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This forum is addicting! Waterwater's theory kinda makes sense, I've noticed my affected areas (cheeks) are the places I overwash and I sometimes scrub the crap outta my face. The blemishes/scars take forever to heal and the thought of letting it be, to heal on it's own accord makes complete sense.
Hmmm..... My cheeks are the same. After I read this, I wondered I should drop the Vaseline.
I think I'll keep it for the winter flakes, but I really don't want to mess my face up because I'm almost 100% clear! I still can't believe NOT washing my face would solve my products.
Hi Greengurl!
What day are you on? Is your skin flaky?
My lower cheeks is my only problem area. It's where all the exfoliation and OTC products are used most. I'm thinking drop the vaseline coz it'll just clog your pores, I'm only on day 3 and I'm seeing results. But I do wash my face in the morning with cold water, I just can't resist the NO water policy.
I have tiny white heads around my chin and nose it's only visible when I get up close to a mirror with great surrounding light. I don't know how to handle that. Is anybody else facing the same prob? Do I do something to remove it or....?
I don't know the exact number of days...A month and a half? I read that most caveman/water-only regimen users normalize by the end of the second month. I hope my skin regulates itself by then!
I used Vaseline to help with the flakiness so my skin isn't flaky as the moment, but it was. I don't think Vaseline clogged my pores, it actually seemed to help them. My skin doesn't need the moisture anymore so I've temporarily stopped use. I hopefully won't need to use it again.
It's my upper cheeks for me.
I have some of those too. I think they're sebaceous filaments. I just stand an arms length away from the mirror so I don't freak out about them. That's probably why I'm having such great success. I don't count the stuff you can't see unless your really up close as acne. That's normal people skin, trust me, everyone has that kind of texture to some extent.
Don't do anything! I think the washcloth I used to scrub them off hindered my progress. My skin got so sensitive that if I just touched it, it would bleed. read AshleyNicole's skin log for my posts on that. My theory is that the washcloth thins your skin out. When used sparingly they can be a great thing, but I probably ODed the exfoliation.
Good luck! 
I don't know the exact number of days...A month and a half? I read that most caveman/water-only regimen users normalize by the end of the second month. I hope my skin regulates itself by then!
I used Vaseline to help with the flakiness so my skin isn't flaky as the moment, but it was. I don't think Vaseline clogged my pores, it actually seemed to help them. My skin doesn't need the moisture anymore so I've temporarily stopped use. I hopefully won't need to use it again.
It's my upper cheeks for me.
I have some of those too. I think they're sebaceous filaments. I just stand an arms length away from the mirror so I don't freak out about them. That's probably why I'm having such great success. I don't count the stuff you can't see unless your really up close as acne. That's normal people skin, trust me, everyone has that kind of texture to some extent.
Don't do anything! I think the washcloth I used to scrub them off hindered my progress. My skin got so sensitive that if I just touched it, it would bleed. read AshleyNicole's skin log for my posts on that. My theory is that the washcloth thins your skin out. When used sparingly they can be a great thing, but I probably ODed the exfoliation.
Good luck!
Month and a half, Woooooh you go girl! I hope I can go that long.
"sebaceous filaments" Hahaaa I had no idea what that was till today. Btw Thank you for your swift reply.
I'm at about a month and a half in as well (I think). My initial problem was dehydration from constant use of benzyl alcohol in a moisturizing lotion. Everything just sort of snowballed until my face was a complete mess.
I HAVE been washing my face, but only once a day with water. I've been using Vaseline as well (since my skin couldn't retain any moisture whatsoever when I first started). I've seen quite a few ups and downs, but I'd say there has been general improvement, especially with irritation and redness. A few times I've thought I had everything licked and then something new would pop up. Oh well...
The Vaseline is kinda hard for me to remove completely because cool water just bounces off it. Shaving is a total bitch because pieces of hair get stuck in the Vaseline goo. I literally have to scrape it off gently with a fingernail. Sweet.
Good luck to everyone!
