Ehh also, quick question... it seems like i'm breaking out all around my face, but not with big zits or anything. Like, areas where my skin is clogged or has bumps under the surface or blackheads and such I have some of those tiny red spots or small whiteheads. So my skin looks pretty bad right now, especially considering I usually have pretty clear skin inbetween breakouts. This is probably normal right? Like..it should eventually clear up? I do want to get rid of the crap under the surface, but i'm also kinda afraid that this isn't going to stop!

 

I probably just need to relax, right? It kind of makes sense to me that it would get worse before it gets better. I don't know.

I am on water only regimen as well, and this is my 4th week i guess? I still get breakouts and all, some inflammed as well, but overall i like this regimen. Not to worry about washing my face at all, just let water run down in the shower is so cool. Earlier, I used to be like, oh god, I didnt wash my face yet, oh god i didnt put moisturiser, etc, etc. And now its so much fun, i dont just worry about anything... My pimples are a little more than what i started with, but then, i somehow feel its gonna clear up eventually. Also, the type of pimples have changed. Its mostly with heads now. The pimple starts like its cystic, and then next day its head? How can a cystic pimple have a head? Thatswhat made me believe that we ourselves have spoiled our face by putting chemicals and topicals.. Otherwise the pimples would heal very fast if we dont put any topical. Earlier it used to sometimes take months for pimples to come to head, now its like next day. The only worst part right now is, the pimple with a head could take upto 1 week to fall down. Hopefull as time goes, the process will be faster..

Yeah, I think I just needed some reassurance. Even if I don't become completely clear or stay clear, I still want my skin to be healthy and to be able to take care of spots on its own- faster and healthier than with chemicals. And I too have noticed that the types of pimples I get and the way they heal and come to a head have changed, and I think once my skin gets used to moisturizing itself they'll heal a lot faster.

Hey all I need a few questions answered about this regimen.

First off I have incredibly oily skin, it always looks like I just got out of a pool. I was on Accutane a few months back and loved it, but my oil has returned. While on Accutane I wasn't putting any topicals on my face, only moisturizer. My question is since I pretty much wasn't doing anything to my face, how will this work for me? Also my ears and behind my ears gets oily too making me think the problem is internal because I never have put topicals or anything in my ears. Help please!!

I've come to realise that drinking a lot of water (say 4-5 litres spread over a full day) is at least equally as important as not washing your face so much (for me anyway).

I'm pretty sure if I was disciplined and did this every day for 2-3 weeks I'd have perfect skin. I do it for a few days and my skin gets really good, but then I get lazy/complacent and stop. Your skin also seems to heal much quicker when you drink a lot of water.

Why dont you give it another try coolmint! And get past the 2-3 weeks stage. If you know it works, whats holding you from doing it past 2-3 weeks? Give it a shot!

And I would say, why would one need moisturiser if the skin is oily. My skin was super oily before i started this regimen, and now my skin state is dry? How did that happen. And no topicals means no topicals. Not even a moisturiser.

Hey all I need a few questions answered about this regimen.

First off I have incredibly oily skin, it always looks like I just got out of a pool. I was on Accutane a few months back and loved it, but my oil has returned. While on Accutane I wasn't putting any topicals on my face, only moisturizer. My question is since I pretty much wasn't doing anything to my face, how will this work for me? Also my ears and behind my ears gets oily too making me think the problem is internal because I never have put topicals or anything in my ears. Help please!!

Anyone????

I am really not sure why your ears are oily, so I cant help you answering that. But I would like to answer some of your questions. Let me tell you, I was known as one of the super oily girls...Super means super duper. Within few hours of washing my face with cleanser, I would go super oily. And since I am on water only regimen, i am not oily anymore. So after 10-15 years i found that my skin was never oily, i made it oily! So i guess the water only regimen definately helps even if you are oily, but i am not sure how the past accutane that you took would affect this.Because I havent taken any antibiotics till now, so I am not sure. But I am pretty sure it will help you upto some extent. Atleast removing the oiliness from your face.

Also, water only means no moisturiser as well..Could be that the moisturiser is making ur skin oily..

