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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.
Same. Except i've been on this for two weeks.
Hey guys, I am kinda new to this.. but I have been reading this thread for a while now, to give me confidence! and it sounds like the "no cleanser" thing works for a lot of people so I stopped washing my face 1 day ago. I have been breaking out for about 3 months now.. since I turned 20 and THIS has never happened to me ever before..
Im a girl and I have been wearing make up for about 4 years now.. from college to Uni.. every single day and weekend when I went out 
and I never got any spots. I've been on my summer holidays for about 3 months now so I've spent most of my time at home.. Meaning I havent been wearing ANY make up for a quite a long time and thats when I started breaking out! I really didnt understand why and It has really really put my confidence down. I dont have a single spot on my body, its as radiant as ever. but I have been getting alot of spots on my T-zone: forehead and cheeks. I have tried a lot of things like gel but I realised I cant be putting that on my whole life, it makes my spots die in a really horrible way and that leaves a scar.
But then the fact that my acne got really bad out of the blue when I kept my face clear of all the make up and junk shows that Its bacteria from within that I have to kill and not keep cleansing on the outside.
I wont lie I really dont see any difference at the moment and I wont lie but at the moment my cheeks and forehead looks like a scatter graph. lool
Seriously I know we all cant help ourselves no matter how much you try to ignore it, I judge my self in every light, from every angle in every single mirror around the house, in the flash and in the camera.. the list goes on. I guess I dont really have any questions but things have been really stressful for me and I just thought I should let you guys know I am going to take your advice.. build up the acid mantle and then see how my skins turns out.
Sorry I wrote so much. It feels much better letting it out and knowing that I am not doing something stupid by not washing my face at all.
Good Luck to all 
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to offer my experience with this, and maybe get some guidence from everyone elses!
I've had clear skin my whole life basically, then last summer i started getting very oily skin and breakouts, and i was pretty sure my face was making more oil because it was dry or unbalenced so i stoped washing completely ( used to use spectro). All was going great for about 3-4 months! No breakouts, no oil, all evened out. Two problems arose however, I starte to get pretty bad blackheads on my nose... And one time i got my eyebrows waxed and i think that must have created because i broke out quite badly, which never happened before, I think because i would have been washing the bacteria off...
Has any one else had problems with blackheads when stopping washing? And also with bacterial infections??
I started washing again because i was frustrated with everything, and really it was a bad idea. My skin is oily again and the break outs are getting worse. Worst skin ive had in my life! So, im planning on stopping washing again, but im afraid of getting terrible blackheads or getting a crazy infection all over my face! Any suggestions???
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to offer my experience with this, and maybe get some guidence from everyone elses!
I've had clear skin my whole life basically, then last summer i started getting very oily skin and breakouts, and i was pretty sure my face was making more oil because it was dry or unbalenced so i stoped washing completely ( used to use spectro). All was going great for about 3-4 months! No breakouts, no oil, all evened out. Two problems arose however, I starte to get pretty bad blackheads on my nose... And one time i got my eyebrows waxed and i think that must have created because i broke out quite badly, which never happened before, I think because i would have been washing the bacteria off...
Has any one else had problems with blackheads when stopping washing? And also with bacterial infections??
I started washing again because i was frustrated with everything, and really it was a bad idea. My skin is oily again and the break outs are getting worse. Worst skin ive had in my life! So, im planning on stopping washing again, but im afraid of getting terrible blackheads or getting a crazy infection all over my face! Any suggestions???
Hey! i had the same problem todayy! I havent washed my face for a while i would say 6 days, and I have dead skin everywhere and loads of blackhead on my nose, but I didnt want to touch it, And today i plucked my eyebrows and my skinn is soooo sensitive I started breaking out around my eyebrows, So i cant do anything to my face at all and it sucks cuz I cant go out with dead skin and blackheads on my face.
But apparently thats the healing process, we shudnt scrub it off and let it heal it self :S I started putting just milk and honey on my face for 20mins or so every other night to get rid of the dead skin, it didnt really make a difference but it didnt make me break out because I wasnt using any cleansers or hot/warm water and it just makes my skin a little softer.
But as long as I keep applying something on my face, it will keep producing more and more oil so now I've stopped washing completely again.