Day 4 without washing my face. Tone is noticeably better. Face has no new pimples.
Stopped washing with water, I've noticed washing just magnified the dead skin.
Face feels pasty I want to wash but must resist!
I'm worried about hanging out this weekend, might just stay in and complete assignments. It's really heating up in Sydney I wonder how my skin will react. I've been indoors and avoided the heat since starting this regimen.
Going to quit shampoo and conditioning my hair.
I am on day 14 of the no-washing regimen. My skin looked pretty ok (no new huge breakouts) until about day 10. I rinsed my face on day 9 with water for the first time, which made my skin very dry and oily.
On day 12ish I began to get a cyst. Now it's day 14 and I have 4 new noticeable spots, and maybe a new one forming (you know you can always feel them coming...) from an old nodule. All of which are cysts and the sort that take a long time to rise to the surface but look really red and angry none-the-less.
I was having better success than I thought I would with this from day 1 to day 10. After that, I began the PMS cycle and I am thinking that all these new breakouts are from hormones. Or stress.
So, my question is this: Have any of you had any success with hormonal or stress induced acne from this no wash method? I keep telling myself it will get harder and harder for my skin to misbehave as it heals itself more fully.
Also, some people have told me that my face might get a lot worse before it gets better, but I haven't read anyone else's experience of it their acne getting worse. I was just wondering. I want to ride this rough patch out, but not if it won't help me in the ending anyway.
Here's some info about me: I am two weeks away from being 23. I haven't changed my diet (maybe I will... on day 10 I ate pepperoni pizza an on day 11 I ate an italian sub, which could be another factor as to why I'm breaking out). I drink 8 glasses of water every day. I take evening primrose oil, chelated zinc oxide, biotin, vitamin e, and vitamin c.
Thanks for any information you could give me 
Have a great day.
I know I am supposed to be away.. but I wanted to drop in quickly and say hi
Creekey! I'm sorry to hear that your progress is detouring a bit. It could just be the water, maybe it will take your skin a week or so to get back to normal. Otherwise, if it is hormonal acne, you may just need to do this regimen a bit longer so that your skin can adjust to it, and then when you get hormonal acne it might not be as large. Honestly though, I think that with this, it's all about consistency. I think it's better to either rinse every day, or not at all. And if you feel grimy, press a wet cloth against your skin, not enough to make your skin noticeably wet, though. I remember when I was rinsing every 2 days, my progress was kind of... slow. And I started breaking out a bit again. So for my skin at least, it's either no rinsing, or rinsing once a day. I really hope your skin gets better! Maybe you should stop taking the vitamins. Or maybe Biotin, as I've heard it's terrible for acne-prone skin! If you do alter your vitamin schedule, take Biotin out first.
Awh, I am SO GLAD to see you. Thank you so much for the advice. The biotin is gone! I wonder why, if biotin is bad to acne prone skin, why it sasy it is good for the skin on the bottle? 
misleading products. 
I woondered if it was the biotin! I started taking it like 2 months ago. First, it made my skin GLOW for like a week with no new breakouts. Then, thats when I started breaking out in cysts on my problematic mouth/cheek area! I will try not taking my biotin and see what happens. Maybe I will cut out all vitamins. Hmm.... Yay you have given me hope!
Well I hope it was the water I used on day 9. I know my skin is very sensitive to breakouts in that particular area so the room temperature water might have aggrivated it after it was already getting used to nothing. Plus, then I ate 3 pieces of pepperoni cheese pizza, and then the next day a huge italian sub packed with ham, pepperoni, salami, and cheese, and chips to wash it all down. Plus, I crave sweets like crazy when I'm PMSing so I've been eating a lot of those too.
On the upside, I've been getting plenty of rest and drinking water like it's going out of style.
Yay! Did I mention I am so glad you stopped by? I'll mosey onto your thread to see if you have done an update! 
Hey nobody has posted here for a while. How is this going for you?
