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Whats up guys ive read like the first 20 pages of this thread so i think im pretty aware of whats going on in here..
I have a few questions
is it really a good idea to let my face literally soak in sweat? because i go to the gym like four times a week and by the end of each workout my face is covered in sweat..i always wash it with water afterwards..i just cant believe that having that much sweat on my face could be good for it.
also would doxycycline and differin have an effect on this regimine? because thats what im using now along with washing morning and night with a gentle cleanser i havent used BP in like 8 or 9 months..but right now my skin is doing okay but i really would like to stop using doxcycline and washing my face because the cleanser is expensive..i think im going to just use a bit of differin at night get off the doxy and just use water in the morning to wash the remaining differin off and after i sweat profusely from working out..ill try not to get my face wet at all while in the shower..if you have any suggestions please lemme know but im gonna try that and ill give an update
Hi everyone, this is my first post...and it's a long one so hope you get through it. I'm a guy and 35 year old. I have read through this whole thread and decided to try it and started about 5 days ago. One reason I tried this other than reading this thread is that I hadn't seen my younger brother in a few months and when i finally did see him, his face was totally clear. He used to wash his face religiously every morning and apply moisturizer and BP. I asked him if he was using something new and he said no that actually he just stopped using everything. He said he doesn't even wash his face everyday anymore and his skin has been perfect. So that happened about a year ago and I never really though much of it until I found this thread. So here is my story:
This is the regimen I used to have. I would wake up every morning and wash my face with an acne wash with salacytic acid in it, then apply an oil free moisturizer. I would then spot treat any zits or places where it looked like a zit was forming with clearasil BP. I go to the gym every other day so on the days when I got back from the gym I would immediately wash my face with the same cleanser again. At night, I would wash once again and apply an overnight lotion with 2% salacytic acid in it and spot treat once again with BP. So for the most part with this treatment I would only get a few pimples a week and every now and then one or two big ones. The problem with this regimen is that my face was always dry, even with moisturizing. I could feel how tight my face was every time I smiled. I also noticed more fine lines on my face and small creases...probably from the dryness. I also got into a situation where I had dry skin and then I would sweat and I felt like the dry skin was blocking my pores. In the areas that were really dry I would get zits more often. I also noticed that after washing my face would look red and splotchy, then this would go away.
So...after reading this thread, I decided to stop my entire regimen. Now all I do is splash water on my face at night when I'm in the shower (I found it almost impossible to wash your hair without getting your face wet) and when I get back from the gym. In the morning I do nothing. I don't use anything but water on my face. No lotion, no BP, nothing. So what has happened?
Keep in mind that I am on my 5th day now. The first day of not washing was really difficult. I had done it so compulsively before that I felt dirty not doing it, but i pushed on. I started at night so I had put moisturizer on that morning but at night I took a shower and just let the water hit my face for a few seconds and that was it. When I got out of the shower, the first thing I noticed was that my face wasn't red like it usually was. I was still skeptical as I reached for the BP tube to treat some problem spots but fought the urge and put it back. It felt so weird to go to bed without doing anything to my face. I expected to wake up the next morning with a full break out...
So day 2 I woke up and went in the bathroom expecting to be disappointed and instead my skin looked great. it didn't feel tight like it normally did and there was no redness. i also noticed that a few pimples i had looked better. So I didn't touch my face for the whole day. One of the biggest things I noticed was that for the first time in years I didn't "feel" my face. I could smile and laugh and I didn't even feel any tightness. I also noticed that all the little creases and wrinkles i saw before were greatly reduced. So that was the first day, great so far.
