i am a girl.

i have used a million different products and well obviously i'm not doing that good if i'm a member of this site....

so anyways i have made DRASTIC changes this past week...this is what I have done:

sunday-tuesday I have completely stopped wearing makeup. (mascara a few days out of the week, but absolutely NO foundation) and my skin has DRAMATICALLY improved. its absolutely insane and i can't believe it. sunday-friday i used purpose face wash morning and night and a crap load of clearasil BP 10 percent at night, and oil of olay sensitive skin spf 15 in the morning

now my major issue right now is red marks. the reason i'm still using oil of olay is because i've heard vitamin E helps scarring, which is what i believe the red marks to be?

so maybe i'll try this water thing!!

ugh

and i wonder, since summer is coming up, if i could wear sunless tanner on my face and not break out?

i do recall a few years ago living such an unhealthy lifestyle that i didn't have time to wash my face and my skin RARELy broke out...and what i mean by unhealthy: smoking, drinking, fast food, not enough sleep, mass amounts of makeup, sunless tanners, ) well i RARELY wash my face around that time....hmmmmm

maybe we don't need to wash our faces as much?

okay i'm sold...one week of no face washing and we'll see how it goes. any other ladies tried this??

New to this thing, just thought I'd put in my two cents. Well I honestly never started washing my face until fall of 2009 because that summer I had a few zits here and there. I was only using cetaphil and it cleared up my skin pretty well, but as soon as winter rolled around it got pretty dry. I have never used a moisturizer before and have never really needed it. However with my sister's insistence I started using one daily. So with ubiquitous advice, I started to wash and moisturize in the morning and at night. Well things just pretty much got worse and now I have full blown acne.

This is the worst my skin has ever looked in my life. Well it's March 2010 and my skin does not want to clear up. This same time last year I thought my skin was bad, but now that I look at it I was definitely being neurotic. I was also not washing my face back then. Does anyone else see a correlation? Well after about a week and a half using strictly warm shower water it started to clear up, but I still have zits cropping up. However I honestly think it's from losing my cool and popping some zits too harshly that were already there.

My skin is far from where I want it to be but I honestly think I'm gonna give this more time. After all I gave washing my face regularly a chance for 3 months. I'm a 24 y.o. male with dark skin (filipino mom) and I have never had acne in my life. My sister on the other hand has been washing her face regularly for years and it seems like she's been dealing with this problem for a long time. Anyway it's almost spring and then summer and that's when my skin's the best. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Hi there,

most of the advice for acne sufferers is to wash the face frequently and clear out the pores. In actual fact, the skin detects when the natural oils have been removed and produces more oil (sebum). You will see an improvement in your skin over the coming days, as the skin detects you are not removing the natural oil.

Best wishes,

Thomas

Hey Jmaaan, How's your face lookin so far?

Also, If i start using a cleanser like noxema, cetaphil or something gentle, would it stop the deadskin mask from coming? and will it make my skin improve?

Actually it's looking pretty good. I went to the derm again and he prescribed me this Steriod cream that I haven't used yet and decided to give that Clindamycin ointment a try first before I started using the more harsh stuff. No deadskin on my face at all it is just a little red which I'm sure will go away along with some bumps which I think will go away aswell. I'm not saying that I'm completely clear and look amazing but no more deadskin just some redmarks and a little bumps so that's better than dead skin IMO

Hello everyone. I too have officially given up on all products. I never worried about washing my face until other people told me I had to once I turned 15 because of puberty and whatever. And at 19 all hell broke loose. I had been diagnosed with rosacea when I was around 15, but never really worried about it. And it was never really a problem, just some redness but nothing extreme. I started washing my face with Neutrogena stuff and for almost 4 years I was fine. I turn 19 and it was like a tidal wave of irritation and cystic acne. And it hasn't stopped since then. I'm 23 now. So I am done. I stopped washing my face 3 days ago and my acne is clearing up all on its own and redness has gone down. Amazing.

