Acne.org Products
Hi everybody! I'm pretty new here and came across this thread. I feel I have nothing to lose so I am officially starting this no washing regimen TODAY.
I washed last night with the following:
-Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
-Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer
-Neosporin on a few big cysts
Went to bed.
This morning I woke up and did not wash my face. My question is, should I have went to bed with a clean slate? That is-not having applied the moisturizer and neosporin, or is it okay that that stuff is still on it from last night?
I'm really hoping this works out. I have tried everything. Basically, my story is that I had bad acne in 2005/2006 and went to the dermatologist and got prescribed: Benzaclin, Clindamycin, and Retin-A Micro. I was on this stuff from 2006-2008. My acne cleared up COMPLETELY.
Well, mid last year I decided to stop because a)it was getting expensive b)I didn't want the junk on my face anymore. Needless to say, everything came back! And it first came back slowly, only now to be coming at me full force. Also, since I came off the meds, my face is a lot more sensitive now (even to water), and discolored and red in some areas. I've quite given enough as everything practically breaks me out.
So we'll see what happens with this new regimen. I'm 28 years old so I think my acne is due to irritation, not hormones.
I am going to buy zinc tablets today, and also start eating more fruits and veggies.
Any advice is appreciated! Everybody on this thread has inspired me greatly with your success!
Hi everybody! I'm pretty new here and came across this thread. I feel I have nothing to lose so I am officially starting this no washing regimen TODAY.
I washed last night with the following:
-Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
-Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer
-Neosporin on a few big cysts
Went to bed.
This morning I woke up and did not wash my face. My question is, should I have went to bed with a clean slate? That is-not having applied the moisturizer and neosporin, or is it okay that that stuff is still on it from last night?
I'm really hoping this works out. I have tried everything. Basically, my story is that I had bad acne in 2005/2006 and went to the dermatologist and got prescribed: Benzaclin, Clindamycin, and Retin-A Micro. I was on this stuff from 2006-2008. My acne cleared up COMPLETELY.
Well, mid last year I decided to stop because a)it was getting expensive b)I didn't want the junk on my face anymore. Needless to say, everything came back! And it first came back slowly, only now to be coming at me full force. Also, since I came off the meds, my face is a lot more sensitive now (even to water), and discolored and red in some areas. I've quite given enough as everything practically breaks me out.
So we'll see what happens with this new regimen. I'm 28 years old so I think my acne is due to irritation, not hormones.
I am going to buy zinc tablets today, and also start eating more fruits and veggies.
Any advice is appreciated! Everybody on this thread has inspired me greatly with your success!
You have to go to bed with a clean slate. If you're leaving Neosporin and moisturizer on your face for a significant amount of time it's bound to burn your skin.
What you describe is an acne condition where your face became accustomed to everything you placed on it. If you think about it, Retin A is controlling the intensity of which your skin cells shed; just as your other medications are responsible for disinfecting your face. After discontinuing all treatments, you were left with nothing but your own body's natural defenses. They'll tell you that with acne medication, the best solution after results are seen is either to slowly wane yourself off of it; or continue using indefinitely.
I consider myself a veteran to this thread. Look in the early pages and you'll find I have posts that extend nearly a year and half back. I'm no stranger to this method. I've gone back and forth between medications, water only, limited water, no water, and it's almost like a compulsive need I have to wash again with some cleanser.
Well, it was at a point last month where I thought, to truly test this method of no washing I to go through with it. It's frustrating because I think over the summer I had many more opportunities of doing nothing to test this, but instead I wasted it on medications that didn't work. So, I decided to take the plunge now; for the benefit of future months/years.
For the last 11 days I haven't washed my face. This is LONG past my previous record of five days. Two problems I previously encountered, hair washing and shaving, I've gotten around. What I do is the following:
1. All I do with my hair, since it's fairly short, is take a wet wash cloth and rub it around my head to make sure it's wet. Then I take Purpose Cleanser, lather up enough to cover my head (it usually takes three/four pumps), and then carefully rinse it through with a rag. This way, I avoid the greasy look and unintentional water leakage on my face.