I wish there was something that could KILL The bacteria that gets left from not washing, but doesn't effect the natural oil on the skin . I don't think theres anything like this!
You are all on the right path but you are forgetting to do one thing. Splash cold water on your face int he morning and at night before you go to bed. Avoid hot/warm water as it creates flaky dead skin and expands and moves the oils out of the pores onto the face. Avoid shower water in the shower, just tilt your head back to rinse out shampoo.
I wish there was something that could KILL The bacteria that gets left from not washing, but doesn't effect the natural oil on the skin . I don't think theres anything like this!
You are all on the right path but you are forgetting to do one thing. Splash cold water on your face int he morning and at night before you go to bed. Avoid hot/warm water as it creates flaky dead skin and expands and moves the oils out of the pores onto the face. Avoid shower water in the shower, just tilt your head back to rinse out shampoo.
Will try this!! thanks 
Hey all. I haven't posted for a very long time, but I can proudly say I have been product-free for months now- my guess is 6.
Firstly, it feels so so easier. It's funny, taking out a few skin care products managed to take so much stress away. I don't need to worry about waking up that extra bit earlier, bringing cleansers to friends houses when I stay, or having to wait before bed so the BP dries off. I do not need to worry about my pillows being stained (mainly because all of them already have been...ha).
Firstly, the oil problem... GONE. My skin was so embarrassingly oily, I had honestly seen nobody with skin as oily as mine. It was mainly my nose, which oozed oil from every pore within 10 minutes of washing. Not cool. Now, I do not get oily. I went from having to pretend to have a runny nose every 15 minutes to dry it all up with my tissue. I do not blot... at all anymore. I don't have any blackheads or anything terrifying like that, which I am also surprised with.
In terms of actual pimples, I've seen a marked improvement. By not washing them kind of reaffirms that they aren't a big issue. Mine are usually gone within a day. What I do (probably should've mentioned this earlier) is only wet my face in the shower at night with hot water. When I say hot, I mean hot. It really shouldn't be that hot, so I'm going to try to cool them down starting from now.
I admit, this may not work for everybody- yadda yadda, people have different skin types. But, looking at it from this perspective: if you are at the stage where you are so sick of your skin and you are in the thought process that it has never been worse, why not try this, even just for three days or so. I probably won't be lurking the forums anytime soon, but I will log in just to check if anybody has messaged me. If you do have a question, then feel free to personal message me, as I will reply through there.
Good luck to anybody that tries it and good luck for those who don't!
Any Opinions on using a bit of dilute tea tree oil to just help fight infections??? Or would this be too drying and work against the process?
I would suggest staying away from anything but water, the skin will need to have its time to regenerate back to health all on its own. If you place anything but water you are only causing more harm than good to your skins natural cycle. You need to allow it to regenerate. You will see some flakes while doing this, just them be, as long as you splash a good portion of cold water on your face in the morning and night you should be set to go. The old dead skin that is flaking is all that scar tissue from acne, the skin needs to regenerate and in the process it flakes off old dead skin from the previous acne. Every week you should take note on the progress of your skin, it will take rough 1 and 1/2 months time to regenerate back to healthy clear skin (for mild to moderate acne that is). If you have server acne you will notice changes as well, but you aren't far from reaching clarity for GOOD!!! This isn't something that will only clear you for a year of less (like accutane), if you use cold water and cold water only you will be clear for the rest of your life, it really is a cure (IMO). Update us on your progress...
And the other IMPORTANT THING IS... do not use towels on your face. Even pat drying your face can cause irritation to the natural process. Allow the cold water to air dry, it is a little weird at first but let it air dry. The skin will absorb that clean cold water and refresh itself, without losing any of those precious oils or irritating the skin.
As far as bacteria is concerned you need to know your skin fights against it all by itself. There is an acid mantle (as the skin has a ph of 5.6, slightly acidic) that kills any bacteria and does not allow bacteria to grow on the skin, if you strip that off with soaps or hot water or towels then you are left almost defenseless. Not only does the acid mantle fight bacteria, the sebum oil your skin naturally produces has enzymes inside it that also fight off bacteria. This is why over time, if left alone, the skin fights off bacteria and the sebum dominates the pores and pushes the dead skin out as white heads.