That night i took a shower, splashed some luke warm water on my face briefly and again didn't apply anything to my face. What is funny is a zit i had that I was putting BP on every day up until then was not going away until now! It was like my body was sort of sucking it back in now...weird. I was so used to popping and applying BP to get rid of pimples. Now they seem to just be going away on their own. Ok, so again I went to bed without doing anything. I woke up the next day and my skin still looked good, no new pimples and the ones i did have seemed to be clearing up. I did start to notice some dry spots on either side of my face near my nose where i had aggressively been putting BP every day so Im sure that is just healing now. The next day I went to the gym. I was really nervous about getting all sweaty and not washing with soap, didn't seem right. But i did it, went to the gym and got really sweaty, came back and just splashed water on my face. I took a shower a little bit later and splashed a little more water on there.
I went to bed expecting the worst and woke up again with clear skin. I noticed one small pimple on my right cheek that seemed to be forming but i just left it alone when normally I would have dabbed it with BP as soon as I saw it. I saw another really small red spot on my nose that wasn't really noticeable so thought that might be a zit forming but left it alone and one on my hairline. Again, nothing but water on my face and I went to bed, that was last night.
Today I woke up and the zit I thought was forming on my cheek is gone along with the one on my nose and the hairline one looks like it is half of what it was yesterday. The dry skin areas seem to be slowly healing and peeling off on their own.
So what have I learned? It is pretty obvious but I think at some point in your life you start to get a few pimples from stress or hormones and you decide that you must need to wash your face more to get rid of it. The cleaners dry out your skin so you have to put on moisturizer to balance it out. This leads you into a downward spiral where your skin becomes really dry and can't fend for itself. So now you are getting more pimples so you wash more aggressively or constantly switch products. It also doesn't help that we are constantly getting bombarded by commercials for acne products that supposedly guarantees us clear skin...very hard to resist. Even dermatologists make money by prescribing you medication. That's why I doubt they would ever suggest you use nothing...how would they make any money off you? It's terrible especially when you read about all the side effects of medication like Accutane.
So I would suggest that you give this a try. Just use water once a day for a week and see what happens. Don't put anything else on your skin and give it some time to show you what it can do on it's own if you let it. If you already have bad acne what do you have to lose? I think washing your face and treating you acne is almost like an addiction that you have to get over. If after a week your skin doesn't look and feel better you can go back to your regimen.
Anyways, sorry for the long post. I'll keep you updated in case I have a surprise massive breakout or something next week.
Hey nowasher, that's great to hear! I've been on th same routine as you for a while now. Although I've let my skin get wet a lot longer during my showers than you, so maybe that's why I've still been getting issues with flaking/dry skin on my cheeks and forehead. I'm going to try reducing my washing time to just a few seconds, see if that helps. Although seeing as my forehead dryness has gotten a bit less intense, I think some of it just has to do with the dead skin shedding and stuff.
Anyways, I hope that this does work out for your skin in the coming weeks and month, and hopefully when I get back from my (continued) break from the website I will see that you are continuing to see good results!
Hi there, I think there are a lot of different things that can affect your skin. I live in NYC and tend to think the water here, while clean to drink, is harsh on the skin. I notice that when I go to visit my parents at their house and use their water my skin feels not as dry. They have a water softener which takes metals out of the water.
So I'm on day 6 now and the thing I noticed is that water once a day is all you need. I put water on my face yesterday morning (I usually just do it only at night) and I noticed that my face was much dryer during the day. So I'm trying hard to stick to once a day. I have one small pimple near my nose but during the last few days it seems that the less I do to my face the quicker my body deals with the invading pimples by itself.
I assume that there will be a process of my skin renewing or regenerating itself. I'm not sure how long this takes, I was trying to find articles online that say how long it takes for your body to naturally turn over skin cells on your face. I'm sure it's relative to your age and current state of your skin.
The one thing is it's so nice not to have to rely on cleansers and moisturizers. I used to be so preoccupied with cleaning and moisturizing...almost felt like an obsession. Now I feel so free! 
One last thing that I remembered that further makes a case for not washing is that years ago I got my appendix out and was in the hospital for a few days and didn't shower at all and I remembered how surprised I was that my skin looked great by the time I got home.
