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Goodluck Thabai!!
Looking forward to hearing your progress updates.
As for me; DAY 18
I'm a fan of bullet points, I think they get the point across much faster.
- I splashed cold water on my face on day 16
- None of the redness has returned to my face
- Skin is a bit oily, but not uncomfortable
- I shave once per week with the sideburn trimmer of my electric razor
- Breakouts have decreased significantly over the past week.
- I've been practicing visualizing clear skin for the past 2 nights (more on this later if I'm convinced its worthwhile.
- The dead skin builds up on my face more each day.
Those are the facts, heres some pictures to show ya whats going on:
Since all I have is a webcam, I cant really give you a good resolution picture of the deadskin mask. But its noticeable from about 4 feet away. So anybody I interact with is probably wondering why my face is peeling so badly. However, I've only got 1 question about it. Since not washing your face is so taboo, I just responded with: "Accutane man, it f**ks your skin up." lol
I'm not nearly as stressed about the dead skin buildup as I was the first time I did this regimen though.
With that being said, heres my insight for this week:
I am going to let my skin heal itself. I believe in the health model which states, the conditions for maintaining good health are the same as acquiring it. Rather than the medical model inwhich the conditions for obtaining good health are different than whats needed to maintain health.
Yes. I do want to remind you guys though. You are what you eat. So consider eating foods that are healthy for the skin. Search google for foods good for the skin and you'll see some particular foods easy to acquire and easy to eat. 
I like the following:
- avocado
- low fat yogurt
- plums
- almond
- green tea
- tomatoes
- water
Hey new to acne.org been reading the this post for awhile and decided to get an account. Quick question, I haven't used any topicals for about 3 weeks. Do you think not washing it for about a week is enough time for the acid mantle to repair itself? Also, I wash my face every morning with only water but later during the day after I workout I sweat alot and my face feels tight afterwards and red and seems to breakout, does this mean my face is still to weak to be washed with water? Or is this normal?
jmaaan
If your face feels tight, after a full day + exercise, then try not washing for 3-5 days. If you don't feel an improvement in the way your face feels, then I'd say go back to washing. In that case, the problem is probably internal. However, if your face feels better after a few days of not washing then I think its time to go on the no wash regimen.
Thanks. And yea my acne is most definitely caused by topicals and overwashing. I've had clear skin my whole life, no one in my family has ever had acne. But Whenever I would get a pimple I would go buy acne face wash and wash twice a a day and my face would always feel completely dry and tight and now after doing that for months I now have acne. I just don't know whether to no wash at all even with water or wash everyday with water once a day.
Day, uh, 32ish? Somewhere around there.
A little relieved to see the dead skin mask is, in fact, there, but it's only noticeable after showering (must be the heat, steam, or the errant drops of water that reveal it). If this is the biggest hurdle everyone faces, then this shouldn't be as bad as I thought.
The area around templeswhich has always been a clogged. rough messis smooth and clear and probably the best it's been in years. My biggest problem was the sides of my neck, where I was continually breaking out in really painful cystsmade worse by an ill-advised 3-month Differin regime. Still get the occasional cyst there but FAR less frequently, and they seem to heal faster. I can't help but squeeze the more painful ones, though. Yes, it's bad, but the relief is indescribable, and they tend to linger and get re-inflamed if I leave them.
Haven't washed the problem areas on my chest and back for about 3 weeks, either. The dead skin is very prevalent on my body, and whenever I take off my shirt, it's like a snowstorm. Still breaking out, especially on my chest, whereas my back just feels rough to the touch, but not so much broken out. Hoping it subsides with more time.
A couple of things:
Went the whole nine yards and grew out the beard. Dealing with some really painful ingrown hairs/cysts underneath, which may be an unrelated condition. You'd think not shaving would help, but the hairs continue to get trapped beneath the skin and have to be removed (not fun). Thank God they're not visible. Easier to resist touching them. A lot of flaking here as well.