Take note of all the blemishes you have, they will re-surface and cleanse themselves out of your skin, this is that transition zone where the skin rids itself of bacteria and old skin to make room for a balanced sebum level. Those blemishes will turn into white heads, let them pop on their own, do not pop them if you can help it, they shouldn't be long (go to bed with a whitehead, gone in the morning). Follow these guidelines and you will have flawless skin.
So two weeks ago today hurricane Irene hit the east coast of the u.s.a. My family was without power or running water for over 7 days. I was horrified when we first lost power because I have been battling a stubborn case of forehead acne on and off for about two years, and i figured that without my daily shower and face wash, my acne would flare up like a beast. Worst of all, school was scheduled to start in 2 days. Imagine my delight when I found that my skin looked great after not showering or washing for a couple days. 
That being said, by the end of the week, my skin had developed some strange red patches that may or may not have been acne related - but were surely related to the shock of not washing for days on end. However, they quickly subsided overnight as soon as I washed my skin again for the first time after getting power back. So while I cannot yet subscribe to the idea of not washing your face for months at a time, I can safely say that it is best not to wash your face every day.
Bling Bling: Hurricane Irene Hit the U.S and you were worried about your forehead acne? But I know how you feel, cuz ALL I ever think about is my acne too.
But I wanted to update on how my skin reacted to the no wash thing.
First of all, four months I started to use all kind of stuff on my face, I used face masks with lemon and milk at the same time, sometimes I used it twice a day but I did put it on everyday. I would finish cartons of milk in two days, drink about 3 mugs of coffee and 3/4 of the mug of coffee was filled with milk and 1 mug of hot milk every night. and 4 months ago is went I started getting acne.
I really dont know if my acne is hormonal or something but this 'no wash' thing is the only thing that made me feel better, happier and less depressed! I stopped washing my face for about 7-8 days because my skin was really irritated it literally looked like my skin's protective layer, especially on my upper cheeks and forehead was just GONE.! I had alot of dead skin at the end of the 7-8 days of no washing but I had no red spots at all, my forehead acne was GONE completely and my cheeks no zits just dead skin!
But I guess I was just being impatient and I couldnt help myself from wanting to take the dead skin off rather than let it go away itself. I used some masks and although it took my dead skin off my skin went red again! 
and I could see new zits popping up in those areas.
...So right then I decided never again!! I just started splashing cold water on my face at night. My skin was still oily but all the redness was gone. The acne was all gonee and all I had is 2 skin coloured bump on my cheek and I mean THE TINIEST bumps ever.. almost invisible. I thought my acne was gone and to get rid of the two tiny bumps I decided to apply topical lotion on those areas (my upper cheek) and IT WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I MADE SINCE I STARTED THE NO WASH IDEA. The topical lotion made my skin red and sensitive again and I started breaking out. All that was required from me was some patience. I really think I would be insane to go and start applying topical lotions and cleansers after realising how much worse it made my skin JUST when it was getting better. Now I feel like I am back to square 1 but no worries, Atleast, I have actually realised how your skin really heals itself and interrupting that process with chemicals is just going to make it worse.
I dont even mind the oil on my face anymore because somehow it makes me feel like my skin is protected. I look more tanned because the true color of my skin is returning after using sooo many chemicals.
The reason why we tend to get acne mainly on our face more than our body is because that's the most sensitive/soft area, all the toxins come out of our body through there. If we just strip off the layer of skin that protects our face from all these bacteria then our skin really is left exposed.
The next time if I feel to go ahead and use all these cleansers and toners and gels on my skin, I will make sure I come read this thread to stop me from doing that x Hope this helps you guys x
So.. I've decided to give this a go. The last time i washed my face was yesterday morning and since then I've noticed that already i'm getting these white zit things in my chin ( they're small and appeared this morning)? Is it normal to get these at first? Oh and should i be splashing cold water at my face, morning and night?