I think the skin is really an amazing organ and can work wonders if you let it.
I wanted to add a little more.
I made a decision that for the next month I'm just going to let me skin do whatever it wants. If it wants to get dry, I'll let it be dry. If it wants to break out, I'll let it break out. What I will not do is put any chemical of any kind on my face including any kind of soap, lotion or any sort of acne spot treatment. I am assuming that a month should be enough time for my skin cells to start turning over and also for my skin to build up it's own defenses. I'm prepared to go through some tough times if needed as I assume my face has to get rid of all the damage I've done to it over the years from excessive treatments. I'll keep you updated. It's been about 7 days and so far so good.
Some notes:
Hot water is very drying. The first few days I was washing with warm water. As soon as I started washing with cooler water my skin was less dry. I found a trick is when you shower make sure the water is not hot enough to fog up your mirror. If the mirror fogs up your water is too hot and also you have probably been in the shower too long. I just took a shower and it took about 5 minutes. Shampoo my hair, soap my body, rinse, let some water rinse over my face and that's it. I know with women they have all that hair and most like to shampoo and condition so I'm sure they'll take a bit longer but the idea is to just get in and out fast.
Another thing I found that is a bit more psychological is to stop looking at your face in the mirror so much. I was used to constantly checking the mirror to see if new pimples were popping up or if current pimples were going away. I've tried to stop caring so much. I look at my face in the mirror in the morning now and try not to look again until the evening. I find this helps me obsess less about my appearance. I know it's hard when we seem to live in such a superficial society but give it shot, one day at a time
hi im scov
this is the first time ive ever posted or really talked about my acne. ive had it bad for about 2 years now and its so frustrating. i first read this topic about a month ago and i started this method the very next day. i can say that the redness has really died down but with that has come a mass of small dry pimples. my face literally has the texture of sandpaper. so my advice would be to and severe acne sufferers like me would be to try this method in moderation. i used to wash my face twice a day with a dermalogica clean bar and to go from that to the other extreme of just rinsing with water every 2 days obviously hasnt done my skin much good. ive now started washing just with water once a day and every sunday i wash using the clean bar.
I'm very curious about this method. It seems to be working for quite a few people.
I currently wash my skin twice a day with cleansers and stuff.
I remember that when I first started getting acne, I used a cleanser and then when it went away, I stopped using a cleanser. However, when I stopped using a cleanser, my acne came back and didn't go away. I eventually started using a cleanser and have been using one ever since.
Does that mean that the no washing won't work for me?
Skin at the moment: Currently, I have very mild acne. It's in my T-zone only. My skin used to be oily, but my current regimen seems to be keeping the oil under control.
It would be really great to not have to do my regimen everyday though.
Any thoughts?
I'm very curious about this method. It seems to be working for quite a few people.I currently wash my skin twice a day with cleansers and stuff.
I remember that when I first started getting acne, I used a cleanser and then when it went away, I stopped using a cleanser. However, when I stopped using a cleanser, my acne came back and didn't go away. I eventually started using a cleanser and have been using one ever since.
Does that mean that the no washing won't work for me?
Skin at the moment: Currently, I have very mild acne. It's in my T-zone only. My skin used to be oily, but my current regimen seems to be keeping the oil under control.
It would be really great to not have to do my regimen everyday though.
Any thoughts?
im sure i read somewhere that if you wash your skin ofter ie twice a day then it can cause your skin to produce more oil so if you break you routine for a while and dont wash for a couple of days then you will find your skin gets very oily, but if you stick with washing not so regularly then your skin my produce less oil.
this might be a load of crap btw so look it up first but i think its true
I'm very curious about this method. It seems to be working for quite a few people.I currently wash my skin twice a day with cleansers and stuff.
I remember that when I first started getting acne, I used a cleanser and then when it went away, I stopped using a cleanser. However, when I stopped using a cleanser, my acne came back and didn't go away. I eventually started using a cleanser and have been using one ever since.