Actually it's looking pretty good. I went to the derm again and he prescribed me this Steriod cream that I haven't used yet and decided to give that Clindamycin ointment a try first before I started using the more harsh stuff. No deadskin on my face at all it is just a little red which I'm sure will go away along with some bumps which I think will go away aswell. I'm not saying that I'm completely clear and look amazing but no more deadskin just some redmarks and a little bumps so that's better than dead skin IMO

Ohh okay thats good. So the dead skin just stopped forming on your face? Sorry im asking too much questions. It's just that I'm gonna leave my face alone and let the dead skin actually stay on my face until its healed.

Yes. The ointment keeps the dead skin from forming and I only apply to the areas with dead skin. I asked my derm whether the dead skin was good or bad and he said it's not really bad just when it builds up too much it can hold bacteria so I'm guessing a little dead skin is ok? I don't really know

Yes. The ointment keeps the dead skin from forming and I only apply to the areas with dead skin. I asked my derm whether the dead skin was good or bad and he said it's not really bad just when it builds up too much it can hold bacteria so I'm guessing a little dead skin is ok? I don't really know

Ohh ok. Did your forehead clear up or does the dead skin come back there too?

Hi, I just want to add my thoughts on this.

One day I did exactly the same thing as the original poster, having gotten fed up with it I decided to give my face a break.

Amazingly, I too noticed some drastic improvements by just switching to plain cold water and sometimes only washing my face every other day.

I looked back at my history with washing and I thought to myself after staring at my cupboard: Wow.

All these products that have slowly started creeping in to my life and accumulating no wonder my skin must be crying out.

We keep putting loads of chemicals and crap on our faces constantly, it's bound to have a reactive effect.

Ever since then and it's been years now, I have employed a minimalist approach to my skin with tremendous results. I only ever put one of two things on my face:

1) Cold water

2) Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5% Aqua Gel - As and when required applied lightly to consistently problematic areas.

Now annoyingly, chest and back is slightly different. I have kept chemicals off my body too like shower gels and what not, but I do get break outs on these areas though not as severe as before and I have a feeling that HOT water is causing problems.

I'm going to start a new thread on this.

James

Hi, I just want to add my thoughts on this.

 

One day I did exactly the same thing as the original poster, having gotten fed up with it I decided to give my face a break.

 

Amazingly, I too noticed some drastic improvements by just switching to plain cold water and sometimes only washing my face every other day.

I just came here to say the exact same thing as you, except I've recently decided to take the next step and stop washing with water altogether.

So here's my story if anyone cares. I'm a 23 year old male and I've struggled with moderate to bad acne since I was about 12-13 years old. In the summer of 2008 I came to this board and heard about people just washing their faces with water, and decided to give it a try. The very week I started this, while my face was greasier for a time, my acne significantly improved, and stayed improved. Yet I still continued to suffer from consistent breakouts, especially in my beard area and neck, and the occasional (two or three a year) three-weeks-to-heal cyst.

So anyways, about two weeks ago I started to break out pretty bad in the same places as usual. It seemed over the week I was getting a new big pimple every day and I started to get depressed and worried. I ended up coming here again and I found numerous threads on the so called caveman regimen. Reading about all the theories about no-chemicals, allowing your face to repair itself etc., it seemed to make complete sense, especially for someone at my age who should have outgrown acne; while stopping the application of chemicals improved my skin significantly, after years of destroying it with these chemicals it just wasn't able to fully repair itself while I was washing everything off and keeping it dried out.

So fast forward to now, I'm currently at the end of day 8. The first day was horrid. My face looked like I had dipped it in a bowl of oil and I had to keep padding my face with kleenex. But like anyone whose tried this will tell you, that problem doesn't last too long. Sure my face is still greasy now, but no more than "normal", and I suspect it will normalize further as time passes. Also, on day 2 I began to develop what looked like a definite big cyst on my cheek where I rarely get acne. However this developed into a small whitehead and the painful red spot disappeared after two days, while all of my zits from the last week healed extremely fast as well. The week was pretty uneventful. Just a lot of healing going on. Now, after 8 days, my face looks better than it ever has since before I hit puberty (seriously, just one week). Not a single "big" pimple has developed after day 2 (a few invisible whiteheads that disappear in hours is all I've gotten), and my complexion actually looks glowing. No red or pink, no inflamed marks, just a slight...I don't even want to say shine because it doesn't look greasy. In fact if it weren't for the abundance of dry skin building up mostly on my beard area, I would say my skin looks completely normal (sans the slightly visible fading marks from past pimples).