Contrary to what most people say, your face DOES smell. At least mine does. Whenever I turn my head in the wind, I'll catch a whiff of my malodorous, unwashed mug and, boy, it is not pleasant. I will admit that I kinda enjoy the stench. Then again, I enjoy Dutch ovens too. I'm weird.
Sorry this was long. I've been away (ya know, living in my cave and all).
Off to hunt some mastodons. Ta-ta!
Day, uh, 32ish? Somewhere around there.
A little relieved to see the dead skin mask is, in fact, there, but it's only noticeable after showering (must be the heat, steam, or the errant drops of water that reveal it). If this is the biggest hurdle everyone faces, then this shouldn't be as bad as I thought.
The area around templesawhich has always been a clogged. rough messais smooth and clear and probably the best it's been in years. My biggest problem was the sides of my neck, where I was continually breaking out in really painful cystsamade worse by an ill-advised 3-month Differin regime. Still get the occasional cyst there but FAR less frequently, and they seem to heal faster. I can't help but squeeze the more painful ones, though. Yes, it's bad, but the relief is indescribable, and they tend to linger and get re-inflamed if I leave them.
Haven't washed the problem areas on my chest and back for about 3 weeks, either. The dead skin is very prevalent on my body, and whenever I take off my shirt, it's like a snowstorm. Still breaking out, especially on my chest, whereas my back just feels rough to the touch, but not so much broken out. Hoping it subsides with more time.
A couple of things:
Went the whole nine yards and grew out the beard. Dealing with some really painful ingrown hairs/cysts underneath, which may be an unrelated condition. You'd think not shaving would help, but the hairs continue to get trapped beneath the skin and have to be removed (not fun). Thank God they're not visible. Easier to resist touching them. A lot of flaking here as well.
Contrary to what most people say, your face DOES smell. At least mine does. Whenever I turn my head in the wind, I'll catch a whiff of my malodorous, unwashed mug and, boy, it is not pleasant. I will admit that I kinda enjoy the stench. Then again, I enjoy Dutch ovens too. I'm weird.
Sorry this was long. I've been away (ya know, living in my cave and all).
Off to hunt some mastodons. Ta-ta!
I tried growing a moustache out for a while during this regimen, and I had the same problem with ingrown hairs and zits.
That being said, I'm thankful for electric razors.
Contrary to what most people say, your face DOES smell. At least mine does. Whenever I turn my head in the wind, I'll catch a whiff of my malodorous, unwashed mug and, boy, it is not pleasant. I will admit that I kinda enjoy the stench. Then again, I enjoy Dutch ovens too. I'm weird.
Are you sure it's your face? It's probably your hair. Hehe! I also develop that smell but not from the face, from the hair. 
yes, they do. but most people just get fed up and after weeks of waiting they will try to remove that scab and find that it's ready to fall. That's just fine too in my opinion.
i had the same problem with body acne, generally on my back it would be red spots with no real head on them and it would feel rough and dryish to the touch, the way i dealt with this was to apply a body moisturizer nightly(while continuing with no washing) and my back cleared up in about 6 days. the moisturiser i used was Nivea body intensive moisturising lotion. NOT oil free and with vitamin e and sea minerals. give it a try i think it might help you Tominator
Just started this two days ago.
My face is pretty oily but so far no new pimples.. should I wipe away the oil with a napkin or just let it chill on my face? It looks weird but whatever.
I went straight off Duac and Differin to this. Those topicals work, but my face was really red.. and thats when I realized, hey maybe my acne is due to irritation.. I mean maybe my body's telling me to stop using so much crap on my skin.
*Tha Caveman
Duac and Differin eh? Thats a winning combo. I was on that 2 years ago... but my nose was always beat red and I hated it.
Don't wipe the oil off, just let it re moisturize your face.
Now for my Progress
Day 26 Thanksgiving Update
Ok, now the only reason I was hesitant about going back on this regimen was because of today. Thanksgiving is huge in my family. Relatives from all of the country come to my grandparent's house to celebrate. I knew the deadskin mask would be thick when thanksgiving rolled around... and I was so right.