Does that mean that the no washing won't work for me?
Skin at the moment: Currently, I have very mild acne. It's in my T-zone only. My skin used to be oily, but my current regimen seems to be keeping the oil under control.
It would be really great to not have to do my regimen everyday though.
Any thoughts?
im sure i read somewhere that if you wash your skin ofter ie twice a day then it can cause your skin to produce more oil so if you break you routine for a while and dont wash for a couple of days then you will find your skin gets very oily, but if you stick with washing not so regularly then your skin my produce less oil.
this might be a load of crap btw so look it up first but i think its true
I think it's important to give this some time work. I've read that a lot of people last about 2 weeks then freak out and go back to washing with their harsh cleansers. I think you need to give your face time to shed all the skin that you have been irritating and damaging with repetitive washing. I've noticed that my skin does feel much rougher than usual but my skin has only been fending for itself for about a week now so it will take time for the new skin to turnover and the damaged skin to repair itself. I won't be surprised if some of the shedding dry skin clogs my pores and causes a pimple here and there so I'm prepared for that. I feel like you just need to hang on and brace yourself for the few weeks it will take your skin to "normalize"
I'm starting to think that splashing water on my face even once a day is too much. It seems that the more I let the natural oils build up on my face, the better it looks. So I am only going to wet my face every other day and see how that works. When my face is dry I get a ton of these small white plugs that I can see in my pores around the base of my nose. When my skin isn't dry, they don't show up. I think the natural oil from my face helps dissolve them. I once read that Jojoba oil does a similar thing and that it closely mimics our own natural skin oil. But I would rather have my body produce it's own oil then have to rely on Jojoba oil and make my skin dependent on it. So it makes sense that our own oil helps keep our pores clear.
I just wanted to add... Hot water doesn't dry my skin out any more than cool or lukewarm. I've found out that the water pressure and the amount of time my face is wet predicts dryness waaay more accurately than the temperature. I had no issues with dryness until I started using products, and I'd always take boiling hot showers that lasted like, 40 minutes.
Anyways, I'm kind of altering my approach even more. Since I'm on a no-mirror kick, I decided to try the no-washing method again, as in not ACTIVELY washing my face. I'll pretty much just shower every day like I've been doing, and whatever water sprays my face while I'm washing my hair will be what I use to wash my face. I won't face the water either. I saw better improvement when I didn't wash at all last summer, so maybe it will work again this time now taht I'm not looking in the mirror at all. I plan on looking though around May 15th, and I'm assuming that I will have some grossness, but I think it's worth trying again.
As for washing with just water or not washing at all, it might be worth trying even if you broke out once when you stopped using products. What cleanser did you use that time, was it medicated? If so, that's proabbly why you broke out when you stopped using it.
God I hate my scarring :/
that's interesting about the hot water not being different for you. Oh well, maybe it has to do with the quality of the water I'm using or more likely that our skin just responds differently.
I think that's a good plan to go back to not washing at all. I've only been doing this a week and still see a difference between when I use water or nothing. Nothing seems to be better.. so I'm with you.
It's crazy that the years of washing has disrupted the balance of my skin so much that just water alone drys it out now. I'm assuming that is not the way skin is supposed to naturally work and am looking forward to the day when my skin does go back to normal and can deal with something as simple as water.
Here's my story:
For some reason I started washing my face twice a day about a year ago. I NEVER EVER washed my face with anything foreign previous to being 18 or 19 years old. I washed my hair in the shower. I didn't even let water touch my face. Once a week I'd splash my face with cold water before bed 10 or 15 times. I look at pictures of when I was 17/18(I'm 21 now), and my skin was flawless.
I used a cleanser for sensitive skin, and an ultra calming moisturizer. I did this for about a month, realizing my condition was actually getting worse, but I kept going. I eventually dropped the moisturizer and just cleansed, because I thought the moisturizer was making my skin greasy, but it wasnt. It was the excess natural oils after cleansing.