I started this some time ago but i was washing my face once a day in shower with cool water without touching my face and after shower i put mineral oil on my skin since it is winter here in europe to prevent my face from drying out. It didn't bring much success.
For a week i haven't used mineral oil and have washed my face with cool water just twice (after excercising) for a few seconds without touching face. Now my face feels moisturized and had less breakouts which are now fading. The only problem is a big pimple on my nose. I had had a similar one near it which is now just a red spot and it was lasting for a month. I don't know what to do with it just isn't getting better. All other pimples i had are fading but this one is stubborn. Anyone knows what to do with it?
Quick question. Were you washing your face directly under the shower head? Like, not cupping water into your hands and splashing your face? Because the pressure from the shower head can actually be quite strong and could have caused those breakouts AND dryness.
But I do think it also has to do wtih how much water touches your face, even with splashing from the sink. If I splash too much with cool water, I'm dry. So I think I need to make sure it's no more than like, 2-3 splashes on my ENTIRE face.
As for that one spot, other than giving it time I really have no idea. I had a spot that was from an inflamed blackhead, and I still have the scar even though it was from a few months ago, but it took a long time to shrink back down and not be raised.
Yes i did wash my face directly under the shower head. If i splash water on my face i just doesn't feel enough because after exercising i feel really sweaty however during last 9 days while im on caveman regimen i have washed my face with water only twice however it is winter here and it is normal for my skin to dry out.
Actually for men this can't be a real cavemen regimen because if you want to shave you have to rinse your cheeks and skin around your mouth with warm water and after shaving apply after-shave lotion however i don't get much acne on my cheeks and skin around my mouth so it isn't too much of a problem for me however they feel dried out now.
Btw how good is my English considering that im drunk lol?
I haven't been keeping count of the days, but I'm thinking I'm on my 3rd week.
I has a sad. It was working out just fine for me but now I'm breaking out on my chin and a little on my forhead I never, EVER had chin acne and rarely broke out on my forehead.
I think this Humid Australian weather isn't helping either. 
First two weeks were okay I wasn't too oily so I stayed away from rinsing but now I splash a little water on my face and pat gently with a clean towel.
Prior to taking up this regimen I noticed whenever I had some chocolate I broke out a little more than usual, so I did an experiment to see if it really was the chocolate and had 2 whole bars of Kit-kat and BAM next morning a whole lotta crapola on my face. Must give up chocolate for eternity, not worth it.
I'm just so damn conscious about the Eww-ness on my face.
LAWD HELP ME.
Hey guys, I've just read through this entire post (took me a while!) and I thought i'd leave my input here. Basically I don't really get new spots any more (I used to get mild acne until about a year ago) but my skin was very red and irritated and I had the classic red marks on my cheeks from old acne that just wouldn't go away. There is a large mirror by my shower, and when I was washing I would look at my face and wonder why it is so red and irritated, when there had only been water on it. I used to wonder how movie stars filmed scenes in showers and swimming pools without their faces looking so red!
Anyway, I got ill over the xmas period and stayed in bed a lot and didn't get a chance to wash, using my usual harsh ceanser. When I did go to the toilet I would glance in the mirror and my face was really oily but I didn't have the energy to do anything about it. After about three days I regained my strength and went to wash my face (worrying about what it would look like) and noticed that my complexion was looking the best it had for ages although I was rather oily. I didn't have work for another week so I thought i'd ride it out and keep going not washing. I googled not washing your face and this was the first thread that came up.
Anyway, it's been a week and my skin is looking really good, if this rate of 'regeneration' continues I think in a few months I would have near flawless skin. Some things I did notice were that I was very oily (during my illness) and that I nearly broke out on my forehead (where I never normally do), by nearly I mean I could see little bumps that are normally a sign of an imminent breakout, but I didn't.
I'm gonna echo what someone else said earlier in the post about rosacea as well, I thought I was developing it as my face was very permanently red, but it is slowly fading the less I wash (and thus irritate) my face.