Most people, as well as myself, notice if you go for a month straight, you usually quit after 2 weeks or so because there is just so much dead skin. Well when i first started this, i could only make it 5 or 6 days in, then id give in and wash all the buildup off. when id wake up in the morning, it be very oily, and look just like it did before. However, recently i went 16 days without washing and i gave in once again by washing it. I expected to wake up in the morning with tons of oil and lots of irritation. However, when i woke up, it actually looked a lot better, like i gave it some time to heal. there was some oiliness but substantially less than if i were to wash every day. Well then i went back to old habits of washing every day and irritated my face and went back to square one. Im on day 13 now and idk if i can make it through a month with the dead skin and peeling. my question is that, would this regimen work if instead of going a month straight of no washing, you broke it down into 2 week intervals. so for example, you dont wash for 2 weeks and let your face heal some, then you wipe away all the buildup, then go 2 more weeks without washing, wash away again, and so on. My question is would i get the same results?
Hi guys!
you should only do no washing regime for a certain period but not for a long time as you would get other new problems..
I did it a little over a month and acne reduced but new problems appeared, clogged pores and some irritation and i also heard that some got seborrhoeic dermatitis from it and we could not handle of not washing at all for a long time..
So, you guys should use simple gentle facewash or warm water if you like..
I now use cetaphil gentle face wash / lactacyd (lactic acid) face wash from sanofi aventis and the result is better.. The gentle wash doesn't worsen acne but it cleans and doesn't cause clogged pores and so you would be happier with the results than no washing at all..
good luck !!
Haven't posted in awhile but johnwilliams I'm pretty sure we have the same problem. Everything you described is exactly the same especially the going for a full month and stopping at 2 weeks cause it's so unbearable. Even the eye brow thing it's exactly the same and my eye brows have been thinning really bad. I dont think anyone notices but still I do and it's very annoying and for those reasons I haven't been able to do the caveman regimen especially since I work 5 days a week. I just graduated high school and this is seriously the most frustrating thing and I just want it to be over so I can move on with my life. Sorry for the rant but after seeing someone else describing the exact same problem I had to log in and post so thank you Johnwilliams but seriously it is a relief to know that I'm not the only person going through this.
I've been following this thread for awhile, and just created an Acne.org account so I could reply to this. I have used Proactiv for at least 4 years (I'm 18 now), and finally didtched it about 6 months ago. Not because it wasn't working (my face was super clear when I was using it), but I didn't want to be scrubbing my face with BP twice a day for the rest of my life. I didn't want my face to explode when I stopped using it, so I started using the honey and cinnamon method on my face, and tea tree oil, which kept the break outs somewhat under control. But then my face got used to that and started breaking out again. Then it was summer, and we have a pool so I went swimming a lot, and the chlorine in the water dried my face out and sorta eliminated my acne. But I knew that was just temporary. THEN I decided to try applying ACV on my face, and just washing with water, and sometimes using TTO for stops... (the whole time my face was slowly getting worse and worse.) And now here I am. Day 1 of not washing my face with anything. So far today all I did was splash water on my face (literally "splashed" it on, with my hands not touching my face.), then let it air dry. My face didn't sting and wasn't as red. It is greasy lol, but it's just the beginning. I'm gonna keep everyone updated on how this turns out. Wish me luck
And by the way, my face is the worst it's ever been, due to a few OTC products I used before Proactiv, then Proactiv, and then cleansing and scrubbing with all the natural remedies. Hopefulyyyy this works out in the end! I'm also adding a healthy diet to this, no dairy (except cheese, I can't live without that lol) not much meant, a lotttt of fruits and veggies, and a lot of water/lemon water and drinking ACV.
someone else please tell me if they experience this same thing. well i tried to use a "harsh cleanser" again after i gave my skin a break but the thing is, it is very oily now, like more than usual. it is not dry but i feel like whenever i use any sort of cleanser, i get really oily. i feel like the only way i keep my oil somewhat under control is to just use water.. i use a wet washcloth and just rub my face down once a day. i get some dead skin but my face at least appears less oily.
someone else please tell me if they experience this same thing. well i tried to use a "harsh cleanser" again after i gave my skin a break but the thing is, it is very oily now, like more than usual. it is not dry but i feel like whenever i use any sort of cleanser, i get really oily. i feel like the only way i keep my oil somewhat under control is to just use water.. i use a wet washcloth and just rub my face down once a day. i get some dead skin but my face at least appears less oily.
