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Just an update: I am STILL getting small breakouts. Last night was horrible. I broke down and scrubbed my face with a washcloth and a gentle cleanser. I was crying...it was so horrible. I applied a good amount of moisturizer and went to bed. This morning, I woke up and my face was very smooth. I still have the breakouts, but I feel like I got rid of the dead skin, and that really helped. I think that's been my problem. I'll normally just rinse with water in the evening, and when it dries, my skin has some flakes on it. I think those flakes are clogging my pores and causing more pimples.
Now, last night was a bad thing. I shouldn't have scrubbed too hard, and I shouldn't have used cleanser. So tonight I'm gonna do it a different way. I'll gently use a wash cloth and rub it in circles on my face when its wet. I won't scrub, just rub it gently. Then, I'm going to apply moisturizer. I have been finding that my skin just dries out too much if I use no moisturizer.
I'll update tomorrow
Hi shadow. This update made me upset that you're still struggling with breakouts so I looked back at some of your posts, and it looks like you're having trouble leaving your face alone - you are reguarly picking, rinsing, scrubbing, moisturising and using make up. These are all no-nos! I don't want do condone if but if you absolutely have to rinse, please only do so with distilled water as tap water can cause a lot of irritation, and try not to do it every day.
You have to start living like you are already acne-free, and people with clear skin do not pick at their faces! This was my problem every day for years but as soon as I started this regimen I stopped thinking about my face and I do not touch it anymore. I have often found picking and squeezing to lead directly to new spots where I did it, so this has to stop ASAP. Scrubbing and moisturising are completely not allowed - scrubbing irritates and interferes with the natural rate of skin turnover, and moisturising interferes with the skin's ability to regulate oil production. As for makeup, you said yourself that for a while you didn't look like you had ever even had acne unless you were really close up to the mirror, so it sounds like your face isn't that bad to begin with. Please stop obsessing, you are probably being much harsher on yourself than what everyone else sees, so put down the makeup for a while so your skin can heal undisturbed.
From your earlier posts it really seems like this is the regimen for you, but you aren't letting it work. Just chill for a few weeks without ANYTHING touching your face and you will really thank yourself later.
Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I know you are right. And actually, after I submitted that post, I knew I was wrong about scrubbing and moisturizing. Interestingly, today I have nowhere to go. I get to stay home all day! I haven't looked in the mirror more than a couple times so far, and I'm not touching at all. I wish every day was like this! I just get self conscious and find myself picking and touching when I know I have to go somewhere in public.
My question is...I looked up exfoliation on the Internet, and what I found is that people with acne should be exfoliating because the skin's ability to shed dead cells is not what it should be. So I find that after a couple days of doing nothing, there's just a buildup of dead skin, which can't possibly be good for healing my acne! That's why I feel like I must get rid of some of this dead skin, VERY gently of course. And as my skin heals, it will start shedding the dead skin normally and I won't need to exfoliate anymore. What do you think of this?
Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I know you are right. And actually, after I submitted that post, I knew I was wrong about scrubbing and moisturizing. Interestingly, today I have nowhere to go. I get to stay home all day! I haven't looked in the mirror more than a couple times so far, and I'm not touching at all. I wish every day was like this! I just get self conscious and find myself picking and touching when I know I have to go somewhere in public.
My question is...I looked up exfoliation on the Internet, and what I found is that people with acne should be exfoliating because the skin's ability to shed dead cells is not what it should be. So I find that after a couple days of doing nothing, there's just a buildup of dead skin, which can't possibly be good for healing my acne! That's why I feel like I must get rid of some of this dead skin, VERY gently of course. And as my skin heals, it will start shedding the dead skin normally and I won't need to exfoliate anymore. What do you think of this?
How does some anyone online know what is causing your acne? You need to trust your own skin and stick out this process to restore it to its natural state. Even if it was being caused partly by your skin's lack of ability to shed dead cells, the only way you are going to get past this is by leaving it alone until it relearns to grow and shed skin at a natural rate. The point is, many acne sufferers have been doing so many things to their faces without any break for years that they no longer know what their skin's natural state is - you need to find this out before you can move forward with treatment, if any is needed, and from what I read this requires about two months of leaving it alone. Again, if you absolutely cannot leave your face alone, make sure it is only distilled water and your clean fingers that touch your face - do not use a scrub to exfoliate. The only thing I could recommend is gently rubbing it off with your hands after washing them.
