Today my skin doesn't look so good, unfortunately. I've gotten some new big red spots on mostly my right cheek that probably will turn into whiteheads or something. My left cheek also looks worse.. I haven't done anything with or to my face for 9 days now. Sometimes I'm just afraid I will have this problem untill I die .

I've read about the regimen on this website, but I'm afraid to do that. I just can't believe that the benzyl peroxide isn't going to harm your skin in some way. Maybe the acne goes away, but then I am all wrinkled in a few years, because it just completely dries out your skin! I am not 16 anymore and the sure thing I've learned through the years is that I have to be REALLY gentle with my skin. And to put something harsh as BP on it for an undefinite time... I don't know if that's the right answer...

The only good thing I can say now about not washing your face etc. is that my face feels and looks less dry than before.

Bastrid,

I'm happy to see that you're doing this regimen as well. This is a Regimen that will take time. i started this in september and my face is still not healed, mostly because when i had the deadskin i picked it off instead of letting it heal my skin. If you keep this up, I'm sure that within 2 weeks to a month, you will see more results.

I am sorry to hear that Bastrid stick with it and don't give up, I don't think that washing your face with water would hurt anything, but that is just my opinion maybe just let the water run over you face in the shower at first?

Hi yourworst, when you say "not healed" do you mean you still are getting acne or is it just not healed from the picking of dry skin?

This is not the solution of problem. you should use some antibiotic products but after consulting a doctor.

Hi everyone,

I guess yesterday was just not a good day, today it's better; the new red spots are fading somewhat. I did wash my face this morning in the shower. My face was a bit dry afterwards, but I just left it alone. I guess I have to give this some time. Thanks for the support!

Hi everyone,

I've just registered especially because of this thread as I've tried something similar before but quitted before seeing any results. Now I'm eager to stick with this regimen!

Let me give you some brief background on myself. I'm 24 years old male. I had a very mild acne before I decided that I should scrub my face at least once a day. After a year of doing so I ended up waking each day with numerous pimples all over my face. At the beginning of this year I decided that I should stop scrubbing as I have severely damaged the skin on my forehead (the place where I applied the most pressure). Since then I have tried most of the OTC products with absolutely no results. Right now my skin is sore, old-looking and clogged especially on the forehead. Basically, I've ruined my complexing. I'm certain that my skin needs a long break from what I've done to it the last year and a half.

So, here goes - I'm starting the regimen today. I've washed my face in the morning and won't probably do that again for the next 15-25 days.

Wish me luck

I have a quick question for bastrid and/or different.

You both mentioned on page 42 that you have some kind of a skin rash that was not going away. I have something similar on the forehead - it looks like tiny grains sticking out of every pore there making the texture very uneven (it looks like sandpaper). I don't think that these are black/whiteheads. Any luck with these bumps so far?

I hope that you will see great improvements in your complexions

Keep us posted on your progress.

I have a quick question for bastrid and/or different.

You both mentioned on page 42 that you have some kind of a skin rash that was not going away. I have something similar on the forehead - it looks like tiny grains sticking out of every pore there making the texture very uneven (it looks like sandpaper). I don't think that these are black/whiteheads. Any luck with these bumps so far?

I hope that you will see great improvements in your complexions

Keep us posted on your progress.

Hi Redemption the rash looking bumps I had on my face went away within a few days for me, it sounds like maybe what you are talking about is sebum, not sure though. I also never went more than a couple of days without washing my face with water which is why I probably did not get this type of rash you are talking about. My guess is it is just your face trying to do its best at healing itself. How is your complexion over all? and how long have you been doing this regimen? tomorrow will be 3 weeks since I have been doing this and things are pretty much still the same, a little white bump here and there on occasion but never lasts more than 24 hrs

This is not the solution of problem. you should use some antibiotic products but after consulting a doctor.

This. I went to the dermatologists a couple months ago and he prescribed me some antiobiotics and that face wash and things are actually looking pretty good. I don't have any dead skin and the only thing is the antibiotic ointment kinda dryed out my face at first and made the oil just sit on the top of the areas I used it on so my nose and inner cheeks looked pretty oily. I saw him again when I was only using the ointment about once a week and I saw no changes so he prescribed me some anti-steroid ointment called Desinol. But I haven't even opened it yet because I decided to give the antibiotic a try first and then if things didn't get better resort to the Desinol. But actually I'm supposed to use the antibiotic twice a day and I've only been using it once a day for a couple weeks and things actually really look better, so I haven't used it in a couple days beacause things have gotten so much better. Hope this helps, any questions please ask.