My face looked TERRIBLE. It looked rough, coarse, oily, and dull. I thought to myself: "**** it, I'm going to stop worrying about my skin, don't touch it, not even with water, for a few weeks.
Low and behold, I got the flawless skin back after about a month of not washing and only splashing with slightly cold water every couple weeks.
I'm a male and have long hair, so the only annoyance was washing my hair without getting any shampoo or conditioner on my face.
Hope this inspires people.
EDIT: Oh, and drink LOTS and LOTS of water while doing this. Force it down. Even if you have to pee every 10 minutes. Drink drink drink. You'll be amazed at how well it helps the process.
another EDIT: More tips.. wash your pillowcases once a week, stop drinking alcohol, stop smoking(This is a tough one because I know how hard it is the quit, cause I'm a smoker. I never ended up quitting and still smoked but it didn't really affect anything, although it will in my later years.)
I'm a lot younger than you with acne, and I've been struggling with it for at least two years now. If theres one thing I've learned, its that washing your face, whether with just plain water or a five step regimen, is the most important thing for treating acne. Seriously, I understand your anger, but do you honestly think not washing your face will do you any good? Think about all the oil that is building up on your face each and everyday! The point of washing is to rid of that bacteria so there is a lesser chance of it building up.
A more reasonable thing to think about, is to wash your face every morning, and every night with water (and use a Cetaphil mousterizer) and not use any over the counter medication-the medications depending on your skin type may cause more breakouts. If you just stick to washing your face, you'd be doing yourself a huge favor.
I'm a lot younger than you with acne, and I've been struggling with it for at least two years now. If theres one thing I've learned, its that washing your face, whether with just plain water or a five step regimen, is the most important thing for treating acne. Seriously, I understand your anger, but do you honestly think not washing your face will do you any good? Think about all the oil that is building up on your face each and everyday! The point of washing is to rid of that bacteria so there is a lesser chance of it building up.A more reasonable thing to think about, is to wash your face every morning, and every night with water (and use a Cetaphil mousterizer) and not use any over the counter medication-the medications depending on your skin type may cause more breakouts. If you just stick to washing your face, you'd be doing yourself a huge favor.
Dude some people like me have sensitive skin. everytime i wash my face it irritates my spots and doesn't allow my skin to heal. cleaning your skin isn't natural. the oil that forms on your skin is actually protecting you from bacteria in the environment and washing it off will allow bacteria in.
I second what scov93 said about the oil on your skin being beneficial.
The oil is your skin's natural defense and actually helps get rid of acne. If your face is extremely oily it means that your body is trying to overcompensate due to extreme dryness most likely from over washing and harsh products.
Our bodies are amazing and will always try to adjust to whatever you do to it. Think about this: When people stop eating often the body will slow your metabolism down to compensate. That's why so many diet plans say to eat small meals often to get your metabolism back up. When people start taking steroids their bodies stop producing natural testosterone to compensate for the additional amount. When you drink a lot, your tolerance goes up which is your body compensating for the amount of alcohol your taking in. And the list goes on. i'm sure you can think of a lot more examples. Your body will always try to equal itself out to protect itself. So when you start washing twice and day and stripping the skin of it's natural barrier, it will compensate by upping it's oil production to try to protect the skin. The problem is that when your skin tries to do that you just fight it harder by washing more and using harsher products. Really oily or really dry skin is a sign that your natural oil balance is off. Give your skin a month with no cleansers or products. Give your face some time to try to balance itself out naturally. i think you will be surprised how much less oily your skin looks and how much better your acne looks once you let your skin do it's job.
Hey, I was just reading another post similar to this where someone has given up washing their face completly, she doesn't even let it touch water I think? It's working apparently? I'm not sure this is such a good idea though.