Thank you for the reply!

I considered the fact that the moisturizer was making me oily, but my skin is always very dry too especially after a shower. Although that could be from all the products and topicals I spent years trying. How long did it take you not washing to see a reduction in oil?

Accutane could only cover the symptoms (reduce the sebum, accelerate the skin process),unfortunately you can take it for only at an extent. and when you quit,the acne come back.,so do the oil..

-By doing the no wash or water only regime, it could give your skin a rest and rely on its own defense and repair mechanisms.. So,when you do this regime,you should have your life style to be at most healthiest to get the best results..

-Of course, this regime will make you less oily as it did to many other people with oily skin,who went on accutane as well.. You should at least give it a chance if you got bored and annoyed by the prescription ones..

-sometimes, you even don't know whether your skin is genetically oily or whether the products or life style or even could be the food you eat make it oily.. so again,you should try it.. i'll give more hints if you're interested..

Accutane could only cover the symptoms (reduce the sebum, accelerate the skin process),unfortunately you can take it for only at an extent. and when you quit,the acne come back.,so do the oil..

-By doing the no wash or water only regime, it could give your skin a rest and rely on its own defense and repair mechanisms.. So,when you do this regime,you should have your life style to be at most healthiest to get the best results..

-Of course, this regime will make you less oily as it did to many other people with oily skin,who went on accutane as well.. You should at least give it a chance if you got bored and annoyed by the prescription ones..

-sometimes, you even don't know whether your skin is genetically oily or whether the products or life style or even could be the food you eat make it oily.. so again,you should try it.. i'll give more hints if you're interested..

So what you're saying is although I stopped washing my face with anything but water for about 4 months, the Accutane was still having an effect on my skin, therefore still not allowing my skin to heal. And yes I would very much like to hear anything else you have to say on this topic. Did you do the caveman regimen and did it work for you?

in the case of being oily, i would suspect the moisturizer. In my story,i stopped any topicals (but i was using Dalacin T ,aspirin on spots as needed atm), any makeup for about 4-5 months. when i used a herbal gel (it is stated for acne and as a moisturizer also) i got very oily but i didn't know why at that moment.. After 1 and half month usage ,i stopped (not because knowing of that it was the culprit of being oily, just not improving my condition)

-then,i used the Olay Complete daily moisturizer for sensitive skin (recommended by Dan )and it was good enough for some extent and i was so satisfied with it ,but,unfortunately, it was not on the list in my complete cure route..

-so, i decided to go on cavemen regime (a particular one for me according to my condition and as my need) and dropped any product and moisturizer.

-Today is my end of 3rd week and the result is no new ones in my 3rd week.. and my face is not oily , it becomes to have natural sheer dewy look( of course i have dead skin mask and still some gunk coming out from naughty pores which you can't see away from 3-4 feet)...

-in the aspect of Accutane, how long have you been stopped it and how much dosage you used? it depends...

-If the dose is high ,also the duration , it should affect on you now , it is not bad..

the reason behind Accutane is ;to increase cell replication,cell shedding and also reducing the sebum production.. so,it is not a bad one, it could cure you as long as you take it and the reason that you should not take it for a very long time is that it could damage your liver and others as consequences...

-in my opinion,it should not be the reason for you to step back doing the no water or a little water regime..

-ok, it is my suggestion only as i don't know your detail and current condition, so i could only give general opinion..

- feel free to ask anything and i will answer back within my reach of knowledge and of course, i would love to help in finding a way for you...

wish luck..

I think this make sense.

I it was true that washing our self would make us clean that would mean that all the people in the

past history would have acne!!!

They did not have shower gels or showers in that time!!!

I'v acctualy spend a lot of time searching the net and also have year of problem with acne.

So let get rational!!!

The fact is that people in modern world country have more and more acne problem with the cosmetic industry booming.

wee see some of those people in india how they live in dirty places and have very low hygiene and jet thy have good skin or those Bushman's in Africa- they dont have shovers and shower gel, they are covered in dirt but acne free!!!