Picking is a tricky one, because it is often a subconsious urge that has no logical basis. I knew it would only lead to scars, red marks and prolonging inflammation but I was continually picking, squeezing and popping for years. It is only these last 4 days that I have managed to stop touching my skin because I am no longer worried since I have so much confidence in this regimen. But what you must remember if you are getting anxious about going out is that picking/squeezing is actually counter-productive - it spreads the inflammation and therefore the redness of pimples that are still below the skin and causes infection. You will look a lot worse both in the short term and long term, so there is absolutely no need. The only time I would still touch my face is if I had a fully formed whitehead, I just can't allow it to sit there it's too embarrasing - gently popping these with clean fingers is not the worst thing you can do to be honest. But remember - if it doesn't pop with one squeeze it isn't ready!
I find it funny how almost every single person with acne gets upset easily. Rude remark, oh well I find it funny and sad at the same time how much emotional baggage acne creates. Oh well, good luck sir.
No honestly I wasn't trying to be rude at all. It's just that if your gonna keep posting here complaining about how some of us aren't only using water then just don't read it. I'm personally on the road to doing this myself but you have to realize that it's really hard for people to stop just using everything all of sudden when it's ingrained in our heads for so long that these products will make our skin better. Btw since I last posted I have stopped using everything including water.
For all of you who have stubborn acne and are kind of aimlessly looking for solutions by doing nothing or only using cold water or not washing at all, stop hoping and waiting and search for the products from Acne Bootcamp they saved my life. I had acne from when I was in 8th grade until freshman year in college. I could make a list of things on a piece of paper, front and back, of what products, supplements, otc creams I used. This stuff is the only thing that has ever worked for me immediately and lasted. It takes 100% commitment to the program but the benefits are worth it. Go ahead, check it out. You will NOT be disappointed. I am not representative of the website, just a person like you who looked everywhere for answers and finally got what I prayed for through this site. Just trust in what the program has to offer and it WILL work.
Okay, so here's what's been my routine the past several days. I really feel like its working. My skin is starting to feel normal. It's sucks because it's almost that time of the month, so I'm afraid I'm going to breakout because of that. But what I've been doing is only rinsing with water at night, and rubbing my face GENTLY with a cloth. That gets rid of any of the dead skin that is completely ready to come off. But it leaves anything that's still healing. My face has been so much smoother since I've been doing this! After I do that, I apply a moisturizer while my face is still very wet. And I massage gently into my skin until its absorbed. So far, it hasn't irritated my skin, or caused any blemishes. It just locks in the moisture that otherwise would have evaporated off my face, leaving it too dry.
In the mornings, I've been wetting a cotton pad with water and just wiping it over any areas of my face that seem a little oily, which is barely at all.
Also, you should be proud of me....I haven't been picking! 
but I think that's mostly because there isn't much to pick at, since I've been getting rid of the obvious dead skin at night.
So far so good! I'm a little disappointed because I'm going on vacation tomorrow and there are still some nasty red marks on my jawline D:
Okay, so here's what's been my routine the past several days. I really feel like its working. My skin is starting to feel normal. It's sucks because it's almost that time of the month, so I'm afraid I'm going to breakout because of that. But what I've been doing is only rinsing with water at night, and rubbing my face GENTLY with a cloth. That gets rid of any of the dead skin that is completely ready to come off. But it leaves anything that's still healing. My face has been so much smoother since I've been doing this! After I do that, I apply a moisturizer while my face is still very wet. And I massage gently into my skin until its absorbed. So far, it hasn't irritated my skin, or caused any blemishes. It just locks in the moisture that otherwise would have evaporated off my face, leaving it too dry.
In the mornings, I've been wetting a cotton pad with water and just wiping it over any areas of my face that seem a little oily, which is barely at all.
Also, you should be proud of me....I haven't been picking!
but I think that's mostly because there isn't much to pick at, since I've been getting rid of the obvious dead skin at night.
So far so good! I'm a little disappointed because I'm going on vacation tomorrow and there are still some nasty red marks on my jawline D:
Congrats! and hey at least you don't have to take along any stupid face washes or creams! Thats what I always hated doing.
Okay, so here's what's been my routine the past several days. I really feel like its working. My skin is starting to feel normal. It's sucks because it's almost that time of the month, so I'm afraid I'm going to breakout because of that. But what I've been doing is only rinsing with water at night, and rubbing my face GENTLY with a cloth. That gets rid of any of the dead skin that is completely ready to come off. But it leaves anything that's still healing. My face has been so much smoother since I've been doing this! After I do that, I apply a moisturizer while my face is still very wet. And I massage gently into my skin until its absorbed. So far, it hasn't irritated my skin, or caused any blemishes. It just locks in the moisture that otherwise would have evaporated off my face, leaving it too dry.