However, I think giving up chemical cleansers that you get in boots etc is a great idea. I used to overload my face with chemicals, I used far too many chemical cleansers. I don't remember feeling I had acne, but my skin was a lot rougher (probably because of tiny spots you can't really see) and more oily. Plus I probably couldn't see acne even if I did have it under all that makeup.
I've decided to completly ban chemicals from my skincare regime. I tone my face with a homemade toner. Exfoliate with bicarb. Steam my face with herbs for a deep cleanse, and I don't actually wash my face but I don't think I need to. Oh yeah I moisturise with olive oil, moisturising is really important. Steaming cleans out your face, exfoliating removes dead skin cells and toning removes oil and dirt. I don't know, maybe you need something to kill the bacteria, but this kinda goes with your not washing your face idea.
Idk just try this, because if you literally don't wash your face ever you'll get to much oil on your face and it'll clog your pores. Heres the link to the other blog I think this idea is good for you if your skin need a break.
Oh btw my science teacher told me that water helps bacteria to breed and reproduce itself. I don't know if this is true my teachers and normally wrong, but if it is then just washing with water is okay for oil but not bacteria.
Honestly you get all these products that are meant to help, like antibac moisturisers etc, something that olive oil of course isnt, but I think it is so much gentler and better for your skin this way.
I'm a lot younger than you with acne, and I've been struggling with it for at least two years now. If theres one thing I've learned, its that washing your face, whether with just plain water or a five step regimen, is the most important thing for treating acne. Seriously, I understand your anger, but do you honestly think not washing your face will do you any good? Think about all the oil that is building up on your face each and everyday! The point of washing is to rid of that bacteria so there is a lesser chance of it building up.A more reasonable thing to think about, is to wash your face every morning, and every night with water (and use a Cetaphil mousterizer) and not use any over the counter medication-the medications depending on your skin type may cause more breakouts. If you just stick to washing your face, you'd be doing yourself a huge favor.
Dude some people like me have sensitive skin. everytime i wash my face it irritates my spots and doesn't allow my skin to heal. cleaning your skin isn't natural. the oil that forms on your skin is actually protecting you from bacteria in the environment and washing it off will allow bacteria in.
That's why you moisturise your face after you wash it? Sure natural oil on your face will keep it moisturised, but - especially if you have oily/t-zone skin- it will clog your pores. MOST moisturisers wont do that. If washing your face irritates your spots then switch to a more natural cleanser, because you're right washing with all those chemicals isn't natural at all.
I'm on day three of this and my moderate acne on my cheeks hasnt cleared up at all. The acne on my forehead (which is usually slight) has increased a bit. And I've developed some spots above my mouth and on my nose, which are areas which are usually always clear.
I've been simply washing my face once or twice a day with only water (just letting water hit it in the shower). Then letting my face air dry.
Is it normal for it to get worse at first, or is this a sign this won't work for me?
Uh... day THREE. That's not nearly enough time to even see results from this regimen! Those breakouts could be completely unrelated, and likely are unrelated to the regimen.
My skin did not clear up fast at all with water-only. It took probably a few weeks for most of my acne to clear up once I stopped staring at myself and stopped picking. But my skin doesn't handle water anymore. Do you might want to try the actual regimen that was stated by the OP 3 years ago: not wash AT ALL for 2-4 weeks or longer and then start washing once or twice a week with water.
Alright, it's just the fact that I broke out in an area I never have before which makes me think it is the regimen:/.
And I dont' really think I can not wash at all. I need to wash my hair/body in the shower, and it's pretty hard to do that without getting water on your face at all. Plus I have very oily skin and I'd rather not go to classes completely greasy! Maybe once my face doesn't turn into a complete oil mound after 6 hours I can gradually wash less (after 3 days im already noticing my face is starting to produce less oil!)
Plus washing with water once a day and nothing else is a huge change (I usually wash like 3 times a day with face wash, use a prescribed topical overnight, and sometimes use apple cider vinegar during the day), so I think that not washing at ALL isn't necessary to see a change in my skin.