My breakouts have had a slight increase this week, mainly in my forehead, and a few on my cheeks and jawline.... Cause and Effect.
So whats the cause? Well this week I've been really stressed about my classes. 3 exams in 1 week, that made me constantly on edge. Also, I just stopped caring about what I eat. I used to be so strict about my diet; I wouldn't eat dairy, or grains, or anything processed. A word of advice, don't stress about diet too much. Sure its important, but if you revolve your life around what are "good acne foods" and bad acne foods, then you will never stop thinking about your acne. The real way to defeat acne is to forget about it.
Enough about my personal philosophy. Here are the cold hard facts about the past 26 days:
- Breakouts have slowed down
- Acne has gone from Moderate to Mild
- Skin is a natural color
- I've stopped using shampoo and my hair feels more natural and moisturized
- Not showering every day saves alot of time (extra time to study)
In conclusion, after about 1 month of this my acne isn't gone, but the condition of my skin is improving. I'll give this caveman regimen 6 months. I'm confident my skin will completely clear up by then.
Thanks man.
It's honestly so weird working out and not washing my face.. it feels so much better though.
I'm lovin waking up and not having to stress about my usual regimen and all that.
Day 3:
-skin is looking alot more natural
-hella lot of oil near my nose and to the right and left of my nose
-alot less stressful
-no new pimples, at all
-CROSSING MY FINGERS THIS WORKS!
Its been a few weeks since I started and I've noticed a few differences. My skin isn't as red as it was before, meaning its closer to the color of the rest of my body. Surprisingly I didn't notice much of an increase in my acne but I have a theory on this. I think face washing only makes a difference if you have mild acne close to the surface. Since not washing my face I've noticed a slight increase in such mild acne and in blackheads, but I mainly suffer from deep cystic under the skin and that type has not increased. I think the benefits from improved facial skin tone is worth the cost and hopefully it will get even closer to my body's skin tone as time goes by.
* Sverd, My skin tone has improved vastly since I started this, however it doesn't quite match the rest of my body. Its getting there though
Day 33
Ok, so after a week of backsliding I finally feel like my face is improving again. Breakouts have slowed, new pimples I do get are quite small.
I'd like to take a minute to address shaving. Personally going more than 4 days without shaving irritates my skin. While trying doing this no wash regimen I went 10 days without shaving, and it made matters worse. When I do shave, I use this trimmer that I picked up a few weeks ago:
Now I'd like to share a few reasons why I think shaving every 4th night is the best option.
- If you shave less frequently than every 4th day, beard looks sloppy
- when you do shave it will gently exfoliate your skin, and the deadskin that is ready to come off will "chip" off.
- Every 4th day will prevent irritation from shaving too much.
- if you shave at night, the "shaving flakes" on your face will fall off as you sleep.
Which leads me into my next topic of sleep. I've been trying to develop a habit of sleeping on my back. I can now effectively fall asleep on my back, but I wake up on my side every time. This isn't a huge problem, because I change my pillowcase every 2 nights. Also, I like my face to have atleast a little bit of contact will my pillowcase on the nights after I've shaved. This will allow the pillowcase to gently remove the "shaving flakes", and when I wake up my face looks cleaner. However, I would really like to be able to sleep an entire night without resorting to rolling over on my side/stomach because I would like to notice if there is a reduction in irritation or in breakouts.
Anyway, I've attatched a couple pictures as usual. There is essentially nothing new. Just a thickening deadskin mask which my camera cant pick up any details from.