2. With shaving, I just take an electric shaver and get as close a shave as possible. Right now I'm getting by, but I'll probably put in the money for a more expensive shaver.
My results haven't been drastic thus far, but my tone has lightened. I've lost some redness around my cheeks, I'd estimate 10-15%. The excess sebum, surprisingly, is only really an issue right around the nose. I don't know why, but it seems to be far less than previous attempts I've had at the no washing method. Several days ago I scraped off the accumulation on the side of my nose with a cu tip. Counterproductive, I know, but I have to look somewhat presentable. The oiliness, I feel, is really no different than if I had washed and let it return naturally in a few hours time.
It's interesting that these last several mornings I've been waking up with dead skin on several places in my face. As if the skin is healing underneath. The resulting dead skin looks like the pealing left behind from sunburn, or glue when you let it dry and take it off. I've been very encouraged thus far and I'm determined to push it as far as possible.
The best test of my face was last weekend when I was out with friends. I'd trust in them to tell me if I needed to wash my face, and no one mentioned anything. It's a good sign.
RudolphTheRedNosedGirl, if you can't make it for a long time without washing your face (most would agree it's more difficult for women), I'd just try extending it as far as possible, and then after washing, try pushing it a little further. Hopefully, even in small increments, you'll see results. Good luck.
Okay, so I've had Cetaphil Moisturizer and hints of Neosporin on my face for three days. Is this going to derail my goal and I should go back and do a quick wash and start all over?
My face has been burning a lot when sebum gets in my eyes. Will these products on my face clog my pores? When I do go back and do a quick wash should it be with a gentle cleanser, or just a splash of water? Won't sweat on my face eventually "wash" off the products?
I'm on the third day of this thing and the though of starting over is irking me!
@Rudolph
Good luck mate!
Yeah, the oiliness is one of the things you'll see that will definitely improve. 
Update: I washed my face on Day 17 because I had a presentation to make for school. The way my classroom is set up, the front is under direct, bright light and I knew I couldn't be confident presenting with crap all over my face. When I washed, and shaved with a manual razor, what I was amazed with is how my face appeared a bit thinner.
My condition may be a bit different from some of you because most of my skin appears rough, scaly and inflamed. When you observe it under a magnifying glass it appears all bumpy. Well, after believing these were clogged pores for years and attempting to open them up, I began to think that maybe the skin underneath was damaged and needed to heal.
I believe that over those 17 days my skin was allowed to heal underneath and some of the problems resolved themselves. I can't rationalize it properly using medical terms, but what I believed happened was for years the clogged pores caused an inflammation reaction that held the fat in my face together. Almost like scar tissue. Well, with time to heal the inflammation reaction lessened and the excess fat was allowed to move more freely.
Also, it has nothing to do with losing weight. I'm still the same size.
As of right now I'm on Day 2 (wiped skin with water on Fri.), and unless something drastic occurs I'll probably extend not washing through Halloween.
i would most definetly recemend using Olay Sensitive Skin Gentle Face Cleanser when you do decide to wash your face. . .it is for people that have problems with other cleansers, i have found that it moisturizes my skin and it cleans deep into my pores. Hope this helps!! 