Speaking of dead skin, this has been the one drawback, but it's not all that bad to be honest, and surely it's a more desirable side-effect than what the likes accutane or anti-biotics would produce. You can't really see it unless you look closely, and it's only on the lower half of my face. I'm thinking the dead skin problem is probably worse for people who are cutting out chemicals cold turkey. I kind of had a head start in that respect.

One thing I'd like to add is that I don't think this regimen will necessarily work for everyone, particularly those who are still teenagers and are still getting acne due to their hormones. However, staying away from chemicals and obsessive face washing will most likely allow these people to grow out of their acne when they should, rather than going into their 20s still getting breakouts like me. I believe I would have grown out of acne at the age of 18-19 if not for my ignorance on the importance of allowing nature to take its course.

So now I'm not really sure how long I'm going to continue this. Obviously at some point I'm going to want to deal with the dead skin buildup, and a wash with cold water every now and again would be desirable. But for now I don't want to take any chances. I want to be completely sure I'm rid of acne before I start worrying about anything else.

Oh and to all those people saying this is wrong and not washing your face will make things worse, well, tell that to all those acne free teenagers in the third world who'd be lucky to rinse their face with dirty water once a week. There's a reason acne is almost exclusively a western problem, and that reason is our obsession with hygiene.

Wow. Sorry for the long post.

what's the consensus on sweating?

EVERYWHERE online says wash face immediately after sweating. but on here, keep it on your face? can your skin still breathe through the thick dead skin mask?

Ok, I am not exactly new to this site but decided to actually register after taking the last couple of days reading through all 42 pages of this thread lol. I think it's great! I have just started this "do nothing Regimen" and I am on day number two as of now. sooo.... A little background on myself... I am a 35 year old Woman, I have five kids, I have had acne since i was about 15yrs old, it has been, to say the least, horrible and life altering for me. I would say I have more mild acne than I did as a teen, BP has never worked for me, SA does ok for me but my face looks like it is sunburned all the time, People have even asked me if I had been out in the sun, ya its that red! Grrr.

I started this do nothing regimen the day before yesterday, that was the last time I washed my face, right before I went to bed, I wanted to start out with a clean slate, so basically it has been a little over 36hrs since I have bathed at all. This is really really hard for me, I have ALWAYS taken a shower in the morning and before I go to bed without fail for the last 20 years, so ya, a bit different, I feel a little icky haha. I plan on showering before I go to bed tonight and washing my hair and body with just water and baking soda and just running luke warm water on my face for a few seconds. My face looks ok since starting the regimen, not really much of a change so far except my boyfriend says it does not look so red it has actually evened out a bit so that is really good. it is a little flaky just little flakes on my cheeks and the side of my face and a bit around my mouth. I think this may have something to do with the fact I sleep on a white towel at night, I think i am going to switch to white pillow cases because I believe that the towel may irritate my skin. Wish me luck! If this doesn't work I don't know what to do, I have tried absolutley everything, trust me, I don't think there is anything I have NOT tried Except this... so I am hoping this does it!! Thanks to all of you who have been posting and updating it is very encouraging. I will do the same.

todays update, took a shower last night and used just my fingers and luke warm water to wash my face. woke up this morning, still some dry skin and a bit of flaking the same as yesterday, woke up clear, no acne however later today have about 5-6 very small white bumps on cheeks/side of face where it is most flakey, nothing on forhead, chin or nose, but I don't usually ever break out in those places anyway. not washing tonight, I think I will shower every other day and wash face with water when I shower. Will try to update tomorrow if I get a chance