Yeah I'm only on day 3 of no washing, and I already lost a few eyebrows, which isn't good, considering I'm a girl and I pluck them... they're thin enough. lol
how you doing white rose? this water only thing has been reducing the oil problem a bit, but the dead skin on my eyebrows was building up( i think it might be some type of eczema or dermatitis) and i went out and worked out a ton and sweated like a pig. i then noticed that the dead skin turned a whitish color and i wiped it all off, and some eyebrows came out. i honestly dont know what to do anymore. i just have to manage my condition until i can make it to a derm, but i am now believing that maybe i should start eating healthy again, because i used to be a health guru in terms of food, and that is when i had really good skin, and now that i eat whatever i want, i have less good skin. i also read that eating very healthy (vegetables, fruits, not-greasy foods), you can improve your skin a lot. and i also read that by drinking things like green tea and aloe vera juice as well as drinking lots of water, you can reduce inflammation and toxins. the article then went on to say that by reducing the inflammation and toxins, any skin disorders (eczema, dermatitis, etc.) would lessen. so basically until i can see what the derm says, i am keeping a gentle approach and just gonna start eating very healthy again. and also, although i had this eyebrow problem, my skin is actually looking good aside from the fact that i everyday when i wash it with a cloth, i get this yellowish brownish grainy dirty like stuff that isnt noticable unless you rub it off, but i still have only been on this for a little so i have to let my skin adjust. even if i have some skin disorder, i feel that it is better to have it then be slathering bp all over your face every day.
and also, i think that i can fix up my skin from the inside out. as of yesterday, i have been eating very healthy. no junk food, eating fruits, veggies, lean meats, and skin friendly foods. i dont know if it is coincidence or not, but i feel like my skin has been progressively getting worse ever since i stopped eating healthy. and also, i remember when i first started eating healthy a few years ago, i went all out, i had a great diet, and i coincidentally had great skin as well. near flawless. i think i have some sort of skin disorder such as eczema or dermatitis on my eyebrows, and the rest of my skin is average but it isn't where it should be. i feel as if i clean up my diet a lot, and eat very well, then a lot of these problems could go away. am i right on this??
Well if your acne/skin problem is caused by an unhealthy diet, then eating healthy and going all out should help. ACV is good to drink too (apple cider vinegar). They say to drink 2 tbsps in a bottle of water (I think) like 3 times a day. I cn't stand that taste, so I drink it in apple cider. Anyways, I'm on day 7 of no washing... and the first couple days my face was really greasy, and very noticeable. Now, it's not so much noticeably greasy. I have gotten a few new pimples, and others have cleared up, and overall complexion isn't as red. So I'll stick with it. Yeah I get a few flakes here and there, but I just scratch them off. I noticed when I first started I would get a few whiteheads, but they would disappear by the next day. Now however, I feel like my face is more oily, and the whiteheads take a couple days to go away compared to one day. I'm thinking I might JUST SPLASH water on my face in a week, not wash or scrub it or anything... just to get the dirt that's accumulated from the past 2 weeks off. We'll see. I haven't really been eating healthy like I said I would... maybe I'll start that too.
And I have a really bad habit of picking at my face. -.- it needs to stop, I know.
Honestly, this makes sense because back when there were no cleansers, no acne lotions, no moisturizers, what did people do?
They just used water to wash.
Their skin basically took care of itself. I wonder where we would be right now if we never had these acne lotions or any of this stuff to make us "idealistic" with beautiful smooth skin.
This is a noteworthy experiment considering that I spent most of my life not really washing my face with all these products. Washed my face whenever I had a bath or shower. My face never really got "bad". It was only when I actually started using products, which weren't harsh by the way, that I was getting more than usual.
But what most people don't understand is that "acne" is a medical condition for those who suffer from extremely bad acne.
Getting a few pimples here and there during the month is just that, pimples.
And because it is a condition, acne medication was made for those who are big time sufferers.
Those with light to moderate "acne" don't really need these chemicals. But we use it anyway because it "speeds" up the process and we are looking for that idealistic picture. And now we generalize all skin types and pimples with the term "acne".
Sometimes its best to leave the skin alone than being on a rigorous journey to use all the products you can in hopes of it working.