I had teen acne, now I am 30y

But acne are affected internal and topicaly!!

By internal i mean by hormone- your body is a complicated machine capable of healing it self but i needs our help, by that i mean eat well and drink lots of water (have you ever noticed how fat people have better skin an rarely acne) i know to who have like 300 pounds (140kg) and they'r skin is great, but the can drink up to a 1L of water in just an hour (I drink that much in a whole day) and they eat junk food!

Now let my say some of my experience with acne.

I had acne in my teens but it was some hormone stuff (but i never had back acne as a teen) and also i use all kinda hair products like

waxes and hair spray, all these chemicals wold end up on my face at night while sleeping and cause irritation and later acne...i stoped using them and acne was gone

Later when i was 21 i was always into working out and love to exercise

I did not have any acne problem on my back for years until i started showering more often!

One summer i was swimming in the sea and i went to my friends place at the beach to take a shower (few years before i would rarely shower after a swim in a sea and i never had back acne) i went to his bathroom and there was no shower gel, i soo a fecial cleanser with some micro grains in it, i said "what a heck" if it was made for a face ill use it as a shower gel!!!

next day i got some small bumps and white tops on my shoulders and upper back, and day after tomorrow i got like 100 of small acne, never in my life have expirienced something like that it took my like 6 moths to get my skin back to normal, in all my previous years of training i never had acne, maybe 1 would occurred!!!

(and how i got my skin to normal- first 2 months i was doing it all wrong, i kept showering with a dove showering gel and there was no progress, and i decided to leave my skin heal it self with no more chemicals on my, i just showered with water and the acne started to fade)

There are reports from lot of people prone to acne that AXE or any other similar tip of shower gels cause more acne, i notice that my self- they use lot of parfume fragnance and alcohol that irritates the skin

And also i experimented with some gentle facial cleanser on my face to see what happens, i broke every time i used it!

And one proof that not washing or washing and showering rarely and only with water help in acne!

One time i broke my leg and i was in hospital for 25 days- in those 25 days i had constant temperature (so i was sweating like crazy all day and night) and i did not wash my face or take a shower and jet i had no acne on my face or my back or shoulders.

Wee all hate when the blemish appears on our face and then will start washing our face more and more instead of just leaving it alone to heal it self- its like when we get a virus or something like that and our body raises temperature, imagine if we start to put ice on our self to cool down ;P

the body is doing that as a defensive, it is defending the from the virus just leave it to do its work and it will go back to normal in a few days!

You are right it all makes sense! But I wish we would have figured all this out earlier! Spent 1000s of dollars on stupid things, and then still had acne.. And now, its so difficult to keep up on water only regimen and deal with all the flakiness! Anyways, lets hope all of us on this website understand the root cause and follow this regimen!

in the case of being oily, i would suspect the moisturizer. In my story,i stopped any topicals (but i was using Dalacin T ,aspirin on spots as needed atm), any makeup for about 4-5 months. when i used a herbal gel (it is stated for acne and as a moisturizer also) i got very oily but i didn't know why at that moment.. After 1 and half month usage ,i stopped (not because knowing of that it was the culprit of being oily, just not improving my condition)

-then,i used the Olay Complete daily moisturizer for sensitive skin (recommended by Dan )and it was good enough for some extent and i was so satisfied with it ,but,unfortunately, it was not on the list in my complete cure route..

-so, i decided to go on cavemen regime (a particular one for me according to my condition and as my need) and dropped any product and moisturizer.

-Today is my end of 3rd week and the result is no new ones in my 3rd week.. and my face is not oily , it becomes to have natural sheer dewy look( of course i have dead skin mask and still some gunk coming out from naughty pores which you can't see away from 3-4 feet)...

 

-in the aspect of Accutane, how long have you been stopped it and how much dosage you used? it depends...

-If the dose is high ,also the duration , it should affect on you now , it is not bad..

the reason behind Accutane is ;to increase cell replication,cell shedding and also reducing the sebum production.. so,it is not a bad one, it could cure you as long as you take it and the reason that you should not take it for a very long time is that it could damage your liver and others as consequences...