Hi there different

Thanks for responding to my question.

This would be my second day of the regimen but I plan to stick with it as long as it takes for my face to heal completely Sorry if I didn't note that previously - the rash (or whatever it is) was there before I start the regimen. I've seen a dermatologist especially for it and she said that it was a very mild case of acne and prescribed me La Roche Effaclar M and some zync paste. That of course didn't work.

Anyways, regarding my complexion I would say that I right now have a slightly darker face skin than my body (I'm caucasian) and really just two small pimples - one on the right cheek and the other on my eyebrow. My problem is the million clogged pores I've developed 'thanks' to the scrubbing which basically removed my protective skin layer...and probably a few others below it. That's the reason why I believe this regimen will work - my face needs healing so damn much! Hopefully by leaving it alone I would let nature do its magic.

For an update I could say that today my skin looks less irritated and not oily at all. I'm not going to touch or wash it at all and I plan to work my ass out and sweat a lot. Also, I've decided to cut all the crappy vitamin supplements out (Dermabion, Vitamin A, E, D complex) - I'm going to teach my body that it doesn't need them to function properly.

Different, have your skin's smoothness improved during these three weeks or it's too early to tell? And yeah, small bumps coming and disappearing within 24 hours is much better than annoying pimples staying on your face for like a week. Hopefully you won't have those every again

Sorry for the long post, guys! I hope that all of you are doing great

I had the rashy looking stuff before i started too, I never had it ALL the time but it would come and go, it was after I quit washing my face that it went away and has not come back. I have to say I have been washing my face with baking soda and need to stop doing that because the smoothness of my skin was better when I wasn't using that it wasn't perfect but MUCH better.

My sister just called me this morning, she started doing this after I did (she wears make_up) I don't, and she says she has only had 1 pimple since she started. she washes her face with washcloth and water morning and night and uses a soap just to take off eye make-up

Hi everyone,

Sorry, but I must admit that I started washing my face again since yesterday! This because my pores were getting too clogged (washing with only water also didn't help) and every day I got new pimples. At first, my skin was getting better, because I guess I was doing too much to it and now it got some 'rest'.

But the problem is that I was still getting new pimples and the old ones take a veeeery long time to go away (I still have red spots from zits from weeks or even months ago). I don't believe that this will stop if I continue this regime for some weeks more. So I am just going on behind the facts. Because while some pimples are fading very slowly, new ones appear every day Conclusion: I ALWAYS have like ten to twenty red marks or pimples on my face on every cheek!

The strange thing is, that it is ONLY on my cheeks, from the side of my eyes down to my jawline. I hardly ever have acne on my forehead or chin! My nose only has blackheads, but they never develop into something more.

Well, now I have started washing my face again (morning and evening) and I'v chosen a very soft and neutral face wash. It's from Dermolin and it's free from perfume, conservatives, colorings, soap, its hypo allergenic and ph neutral. As a moisturizer I use Weleda almond oil. I also started taking Biergist pills (beer yeast in english?).

I don't see myself using antibiotics/benzoylperoxide. This because these are more short term solutions with a lot of bad side effects. I checked at a pharmacy the prescription info that goes with the benzoylperoxide and it said that you may not use it longer dan 3 months, because after that it can get very bad for your skin.

And hey, I am 34! If I were still 16 with teenage acne for maybe a few years to come, o.k., I would do this. But taking all kinds of harsh medicine for maybe the rest of my life(?!); I don't think so! By the way, I am on birth control, so taking antibiotics (pills) is not an option anyway.

Just one note about this regimen of not washing; it can help to give your skin some rest and make it act normal again like it used to do. In my case my face got healthier on one side (not dry anymore, better glow etc.) but I guess for me 'normal skin behaviour' just means having acne But I really do hope you all have better results!

@different

Yeah, my complexion and smoothness were much better too before I self-destructively decided that scrubbing daily is a good thing. I would advise you to really try to stop using the baking soda - I doubt that it's that beneficial to your face. I hope that my rash would soon or later go away just like yours did - for me it's the most disturbing thing.

I'm at the end of day two and during the afternoon I went with a few friends to the local park and played hacky sack for like 3 hours almost non stop. I sweatted like hell and when I finally came back home I desperetely needed a bath. Of course resisted the desire to wash my face, which I have to say was almost physical I have like two new pimples which is, I'm sure, normal for such a drastic change.

Also, I needed to read the first few pages of this thread for some additional motivation and yeah...I'm sure that I won't quit this.