nFallin,What do you use to wash your face prior to doing this, the only reason I'm asking is because I'm not sure how something like this will work if one goes from using extremely harsh cleansers to simply nothing. For me I stopped using all the cleansers about a month or two ago and since then was only using water and then proceeded to do nothing, but, the premise still makes sense I think, you just may have more of a buildup of skin and oil in the beginning if in fact you've been using something harsher than water but realize that like anything else it takes some time and don't get discouraged if your looking in the mirror at the end of the day and you really want to wash your face sleep on it, literally, and in the morning you'll be surprised at how things look especially after doing this a couple of times. Also, my older brother has always had cystic acne really bad, but I have three other siblings that don't have any acne at all and mine was never as bad as his, interestingly he has been using proactive for the past couple of years and his face has really spiraled down but he saw me a couple of weeks ago and asked " Why is your face all oily and it looks like you haven't bathed" and i told him that it was because I quit washing my face and he laughed and said that he knew if he quit using proactive that his face would erupt and I told him probably so but that was to be expected for the first couple of days, still he didn't pay much attention, then I saw him yesterday and he asked me what new face wash I had been using and I told him I still was rarely washing my face, it had been three days since my last wash when I saw him, and he was floored, he said he was going to do the same thing cause he could see the difference too, so I'll know what kind of effect doing this has on more severe cases of acne, but I still believe that this is mostly a cure for adult acne, the hormonal kind teenagers go through won't go away from not washing but I still think their use of chemicals is ridiculous.
Sorry, I shouldn't have put "cure" above, I don't want any raving lunatics commenting about how I"m not a doctor and blah blah, this just worked for me and I think it would for some others, not everyone.
I am new here but not to acne
gonna try not washing and using vitamin e oil on my skin at night to help heal what is there
also get break outs on my scalp which might be from over drying so will use watered down simple shampoo only
will keep you posted I have moderate acne on my hail line, forehead and near my nose
just got off accutne which only helped while on it
Josh I wouldn't call that moderate acne at all. Even calling it mild acne would be a stretch.
The purpose of the caveman regimen is to let your skin recover from irritation and over treatment. I don't really see evidence of those in your case. On the other hand, the camera doesn't tell the whole story. So if you really think your skin needs healing, then go for it.
I had huge success with this regimen last summer. I posted my progress under the name jwebb426, which I then changed my password intentionally so I wouldn't visit these boards so much.
When I was on the caveman regimen, I washed probably once per month, with my greatest non washing streak going for 44 days. My skin cleared up fairly nicely by doing this and supplementing Taurine on a daily bases. However, the dead skin mask was still quite thick after 3 months of this treatment; feeling embarrassed by the dead skin buildup, I purchased a salicylic acid wash just in time for the fall semester. It stripped my face of dead skin within 2 weeks, but my face was left reddened.
Wondering if a red face was better than a face full of dead skin, I decided to continue washing with the SA wash. Now all of my old acne has returned, and I'm ready to make this regimen a long term commitment.
5 days into the Caveman regimen, I haven't experienced a huge return of dead skin/flakes yet, but the redness is subsiding quickly. Here is a day 5 pic.
Seems there's a dozen of these topics, so i just post in all of them, lol. I'm currently on day 17 of this whole not washing/not giving a flying F regimen. While it's very liberating not washing or feeling the need to shower every day (twice a day, in my case), I haven't noticed a dramatic reduction in breakouts yet. Still getting frequent cysts along the sides of my neck, which I never had until 'bout 6 months ago.
As someone who dealt with EXTREMELY oily skin for ages, I love this regimen. It's completely balanced my skin, and I can go all day without that heavy, disgustingly greasy feeling we all know and hate. After roughly 12 years of continuous topical/antibiotic use, I felt this was necessary to actually "get to know" my skin.
I'm digressing, sorry. Here's my thing, guys: I haven't been the least bit flaky so far and have yet to witness this famous dead skin mask. What gives? Anyone else not getting it? I shower about 3-4 times a week, and water does tend to spray or trickle down my face, but I blot it off quickly. I don't think that's enough to hinder the healing. Just a little concerned.
The deadskin mask forms slowly, but by day 17 you should have a little bit of dead skin. Everybody's skin is different though, and maybe your skin doesn't really need to shed. A little bit of water/mist is ok. Remember water isn't your enemy; Irritation is your enemy.
There is a pretty easy way to see if you have any deadskin build up. Since it builds up for most people near their cheekbones; wash the end of one of your fingernails, then gently scrape the area. Simply look at your fingernail to see if there is deadskin stuck to it.
Looking forward to hearing more progress updates from everybody.