Ok so here I am on day number 4, face looks great except for the dry flakiness, mostly just on the right side of my face this time, but woke up this morning after going straight to bed and after playing pool in a smoke filled bar and eating pizza with no acne on my face at all, I was amazed to say the least, I thought for sure after eating that greasy pizza I would wake up with some bumps on my face! but didn't! face does not look very oily at all and skin tone is great, not as much redness on my cheeks like there usually is. Tonight I will shower and wash face with water

This evenings update, Day number 5. Things are still going well, took a shower and washed face with water and gently with finger tips, a lot of dead skin came off which i am assuming is why i don't have hardly any flakey skin today, I did wake up with two very small white bumps, one on each cheek but they are hardly noticeable. No face washing tonight, will let you know how tomorrow goes

Just a quick update, I believe I am on day 9 now and things are still going great, a couple very very small bumps have come and go very quickly, I am still washing face every other day before I go to bed, I have used baking soda a couple of times. I have not change my eating habits or anything like that. the flakey skin is basically gone and has been for days now. needless to say I am very happy with how things are going and am going to continue.. will let you know how it is going in a few days

Hi everyone,

I am a woman from Holland (so my english may not be perfect) and I am 34 years old. I have had a lot of suffering from acne since I became a teenager. The last weeks I've read these posts about not washing your face and it was a HUGE EYE-opener for me! Really NO ONE ever gives this advice when you have acne. I've spend my life listening to what other people or experts said about treating the acne. But my face only got worse. Because i used to pick at my face a lot, I have some scars now, and some of those are like brown spots that probably will never go away.

At this moment, I have a lot of small red spots on my face. I do not have like great zits, but my skin is like it is suffering from some kind of rash. And the worst is: it doesnt't go away! But now I wil try this regimen of not washing my face. I am on the second day now. It's hard for me not to wash my face, because I feel like I look dirty, especially with all my bumps, red spots and the brown spots. But this is really the ONLY option for me that is left. I really hope that it will work, because it must stop at some time, I want to end this once and for all, I have suffered enough from this in about 20 years!!!

Hi Bastrid, I had the same kind of bumps you are talking about, rash looking, I can tell you I have been doing the no face washing (except water and ocasional baking soda every other day) for about a week and a half now, and it is going GREAT! don't give up, it does work, I also think it works better for people of our age because we have most likely grown out of the hormonal acne and are just getting this rashy bumpy pimply stuff from the products we have been using all of these years. this post was one of the best things that have ever happened to me and I am so thankful I found it. I know what you mean about not washing your face and feeling dirty which is why I chose to wash with water every other day. Keep us updated and let us know how it is going for you

Hi different,

It's nice that a woman of my age is on this site too! Of course I wish you wouldnt's have this problem, but I am glad that there is someone who understands. I have friends, but they all have beautiful skin and can do anything with it (make up etc.). I really don't know anyone who has the same problems with her/his skin as I do. But probably I have just done too much with it.

I still remember when I was about 14 years old, I got some milder acne, not too bad. But one day at school a boy said to me (out of the blue):'Hey, shouldn't you use Clearasil or something?!' I was already insecure in that time and such a remark made me feel like i looked terrible and dirty. So I started using all kind of products through the years.

What also didn't help, is that no one tells you that this might be bad for your skin! I mean, in books, on TV, the doctor, the beauty specialists (I hope I translate this the right way) ALL of them tell you that you should wash your face with some kind of cleanser or soap or whatever. Sometimes I noticed, like on a holiday when I didn't do as much with my face in cleaning, that my skin improved. I've tried it even before not to wash my face. But mostly for a short time, cause when I for instance told this to such an 'expert', they would give me a look like I was crazy and not taking good care of myself and I would feel ashamed and would think: well, they are the experts, I will probably do it the wrong way.

But thanks to the internet and this website! Already for about a year back I discovered what junk there is in all those beauty products, like bad preservatives and stuff. No one ever told me that!

So for a year, I was somewhat busy with using more natural products. But the difficulty is, that even in those 'natural' products, there can be a lot of things that will irritate your skin. So now I started this regimen, at least I know for sure that I won't be putting bad stuff on my skin.

I earlier (for about two weeks ago) washed my face only with water (every day, sometimes twice a day), but my face got REALLY thight and got really bad. Then I fell back and started washing and moisturizing again. But of course that didn't help either. Now I just try to go as long as possible not washing my face, to see if it works.