-in my opinion,it should not be the reason for you to step back doing the no water or a little water regime..

-ok, it is my suggestion only as i don't know your detail and current condition, so i could only give general opinion..

- feel free to ask anything and i will answer back within my reach of knowledge and of course, i would love to help in finding a way for you...

wish luck..

I stopped the Accutane in February. I took 40 mg for a month and then 80 mg for 3 months. I'm still not convinced I was on it long enough. Lo and behold 2 weeks after stopping the oil came back. Its been about 5 months now and the acne is starting to reappear as well

The odd thing is I have been using oral medication, topicals and moisturizer for years, but didn't get oily skin until a few years ago. I have considered that the moisturizer might be making it worse, but my skin is always so dry after even water touches it. I think years of using topicals has screwed up my skin so that's why I'm trying the caveman regimen. I have gone back to think what might be the cause but I have no idea. The oily skin appeared rather suddenly as I can remember, and I have been at wits end to stop it.

On another note I'm on day 2 of the caveman regimen and my face is ridiculously itchy and my nose is covered in tiny bumps and blackheads. No reduction in oil as of yet....

-QOUTE #1233 BY redsblk14

-it seems the effect of Accutane is not in charge anymore (that's why oil and acne came back)..

-Some people say the oil left at 3rd day , at 7th day for some, and some say for 10 days (i am not sure, i can't recall exactly, but they are nearest approximate ones)

-In my case, at the end of 4th day, i can't stand the dirty look and oil did not leave as many said and so, i washed with water and looked in the mirror...eww.. guess what?.. ha haa

then, i washed with cetaphil gentle skin cleanser and it so looked clean and much better..

-you know what; from that day onwards, i have no more oily face.. Amazingly!!

-Now, i wash my face with water ,sometimes with cetaphil, depending on my feeling and adjustment every 2 or 3 or 4 days..

-yes, i wash because i just don't want to get some fungal or bacterial infection in future ( some get seborrhoeic dermatitis ,and so on although they don't know exactly the cause)

-and washing at certain period is not bad .. But, when you wash, you should at least check the water status.. When i washed with tap water, my face felt dry for the next whole day and the sheer sebum film came after the other next day. So, i tested with purified water (bottled water) and wow.. my face did not get dry anymore and it seemed it did not even disturb the sheer oil at any cent.. So, you should check the quality of water at least if you wish to wash every some days..

- Please don't get disappointed with the early days result, and stand there since you've already chosen the path.. you are not alone and there are many people with you ( including me )on this brilliant road to clear skin...lol

For me, my texture is looking so bad, and I dont know why is that..And I still get pustules even though I am on 5th week... My pimples have reduced but not drastically! I am still keeping my hopes up! I wash my face in shower with water whenever I take shower. The days I dont take shower, I didnt put water as well on face! I dont rub or anything, just let water run down my face in shower. Not sure how long its going to take, but I dont feel like giving up this regimen!

The problem I'm facing like many others is flakes and clogged pores. So how do we exfoliate without stripping the skin? Last week I tried just using a wash cloth and cold water to gently massage away flakes, it does work but it won't do much for clogged pores and the flakes will return in a short time.

As for not touching my face at all and hoping that the dead skin and flakes disappear after 4 to 6 weeks, it's not easy to do because in the meantime my face feels and looks disgusting to me. It's funny, I don't recall having the excessive flakiness in my early adulthood, I don't recall needing to exfoliate all the time. And before anyone says it - I'm not about to listen to some hypochondriacal self-diagnosing Internet fool tell me they have seborrhoeic dermatitis and that I probably have it too. That said, something is definitely up with my skin. Perhaps I do need to just leave it alone for a couple of months and see what happens, to let the skin shed by itself... I don't know at this point. But one thing is for sure, inflamed acne and whiteheads a way down when I don't scrub or exfoliate, big improvement there.

Well tonight was my 4th full day of not washing my face, but I was forced to let water touch my face in the shower because I had to shave. I didnt touch my face with a towel or anything, just let the water air dry on my face. My skin looks terrible. I'm not breaking out a whole lot, but my nose is all red and blotchy. A few new zits here and there, but the big ones are so disgusting. So tempted to put something on them to clear them up, but I refuse. I guess I just have to avoid mirrors until they go away.