It's there.. it's just that it's not flaking yet.. we can say that it is still building up or something.. give it some more time..
about the cysts along the sides of your neck.. i experienced that too and they didn't go away with just not doing anything.. in my case, i used turmeric juice and they went away along with the red marks.
btw, as an update to you guys.. I don't have acne anymore but I developed sebhorric dermatitis.. which is easier to deal with than acne.. I am doing a baking soda wash followed by an apple cider vinegar toner and my skin is considerably getting smoother..
If you have the turmeric roots.. then you must cold it in the freezer to make it softer then crush it to extract the juice. I didn't mix it with anything, just the pure juice.
The discoloration isn't permanent, and it isn't the color of the skin being affected, it's just like a tint over your skin. I put it on at night on affected areas only which is on the neck in our case, and just wash it with water the next day. If there's color still left just leave it be cause it will be gone in a few days.
Day 9
So when I started this, I had every intention to not shave for the no wash period. I felt it would be better for a full skin recovery. This proved to be too difficult, I couldn't overcome the itching, so I shaved. I shave using the sideburn trimmer of and electric razor, avoiding every active pimple, I gently maneuver the trimmer over the hairs. I have very dark brown hair, so its very easy to get every hair. The shave was successful though, my skin doesn't itch right now, and I don't think I've irritated any of my skin.
Ive attached two pictures to this post. So I'll briefly talk about the status of my skin based on those.
The left side of my face never used to be a problem, but currently thats where the breakouts are. My nose is completely clear, as is most of my forehead. The problem is in the cheeks (mainly left cheek).
Now a bit of info about my skin type. I get only pustules. Every pimple is the same, starts off with a small red bump, quickly develops into a whitehead.
I never pop them though, it doesn't bother me to have a bit of acne on my cheeks. After all, I spend nearly 40 hours a week with textbooks, and they don't care how my skin looks.
Analysis of the first 9 days
- There has been a decrease in redness
- Oil production has leveled off since about day 6
- No reduction in breakouts
- Skin itches from time to time
- Deadskin flakes occasionally, but mostly just builds up on my skin
Heres a couple quick addendums about my regimen.
I take 2 Fish Oil softgels per day, 1 Dual Tabs multivitamin, 1 50mg zinc, 1 cup green tea.
I also drink a green smoothie every morning.
I exercise and meditate daily.
Hey everybody,
I feel confident enough to conclude that the caveman regimen has worked for me. I've been keeping a personal log for the past three months, recording various regimens based around washing with water only and not washing at all.
If anyone is interested, I would be happy to post the log, but I warn you, it's a very lengthy read (15 pages!).
Essentially, it boils down to this: I tried washing with water only for about two months, cleaning my skin every 3-5 days with water, and still had breakouts. After my initial failure, I went all in; no washing at all. The results are almost identical to Wapak's and many other users who succeeded with this method: a thick mask of dead skin after three weeks, subsequent removal of dead skin mask after thirty days, and healthy, glowing skin underneath. I will allow a dead skin mask to build every fourteen days from here on out, until my skin is completely healed.
I believe it is also important to stop using shampoo while not washing. I went "no-poo" at the same time I stopped washing, using only baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair every week or so. Before I started this, I strongly believed that I had seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp. After a month of washing my hair with baking soda, my hair is incredibly healthy, and my scalp is clear of any flakes. I'm never using shampoo again.
There's not much more to say; I haven't been breaking out, my skin is healing, my hair is healthy, and I'm happy that I decided to try this regimen. One more person can be added to the list of successes using the "caveman" regimen.
Congrats, Hello. I think I speak for most here when I say I'd be interested in reading your log. Wapak has been incredibly helpful and I believe more detailed logs like his would benefit us all.
I'm nearing the three-week mark of no washing, and I've greatly reduced the number of showers I take (from twice a day to twice a week). I'm interested in the no-poo method also, but not sure if I can hack it. I switched to organic shampoo, which I think is a step in the right direction, but I've noticed that I'm losing several strands of hair with each washing. Kind of unusual considering I cut out all the supposedly harmful chemicals.