I didn't experience the dead skin mask, however my skin is normally flaking in random small patches in the morning, but I carefully remove the flakes and get on with my day.
I think for anyone with moderate or severe acne this method obviously isn't going to work but if you have mild acne, or mainly redness and red marks I think this is something definitely worth trying. After all, most people are on here because they've tried many things that don't work, so if you stop using harsh cleansers but your skin only improves a little, then you've done something and it hasn't cost you a small fortune.
Anyway, it would be awesome for some of the originals like waterwater or adam08 to come back and let us know how they're getting on - whether they're leading acne-free lifes or a back on harsh cleansers - but I doubt that is gonna happen. But like I say, if you have really mild acne, redness or red marks I think this could really help.
TimeWorm,
I couldn't agree more! Really, well spoken.
I havent been washing my face for nearly a week now, and I really like the results/the way my skin feels.
But i had to be ready for it -- to give up the makeup, the products and to gain the courage to walk out of the house with pimples -- many many pimples.
And I definitely want to let my skin heal for the long-term. I guess you get a new layer of regenerated skin each month, which is good to hear. But I definitely don't expect my skin to get really really good until like a year : /
o well, at least its a year in (i hope) the right direction
I am just sick of the obsession of the acne and I want to persue other things....like sleeping in
hello everyone!!! I'm Lily! 16 years old with mild acne.
quick skin profile:
VERY fair, sensitive, main acne problem areas are pustules on forehead and chin, blackheads on nose, right now I am suffering from a clusture of pustules on the border between mouth and cheek. I take 3g of fish oil, 2g of flaxseed oil, multivitamins, and 4000 IU of vitamin D every day. I have all but cut out dairy and reduce sugars/starches as much as I can. I have several pink acne scars but fortunately no ice pick holes!!
skincare: Aveeno .5% salicylic acid cleanser am/pm, Shiseido or Neutrogena sunscreen, and for acne treatment I alternate between Retin-A and Epiduo. if my skin feels dry I use Cetaphil plain lotion.
I would be willing to start this cavewoman routine of just water tonight except that...
WHAT ABOUT SUNSCREEN?
there is no way I am willing to cut sunscreen out of my skincare. Do you think incorporating sunscreen into the cavewoman routine will ruin the effects? This is really my only concern.
also random question...I am brand new to this site, how do you add a signature? thanks
thanks, I'm glad your seeing positive results too. I think not washing kind of lets you 'let go' of worrying about your skin as well to an extent - because I'm not using any products on my face it kinda feels like i'm saying 'i don't care about my skin anymore' which in a weird way is also making me worry and focus about it less.
@fugleee
What is you acne like? I think if you can just try and stop using anything it would be better, if you've used those products before then you know they're not a cure because you're still here, so you might as well go all in and stop everything. If it is irritation that's causing your skin problems then this will only work if you stop irritating it with anything.
Your age would suggest that your acne is probably caused more by hormones than irritation, so I'm not sure how effective this would be for you. It does seem like you are putting a lot of products on your face however which could be worsening you acne by making your skin defences weaker. It's important to be gentle with your skin, especially if it's sensitive, you should try not to just 'scrub' the acne off your face. I know it's probably something you don't want to hear, but I know plenty of people who had acne at 16 and clear skin by about 18, 19, 20 just because it was their hormones and they simply they grew out of it, so it's important not to make things worse by going overboard with products!
TimeWorm maybe ur right but idk bcz i have redmarks and discoloration everywhere, and redmarks from old acne as well, so i wanted to try out aha for that, i havent used it before so idk.
but jojoba oil is good however, i dont regret using it at all, it does help in a way, calms irritation, as well as, is somewhat moisturizing? :/
and im also not sure about if its just irritation thing for me, i think my acne is more of a internal thing, maybe hormonal, idk, but i just want that regardless how soon or late i fix the internal thing and acne appearing at all, that until then it would heal properly on surface and fade redmarks quickly and dont scar and most important fade and heal old redmarks and all that shit ukno.