Caveman fan. I can definitely see some improvement man keep up the good work. I did the no wash for a week cause I had a week break off school and skin definitely improved, the only downside like many are finding out is the horrible dead skin mask. Now that my skin has gotten a little stronger I now wash once a day with water only but the dead skin mask is still very visible especially when wet. I know, it takes about 3-4 weeks when it's ok to remove the dead skin mask but I got so impatient and it looked so nasty all brown and yellow dead skin. Literally at least 1 person every day was say something about my face and like you all know it's very hard to follow the "live as if you don't have acne" thing I Am Snow was talking about when I am constantly being reminded every day. Anyways I waited about 10 days before I prematurely removed some of the mask and my skin underneath was clear but was also very pink and there is pretty much just a huge pink spot where it looks like its peeling now on myforehead and it looks horrible but I guess that's what I guess for being so impatient. To anyone wanting to remove the mask before waiting DON'T it will just be pink and peel and eventually it will just be covered by more dead skin to heal itself because it was not fully healed yet. Just stick it out, trust me I know it's hard but patience here really is the key don't be a fool like me and pick away the dead skin even though it looks like it's ready. I would say just to make sure give it 3 weeks at minimum before you even think about removing it. Sorry for the long post guys just trying to help others doing the Caveman Regimen.
*jmaaan
Thanks for the support man, I really appreciate it. I know how extremely difficult it is to just "live like you don't have acne", but I try to keep my mindset like that. I used to dread those questions from people like "Whats this shit all over your face", and I'd get embarrassed and say something like "oh its a new acne medication". Now I don't mind questions about it, I just tell them with a sincere-grin "My face is finally healing". That doesn't exactly answer their question, but normally they don't follow up with more. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a bit self-conscious about the dead skin all over my face, but I don't let it overwhelm me. When I start to feel self-conscious about the dead skin, I just redirect my thoughts and I tell myself that it doesnt really matter.
Heres the interesting thing, everything we do is influenced by our unconscious mind. We automatically move towards what we think will give us pleasure, and we avoid what we think will be painful. All of this is really made up, nothing has any meaning except the meaning we give it in our own minds. So why does dead skin have to be embarrassing? For me it wont be, I'm working hard to condition my self so that its not socially painful.
If anybody has any psychology expertise/knowledge and would like to offer pointers on how to remap my unconscious believes... please share them.
I guess I got side tracked... one more thing Jmaaan. I hope you can learn from scraping the skin off prematurely. The best part about being human is learning from our mistakes. The skin needs alot of time to heal, 3-4 weeks of healing might not even be enough for everyone.
Let us know if you continue the water only regimen. Good luck man.
To conclude this ultra-long post; I would like to say this:
I'm doing this regimen with full faith that it will heal my skin completely, each time I get skeptical I simply redirect my mind.
-jWebb-
last friday i was a little impatient and i peeled the dead skin off of my cheeks so now the inner part of my cheeks are pink with a few little bumps >.<. i left the dead skin on my nose and forehead but my uncle seen it and put lotion on it after i told him its supposed to look like this and now my nose is back to how it was before i started this >=[. i also have a few bumps on my forehead. how long will it take until my cheeks, nose, and forehead get the mask again?
If anybody has any psychology expertise/knowledge and would like to offer pointers on how to remap my unconscious believes... please share them.
I'm a psych major... I have a 4.0 as I finish my junior studies, if that matters... And the absolute BEST advice I can give you is not related to my studies but instead my experience. Stay as busy as you possibly can every day. Don't allow yourself excess time for those thoughts to come into your head. And exercise! LOTS! It exhausts the body and relieves stress (conscious and unconscious) from your mind. No time or energy to drift into those unwelcome, obsessive thoughts that lower our self-esteem. That's the key. By remaining so active, your unconscious starts to pick up healthier habits until it becomes second nature. It's not an overnight fix, but a gradual healing of the mind while the body also becomes healthier.
*yourworstnightmare
Expect to see a near-full rebound of the deadskin masks gradually over the next 2 weeks.
*MilGirl
Thanks for your advice. By the way, I'm also a junior and I think we both have realized by now that 95% of the information we have to learn will never be applied to real life. lol
When I stay busy I just feel so centered and in control. While focused on the task at hand, my mind doesn't drift away to any negative thoughts. Unlike when I'm just killing time on the internet, or watching TV... that opens up all kinds of opportunities for me to feel inferior. It seems like the real lesson here is on productivity, lol. This is definitely noteworthy... for all you lurkers out there
Exercising everyday works miracles for your mind. thats all I've got to say.
-j-