so I've just posted the inane details of my last two weeks but there's also more in the way that my mindset has changed too. Originally my idea was to write a post only after this had all worked out and I had perfect skin. Truth is my skin isn't perfect right now and you know what; I'm cool with it. It's a lot better and I'm comfortable with it now.
tbone99
-- I don't know if I should start a new thread with this post. It is quite long.
-- Also I think if you did want ask me something then maybe pm me. That goes to my e-mail right? It's just that I don't like hearing or seeing myself on tapes or videos and it's going to be the same for online posts. Weird right?
tbone You havent realy done the regimen, you cant say you have done it as you have only done 2 weeks. I started January 10th and I still get pretty bad dry skin, and no it doesnt come in around 2 weeks, more like 4-6 weeks it starts. Thought id just let you know that you have am long way to go and it is hard, whenever you put water on your face and rub, your skin gets weaker and can have a slight breakout.
Anyway I hope you dont take this as an offence I just wanted to let you know its a long commitment and I think it will take a whole year for me
At the momenta little dry skin mask, and 3 small spots, probably from 20pints of lager I drank Saturday night!
Cheers Mat
tbone I was on the same boat as you when i first started this.
I got through those first 2 weeks and thought everything was all better. You just experienced the short term gains. After 46 days of not washing (well i washed twice) I'm still getting a deadskin mask and pimples.
You said your skin isn't perfect right now, and your cool with it. Thats awesome man... half the battle is mental. Coincidentally I'm losing that part of the battle right now. Hence why I'm on these message boards; being emo and hating my skin.
w/e maybe i should just stop being a pussy and live with it.
peace.
When we were all kids we didn't wash our face, and then when we became teenagers we didn't wash our face either. Then we got acne and started washing our faces. Acne is not necessarily a result of washing. Maybe for some people who never had hormonal acne in the first place and are just messing up their already perfect skin. Not washing my face did not work for me at all. My acne is hormonal. Yes adults can have hormonal acne. Acne is incurable and the way we all live with it is to prevent and relieve symptoms. If you have a disease, you are not going to sit around and do nothing about it. At least you will try to relieve your symptoms. It seems like the acne you had was not really a chronic disease for you but just a result of irritating your skin by washing.
Hey! I just spent the last two days reading through the whole thread, and I must say it seems very inspiring.
I've had acne for a loooong time, as in, ever since about 5th grade. I'm 16- 17 in a month- now, and have stopped growing. I'm also pretty sure my hormone levels have evened out.
I have also often pondered about what we were doing to our skin that wasn't working ( I have tried soo many methods) while many people seem to just float through life without washing.
Recently, about three months ago, one of the 'cleansers' I was using a certain product [from Clean and Clear- the 10% BP cream cleanser] and it fell on some clothes. IT BLEACHED MY CLOTHES. Before the cloth was dark blue and it turned a white-yellow. I couldn't believe it and I wondered if it could do that to clothes, what the HELL was it doing to my face? Yikes.
So I immediately stopped using that, and switched to Cerave Cleansing- a wash that protects the barrier of your face as it hydrates and cleans. Sound familiar to anyone who's read this thread?
So firstly, my face has definetely gained back most of its natural color (I had previously had the white face, tanner body thing going on), though not all of it.
However, as I am a girl and I use make-up, I believe that has been clogging my pores, along with too many exfoliations. I also believe that now I'm weaned off of the BP I want to try something a bit more natural as well. So I found the OCM- or Oil Cleansing Method, which can be found on an Acne.org thread here --> acne.org /messageboard/ OIL-CLEANSING-METHOD-Hi-t141871. html
[Take out the spaces]
Since I've had my acne for a little over a third of my life, I've tried to learn all that I can. And, reiterating what others on this thread have mentioned, we ruin our skin by confusing it. Our face produces sebum oil, and when we wash it away our face basically assumes that the environment its in recquires much oil on the face to survive. So, as adaptable we humans are, it produces more oil. Get the picture?
The oil cleansing method basically uses olive oil as the substiute sebum oil, and the castor oil as the gentle cleanser. The olive oil {MUST be extra virgin} makes the sebum oil glands not freak out and produce more [sebum].
The 'Ceveman Regimen' takes it farther, with the 'detox period' with its handy dandy dead skin mask included for free, and the subsequent skin that takes care of itself.
Starting tonight, I'm going to cleanse the make-up from my face with the OCM, and then the Caveman Regimen will start. Since I only have one day of school left (finals. weep), I'll forego the make-up, and then I'll have many days after that to go through the shedding skin (or 'snake' as I've come to call it in my mind) period.
Thanks to all of you posters who fed my mind even further! I'll try to keep you guys posted and PLEASE keep me posted!
DAY 1
Well focusing on the good news here:
In the morning I had a battle of the wills AND WON OUT! I wanted to wash my face so badly. Pathetic, huh? One day?
Anyway, when I looked in the mirror, there was one of those raise pus filled pustules on the side of my nose. I didn't touch it though! Yay me! Two hours later, it had shrunk. By 9 at night IT WAS GONE. NO EVIDENCE OF IT HAVING BEEN THERE WHATSOEVER!
Also, I had two pimples on the upper line of my lip. One has come to a head. Gonna see what happens tomorrow.
I have two pimples on my right cheek. What's gonna happen with them? No idea.