@fuglee
If you think your problems are internal, then I'd focus on that, normally peoples instincts are right. I think that a change in diet can be very beneficial, especially cutting out sugar, I have a friend who swears that cleared up his acne. Personally I discovered a few foods that I couldn't eat by simply thinking about my face after I ate. I could almost 'feel' certain foods (especially tomatoes for some reason) causing my face to become hotter and produce more oil, it's hard to explain but if you try it I think you'll get what I mean. I know a few other people on here 'discovered' this method due to illness like I did, and I think that's also partly what helped my skin - that I couldn't eat for a few days, giving my body and digestive system time to relax and reboot.
As far as using AHA goes, I believe the redness and red marks on my skin are fading because they are almost being 'absorbed' into my skin, as weird as that may sound and I think not washing is helping that, I'm not constantly exposing the redness by removing the top layer of my skin. I think it's almost how a small pimple goes away if you leave it - it kinda goes back where it came from, so I'd stay clear for exfoliation if your gonna give this a serious shot.
Good luck!
I haven't washed my face for a week and im amazed that it improved so much in just one week. Before that i washed my face with water every other day. The only problem for me now is dead skin.
Is there any other method getting rid of it besides scrubing it off with fingernail?
I am new here.
Am 48 years old and still suffer with acne. and have been scaring since turning 40...the mgic number when my picking at my face starting leaving scars I was lucky before then.
I have been on the benzol peroxide products for years and still have break outs but have not been determined to follow a strict program....I was inconsistant. and have never really tried to not touch my face.
I read some of the pages on this thread and am intrigued at the thought of leaving my face alone and let it heal itself.
So last night I washed my face with phisoderm to "clean my make up off" and did not put any BP on it....and woke up with a brand new pimple on my chin. But I am going to try really hard to not put any chemicals on my face.
so this morning I did nothing. no make up.
This evening after going to the gym and sweating alot which I just dabbed at the sweat so it wouldnot get in my eyes. and took a shower and was able to not wash my face which amazed me. I could taste the sweat around my lips but did not touch my face.
I really have not touched it all day which is amazing to me I was focusing all day on leaving it alone. I tried to not have any sugar but ended up eating half an apple muffin with turkey sausage and egg beaters for breakfast. 2 cups of dark roast coffee with half and half, spinach salad, with buffalo chicken from subway (no bread)and chicken marsala with sauteed spinach with vegatable broth, lemon water for dinner from jonny carinas. I think I did pretty well on the low carb for the day. aside from the muffin I did not hav eany sugar. I threw away the left over candy from the holidays.
I am anxious to see how my face is tomorrow.
How often should I wash my pillow case?
I have never adressed that issue, usually it is a long time between washings so that may have contributed to the problem.
thanks for this thread!!!!
bizi
Bizi, you might want to try rinsing your face after about a week of not washing at all and see if that bothers your skin. If not, then rinse when you feel you'd like to rinse. Not rinsing at all didn't work for me, but I am trying just water. It's been a long turmoiled journey for me, so I'm hoping that once I stop trying to remove all the dead skin and such and just wait for a month, things will clear up. My inflamed spots did heal a lot in the summer when i didn't wash at all, but when I tried it again in December the dead skin was so crusty.
As for your pillow case, change it how ever often you do now. I generally change mine every few days, but I don't know if it really affects my skin or not. You could try sleeping on your back for the first month of this if you'd like.
thank you so much for posting !!!!
It has been 6 days since I washed my face...it is going well. I had 4 white heads appear and then go away and one pimple that is mostly gone now. I have a new white head on my check but that seems to be going away as well. yes I am about ready to wash my face but want to wait a while longer.
thanks again for writing to me. I can't do the paleo diet...too many restrictions!
bizi
I broke down and washed my face with water last night, I could feel every pore.
So you are not using shampoo on your hair? is that what you mean?
wow what a concept! I love food too. had eggs and bacon and a big blueberry pancake! with butter and syrup...oh so not paleo.
lol
bizi