Ill probably update how its going every several days or so, wish me luck! I'm taking zinc supplements as well, and drinking lots of water, so hopefully that helps.
this regimen has worked wonders for me. i had pretty serious acne about 3 months ago now im just left with a few minor red marks that are fading by the day. would seriously recommend people to try this although it may not work for everyone. plus drink loads of water when your doing it because you skin will be very dry for the first few weeks but will then gradually get better.
Hi everyone
I am so extremely happy I found you guys
I am a female 29 years old. Skin is very oily. Had acne since 13. Nothing ever made my skin look better. Until i stopped washing my face with cleansers. It's been 4 days since i use water only and 1 day no washing at all. ( I found that water dries up my skin a little and makes it oilier, if i will have to rinse y face i will try distilled water next time) My skin tone is matching the rest of my body for the first time in many years! No break outs, old inflammations disappeared. The only thing that bothers me is huge black heads on my nose and all over the face. The problem is that I have a consultation about a nose job in about a week, the doctor will sure have to have a close look at my face - do you think I will build up a lot of dead skin within a week? And those horrible black heads....
If this tretment works for me (and I am very positive it will) I will be the happiest woman on the planet. The only thing I am sorry about is all those years I have spent ruining my skin with soap and cleansers, if wasn't so stupid I might have not have scarred and spotty skin by now 
I am also a healthy eater, I stopped eating any animal food a month ago.
Hi everyoneI am so extremely happy I found you guys
I am a female 29 years old. Skin is very oily. Had acne since 13. Nothing ever made my skin look better. Until i stopped washing my face with cleansers. It's been 4 days since i use water only and 1 day no washing at all. ( I found that water dries up my skin a little and makes it oilier, if i will have to rinse y face i will try distilled water next time) My skin tone is matching the rest of my body for the first time in many years! No break outs, old inflammations disappeared. The only thing that bothers me is huge black heads on my nose and all over the face. The problem is that I have a consultation about a nose job in about a week, the doctor will sure have to have a close look at my face - do you think I will build up a lot of dead skin within a week? And those horrible black heads....
If this tretment works for me (and I am very positive it will) I will be the happiest woman on the planet. The only thing I am sorry about is all those years I have spent ruining my skin with soap and cleansers, if wasn't so stupid I might have not have scarred and spotty skin by now
I am also a healthy eater, I stopped eating any animal food a month ago.
i'd say you probably will have a slight build up of dead skin within a week i certainly did, but im not too sure about the blackheads as these have never really been a problem for me, but the increase in dead skin may cause an increase in blocked pores. but overall dead skin is better than acne (at least i think so)
Hi all, I figured I owed it to this thread to register here and report my progress.
I stopped washing my face about 4 weeks ago. It was a few days before my college graduation, but I just said screw it, there is no better time to start than now. I broke out really bad those first few days and then EVERYTHING cleared up. I had mild to moderate acne with the occasional cyst, and everything was disappearing.
Fast forward two weeks, I started to break out really badly again. Large whiteheads mostly around my nose. Since then everything has definitely died down. I still get the occasional whitehead, but it's so much better than before I started this regimen.
I have done my best not to let water touch my face at all, but I did wash with water exactly twice, both of which I regretted doing, but it happens. Besides that the only water to touch my face was the drip in the shower from wetting my hair and me running in the rain a couple times.
I highly recommend this regimen to anyone who has tried everything to get their acne under control with no success. Besides the fact that my skin looks better, not having to deal with washing your face is seriously liberating, as other people have said in the thread.
I forgot to add - before this regimen I too had very oily skin. Oily enough so that people would occasionally ask if I had just worked out because it looked like I was sweating...
My oil production has diminished significantly, and this might be my favorite consequence of this program. From morning until I go to sleep, my face looks fresh and never super oily anymore, even after I sweat a ton.