Also, my face felt oily the whole day, but for the second half of the day my face didn't look oily... I'm thinking good ![=]](https://static.acne.org/ipb_uploads/emoticons/default_sideways.gif)
DAY 2
Well today I'm looking at my face: my nose and surrounding have the built-up sebum look like everyone's described. However of the two bothersomes on my upper lip: one has shrunk, one [the one brought to a head] is already rather small, and here's hoping it shrinks!
I have a soccer game in like an hour, gonna probably sweat a ton- hopefully that'll help the good ol' acid mantle!
However I do have school tomorrow, and maybe I'm being petty, butI really don't know if I want my last day to be spent with crap on my face 
I might just use the OCM (keeping it natural no matter what) use make-up, and then the OCM again and then caveman it again after.
Hello, I stumbbled upon this thread about almost a year ago, I simply didn't bother to register and post a comment till today. i read the first waterwater post and decided to try this, its been about 8 months since I stated and for me this worked. Also I've been eating loads of raw baby spinach with almost everything and 10 raw baby carrots a day. What I found out was causing my acne was simply irritaion, from basically anything that came on my face even water. But the main cause of my sensitive skin was bp and daily face scrubs. Bp just kills skin in my opinion if you must use it use it like a spot treatment ONLY and very little amounts the stuff is just no good to me. And the daily face scrub when I thought about it I don't produce enough skin everyday to be using a scrub to be honest I'm not sure anyone does, all I was doing was just scrubing my skin raw and mesing up my epidermis layer of skin. We buy all these acne products from businesses who's sole purpose is to make money if they cured acne they would be out of bussines think about it.There just in my opinon pimping us off our emotionally need for clear skin. The only product i know of that I've ever seen that worked was accutane. I apoligize for going off topic back to not washing my face. Having only washed my face once a month my skin started to heal itself even scars stated crusting off. Doing nothing to my face was the best choice when it comes to my skin I ever made. My complexion stated coming back aswell as an even skin tone( I still have a little discloration but its getting better). And every now and then I get a pimple or two I pop em( I know I shouldn't but all that time I spent on my skin I feel the need too) it just scabs over and falls off and theres no noticable trace of it ever being there. The first few months were kinda tough my skin crusted over like a cacoon when I didn't wash it. Now adays it dosen't get that bad, acne isn't really a problem for me anymore my skin is 98% clear. Only reason I countinue doing this is to see if the dead skin will eventually stop completely, so I only wash my face with lukewarm water only when it looks dirty. I'm sharing this because it worked for me and it cost me basically nothing beside all the spinach and carrots I buy, with the possibility it will work for others aswell. For those who are or if you know of someone who is just starting to get pimples tell them not to panic and just leave there face alone completlely without washing it for just a week or so. And avoid using acne products or any chemicals on your skin if possible. If I had known this 4 years ago I would have saved my self alot of time and money. All you need is patience, and a balance diet. Don't eat like a hamster but make sure you get veggies like carrots in everyday. Just grind it up in a blender and pour in some dole paradise blend juice with it if its that much of a hassle I belive its better to get your vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegatbles rather than pills. I hope anything I've said helps anyone, it really is a great feeling to see your face in the morning like a good old friend you haven't seen in a while, and focus on other things. Makes me wonder how many people really have acne problems and how many just seem like they do. Good fortune to you all and whatever you try.
DAY 3
Aww yeah that's awesome!
Hey so alright--
Today I was at a party and I went in the pool- wasn't at all self concious- LOVED it. Am blogging from afriends house now- took a shower, avoided the face.
I think I'm already getting the dead skin mask- my skin looks tight and kind of bumpy, flaking in places.
Oh! Also I used mineral powder today but I think it came off in the pool. All good.
Signing off! =P
DAY 4
Yeah so woke up this morning and it seems like my skin's still imropving! Guess that the last few months of being natural won't defeat the years of damage I've done to my skin =T. Well hopefully this will! Anyway so not oily at all, skin less tight (was prob the chlorine last night) and the pimple that's been on my upper lip is finally coming to a head! woot! No such luck for the one on my cheek, though. However, I find that I'm not thinking about it at all, which definetely makes the time seem shorter =)
So, yeah.
Haha well it had already dried, and I hadn't rubbed or anything- I was already dry by the time I showered [chlorine+blonde hair=BAD] b.c I didn't want to like kill the car with all the water.
Anyway, long time no see with this thread!
so, my confessional...
I made it only until Friday{The 7th day} without washing, but then I restarted a day later. so it's now technically 5th day. I'm considering giving up again, mainly because I'm getting pimples/zits on my cheeks where I haven't in a while. This is kind of leading me to the conclusion that I'm still getting hormone-induced acne, and that I need to keep washing my face, though with cleansers such as CeraVe [barrier-friendly]. I'm just gonna check out some other people's posts to see if they had anything like this, b.c otherwise I think I'm just going to exfoliate tmrw [using Veckery and Clarke 99% natural].
Oh, and I can't tell if I'm getting the dried face mask or just a build up of dried sebum- it's only on my T-zone.
Well my nose still has the dead skin mask, and the little cluster on my cheek has faded slightly, but now my whole cheek has new zits on them. This is insane. I'm not even getting the dead skin mask there! I'm thinking I really still do have hormonal acne- I mean, I'm turning 17 this month- its definetely not unlikely. I'm going to wait one more day to see if it gets worse.
On the other had, my forehead, nose, and the area around my nose have improved- where I'm getting the dead skin mask, but my cheeks, chin, side of head, and upper lip have gotten worse. Maybe I'll just wash what seems to be worsening and leave the parts with the dead skin mask alone. Thoughts?