@ bastrid

How long have you been following the regimen before the clogging started to be a problem?

@ bastrid-

Hey was just reading your thread, you might not even want to use the almond oil for your moisturizer bc its a 2 on 1-5 comedogenic scale. 5 being the worst. I mean 2 isn't that bad but if you're having flare ups just stay away from any oil thats not a 0! and jojoba oil is good so I would definitely use that, and I believe its a 0 or 1. Well hope you are doing well with your skin. And I was on this regimen for 3 months (the recommended time from dermatologist for anything to take effect) before my face was acne free! and my face was bad... now no pimples. I got one like 2 days ago bc of finals but it'll be gone soon! Good luck to ya!

Hannah

- I attached a picture of full front face at its worst, and then one after regimen (that I still use) I'm wearing eye makeup in this picture though, clean face! This regimen works!

@ Honeyjewel

Great results What was the regimen that your derm advised your to follow? The no-water one?

Honey? are you doing the only water? no water?? what excatly do you do and how old are you, your face looks absolutley wonderful!!

Hi everyone,

I must admit that maybe I am a little impatient? Redemption2501, the clogging up started to become a problem after about 10 days on the regimen.

Honeyjewel, thanks so much for the support ! You had amazing results! This was with the water only regimen?

I think I was just stupid to expect fast results . I mean, 3 months said your dermatologist and I ended this after only 10 days. I just gave up so fast because I didn't have proof that it would really help in the end. But now that I've seen your story, I really am going to try this again!

Thanks for the info about the almond oil. I won't use it again. I indeed heard good things about jojoba oil, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the stores, only in a nature shop(?!) (natuurwinkel in Dutch), but luckily I saw in time that it was not recommended for your face(!?). That's one of the biggest pro's of the regimen, that you can be sure that you are putting nothing bad on your face.

So, I'm going to try this again and this time I WILL stuck to this. Thanks everyone for the support on this forum, it's so great to find people, (on the other side of the ocean!) who understand you and want to help !

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd post a picture of me from one side. This is a photo from today and believe me:my face looks better than when I started the not washing regimen about 12 days ago. In the photo you don't see whiteheads at the moment, but I have them regularly. As you can read in my post before this one, I made the mistake of washing my face again yesterday, but from today on I wil continue only washing my face with water.

I found some additional information about bad ingredients in face washings, creams etc. (for example [removed]) and that really helps me not to use all that stuff anymore, It's shocking actually to find that there are almost NO products on the market that don't have damaging stuff in it!

Greetings from Holland!

This quote about not looking for a magic pill, eat right, exercise?????? You've got to be kidding me right????? What does that work to clear up one little pimple that some people think is acne? This is why stupid think that if you wash your face you wouldn't have acne!! People with severe, and I do mean severe, not one pimple, this crap is too hard for them to deal with. If only it were so easy as to eat right and exercise!!! Well, hell why hadn't I thought of that? Let me run tell my son that. You mean I could totally cure him and save him from all the humiliation he feels (although he shouldn't) just from having him eat right and exercise. UGGGGGHHHHHHH, that is so frustrating!!!!!!

@ bastrid

Hey there I'm glad that you've decided to give this regimen another shot. Stick with it and hopefully after a few months we will have far better complexions!

This is my third day into the no-washing thingie and so far, so good. I'm not too oily and my face is less irritated I guess. I have a few new clogged pores on the left cheek and a pimple there that is healing fast. The two pimples I had yesterday are almost gone. I did wash my hair today using the technique recommended by some of the guys in this thread and everything went fine. Still, some water came into contact with my skin but I doubt that this is a problem.

Also, it seems that I'm developing the so called dead mask mostly on my nose and forehead - the parts of my face that are most oily.

We'll see what will happen in the new few days

Hi yourworst, when you say "not healed" do you mean you still are getting acne or is it just not healed from the picking of dry skin?

Healed from the picking of dry skin, i never had acne to begin with, just irritated red skin.

I'm getting kind of frustrated. I only keep the mask on my cheeks cause i dont want it to be noticable even though atleast 2 people a day ask whats that on my face >.<. I dont wanna go to a dermatologist because i dont want to put any medications on it, i feel thats not needed. other people on here got clear from just using water or no water at all so thats what im gonna do. If I just left the mask on from september up until now my face would already be healed -__-. when school ends in june im letting the mask go on my forehead as well. Do you guys think that by september the mask will be ready to fall if I leave it there for the whole summer?