So just three days ago I started a routine where I would just wash my face with water at night and things seem to be getting better. i've tried almost every product on the shelf, and clinique, mary kay and proactiv but things never seem to work (proactiv worked for a while but i always felt like it was tearing my face apart with how harsh it was) so my dad said "why don't you just try leaving your face alone for a while and see what happens" and i'm happy with what i've been seeing.

when you say you wash your face every three to four days now do you mean with water? or some other face wash? I've thought about trying your routine with not washing my face and maybe just washing it twice a week or something but didn't know if i should use a face wash or water......plus i wear a little bit of makeup to cover up the remaing pimples that i have and unfortunately some scars...i'm a little worried that my pores will get clogged with leaving makeup on my face but all the makeup removers seems to be too harsh for my skin. anyone know of an extremely gentle makeup remover?

Is it normal to experience an un-normal amount of new pimples in new areas around day 3-4 of this caveman routine? Due to the fact that I've stopped washing and all?

Any help with this to clarify that it's not just me would be great!!

yes' papermate93

it should appear new ones at that time... you just wait and see for another couple of days..

-In my experience, i had new ones (whiteheads) in the first week and then, it gradually subsided the number of new ones forming..

-I am at week 5 and now , no new ones forming these days..

-Good luck!

yes' papermate93

it should appear new ones at that time... you just wait and see for another couple of days..

-In my experience, i had new ones (whiteheads) in the first week and then, it gradually subsided the number of new ones forming..

-I am at week 5 and now , no new ones forming these days..

 

-Good luck!

hey, thanks heaps for that.!

how is it going for you now at week 5? and was it hard to keep with it for 5 weeks? if not, how did you handle it?

thanks

It was only hard for the first week and then was not that much hard to keep.. You would get use to it.. ( I was oily for the first 4 days and at the end of 4th day, i washed with cleanser and then, it was not oily at all)

-For me, now i just don't want to wash my face anymore..lol

-Washing the face makes you more concerned about the acne and you will less notice about the acne when you rarely wash it. IT'S TRUE! The most benefit that i've got from the cavemen regime is the less obsession about the acne and the less irritation .

-Recently, i wash my face with water and am planning to wash with cleanser in every other few days..

In my opinion and experience , it is better not to wash at all in the early days ( let the acid mantle develop ) and then, should gradually introduce water ,and then cleanser..

Now, i am in the stage of introducing water everyday and cleanser in every 3 or 4 days..

-Welcome to the route and feel free to ask anything ..

I love to give some hints within my reach of knowledge..

This is my last draw.. my skin is in such horrible shape!...not neccessarily that my acne is terrible, but defintely present......especially on my cheeks, jawline, and forehead. My even bigger concern is the texture, primarily on my cheeks and along my jawline. I had a mixto laser treatment last feb (which is supposed to improve tone and texture, BIG RIP OFF) and am certain this was the onset of my problems. In an attempt to address the issues I have had since then scrubbed, exfoliated, cleansed, stripped my skin of all that is good. I am not going to wash or use any topical products and see what happens.. however, how do u suggest addressing the makeup issue?..as I cannot go ANYWHERE with out makeup on...and I know it isn't reccomended to sleep in it... however I do remember in the past not ever being so concerned with makeup removal at night, and my skin always seemed to be clearer then than it has been in years!..I remember just adding a little cold cream in the morning and wiping it off with a cloth, and that was all. I rarely remember cleansing. So what would you all suggest as far as wearing makeup and using this regimen?.... thanks for any suggestions.

I've been doing water-only for about 4 weeks now. At first I broke out, but I cleared up within a week and a half. Two weeks I broke out again, with one large, headless pimple and a few smaller zits with heads. They went away in a few days, but I broke out in the same way again last week and then once more this week. They are mostly on my chin, and I was wondering if this could be diet-related or something else, and if anyone else has experienced this.