By the way, I am glad that I decided years ago to not let this ruin my entire life, and I've tried as much as possible to live my life like I would normally do. Thanks to that I have some great friends and a wonderful husband and two kids, who love me just the way I am!

O yeah, about my face today: still red bumps, a few small whiteheads. The colour of my skin has improved, but I still have many red spots and it looks like I have a lot of tiny new bumps under my skin. The crazy thing is, that my face is different on other times on a day. In the morning it is usually not bad, but not too good either, then during the day it gets worse, and at the beginning of the evening it looks better (less red). But in the morning, I get frustrated again because it looks worse again then it did the evening before.

Okay, I am going to stop now; be back soon.

Yes Bastrid, I agree, I too started using the natural products after all the "bad" stuff but it actually got worse with the natural products than with the Clearasil etc.. that is when i got so frustrated and ended up here (glad i did). I know what you mean about the little tiny white and red bumps, trust me it does get better, the little white bumps usually go away very very quick, for me anyway they do, I have only two tiny white bumps a couple red bumps at the moment but I am sure they will be gone by tomorrow, my face is a little dryer today but I am sure that is because i have washed my face for the last three nights before bed because I had appointments and my hair is really oily so i figured well gotta wash my hair, might as well wash my face too haha. guess that wasn't such a good idea but oh well, live and learn. I also know what you mean about how it looks better or worse throughout the day. my face always looks better first thing in the morning and then by the end of the day it is a little redder and maybe a small white bump or two but then I wake up in the morning and its back to looking good, Kind of strange but its the truth. I don't know why that happens. Thanks for your response and update and you translated everything perfectly Have a great day!

So here my update for today; Im afraid I don't see any progress yet. At some moments, it seems like some red spots are getting lighter, but then a few hours later I see new red spots and it looks like everything is still the same.

On one side I really hope that my face will get a lot better, but on the other side I feel like it would also be kind of sad if this would really work. I mean; I've spent many, many years to solve this problem, spent a lot of money on it, have tried all kinds of treatments, had many frustrations and grief about it and in the meantime only made my face worse. And then the solution would be that all that time I just should have done NOTHING? That the solution was so simple and so closeby ?

By the way; I really would like to wash my face right now with some cleanser or anything, but I won't: I really want to try not to do anything, so I'm going to hold on!

Hi everyone,

Today is day 5 of not washing my face and I am beginning to see improvement! Today my skin was kind of flaky and I massaged my face very gently with a dry washing cloth. Some dry skin came of and to my surprise, my skin (especially on my left cheek) looks a lot better now in colour and glow. On my left cheek there is a large red mark that will probably be a pinple tomorrow, but I try not to worry about it. In general, I am very careful in hoping too much, still a bit afraid that tomorrow it wil suddenly look worse or something. It's also the end of the afternoon here now, and that's always the time of the day that my skin looks 'best'. But at least I'm a bit hopeful now!

That's great Bastrid ! Glad to hear you are seeing improvement. I think my face looks better today than it has since I started it has now been two weeks. I am still washing my face every other day before I go to bed, I have been using a bit of baking soda, very watered down baking soda, it doesn't seem to strip my face of thenatural oils so I really like that but it does give me a sense of "getting my face clean" if that makes any sense lol. my face was just a tiny bit flaky this morning, not hardly red at all and one teensy weensy little white bump on the side of my face (I had to look really hard to see it

Bastrid, It is strange that for me my face looks its best right after i wake up and yours looks its best in the evening lol

Hi different,

I am glad this is working for you too! Today is the 7th day without washing my face or using any products on it. And I am AMAZED at the improvement in just one week!. Only one week ago it was so bad that I even skipped some social visits because of how my face looked (rash-like red, bumps, zits, very dry, many red spots). And today we had a party at our home for family because it was my husbands birthday and I didn't even have to cover anything because my face looked so good already (not clear yet, but a LOT better). I guess my face was indeed just over-irritated. I am very curious how this will go on the next days/weeks !