In the mornings, I've been wetting a cotton pad with water and just wiping it over any areas of my face that seem a little oily, which is barely at all.
Also, you should be proud of me....I haven't been picking!
So far so good! I'm a little disappointed because I'm going on vacation tomorrow and there are still some nasty red marks on my jawline D:
Glad to hear that it seems to be working, but I'm still wondering if the moisturiser could actually be doing damage. I used to love the feeling of my skin in the morning when I woke up after slathering on loads moisturiser at night, it felt so smooth and soft. Now I have that feeling times two all the time, because my skin is regulating oil production perfectly everywhere except my forehead, and nothing has irritated it at all in six days now. So basically, do whatever you're doing if it is working but if you do start breaking out again, you should at some point try the complete caveman regimen - nothing touching your face at all.
Yes tom, you are correct. Nothing should be on your skin, if might not be giving you acne, but it is slowing your healing time down. The skin needs a fresh palette to work with, nothing in its way. This is why cold water splashes work best, IMO. It gently rinses the excess off your skin without doing any damage to it, so your skin is fresh and ready to heal on its own.
Okay I'm back from my vacation with an update. First off, I have decided to stop using the moisturizer. I think it was breaking me out! So thanks for all the advice from people telling me not to use it 
it was upsetting because I went to the opera and my face was splotchy from being irritated, I think from the moisturizer. I was all dressed up and pretty...except for my stupid face :/
Today, I have to say my face looks the best it's ever looked. I am really glad I went on vacation though...because I never had time to look at my face...or pick at it! And I think that's a lot of the reason why it looks so good. I have a few red spots here and there...mostly on my chin. But absuloutely NO obvious pimples!
The one thing I am still struggling with is the dead skin. My face has stopped over producing oil, but where my old healing pimples are... There is dead skin, and flakes. I don't want to scrub at it, but I'm also afraid to leave it there. Would someone have a suggestion on what to do?
More good news...my face felt so good this morning, that I didn't even rinse with water! I haven't used water since 2 nights ago
Okay I'm back from my vacation with an update. First off, I have decided to stop using the moisturizer. I think it was breaking me out! So thanks for all the advice from people telling me not to use it
it was upsetting because I went to the opera and my face was splotchy from being irritated, I think from the moisturizer. I was all dressed up and pretty...except for my stupid face :/
Today, I have to say my face looks the best it's ever looked. I am really glad I went on vacation though...because I never had time to look at my face...or pick at it! And I think that's a lot of the reason why it looks so good. I have a few red spots here and there...mostly on my chin. But absuloutely NO obvious pimples!
The one thing I am still struggling with is the dead skin. My face has stopped over producing oil, but where my old healing pimples are... There is dead skin, and flakes. I don't want to scrub at it, but I'm also afraid to leave it there. Would someone have a suggestion on what to do?
More good news...my face felt so good this morning, that I didn't even rinse with water!
I'm so happy that it's working for you, that is exactly how i felt when I started - my face just felt and looked better and healthier as soon as I stopped putting anything on it! My oil production also subsided very quickly, within 2 days. With regards to the dead skin and flakes, I don't have much advice besides leave it alone - I am 9 days in and luckily have not had to deal with any of that. However it doesn't sound as bad as others who report a 'dead skin mask'! Unfortunately, I have had a small break out in the last few days, nothing major but it's annoying. However, I'm leaving it alone and not picking or squeezing and I've actually realised that a few small pimples don't really look too bad, it's when I used to pick and squeeze that the inflammation and redness spread. Some people say that they don't stop breaking out completely for over a month so I'm just going to give it time and that's what I advise you to do - be patient no matter what happens and give it at least a month, you never know it might just be the end of your problems.
Hi, I stopped using face washes one month ago. I now simply splash my face morning and night with warm water. The first 2 weeks were so hard. My face felt uncomfortable, dirty, itchy and i was breaking out with little red dots all over. Now a month in, my face is no longer itchy whatsoever, the flaky skin i was getting has all gone. My forhead has not looked this smooth for years. The red face i was suffering with has died down a bit, not loads, but it looks a lot healthier. My face is.still far from perfect, but the improvement is making me carry on, and one. I must say, since starting this i have only had 1 actual spot which went after a.few days. My.cheeks are.still a bit blotchy, its
So I'm back with an update. I've been really struggling with bumpy unhealthy looking skin still :/ and I think what's causing it is the incredible amount of dead skin that builds up where my skin is healing. I've tried just leaving it there, but it only gets flakier and causes more irritated skin. I have very few obvious pimples, but my skin still doesn't want to be healthy. I notice that when I wrinkle my forehead, I can see a bunch of flaky skin. And I'm doing water only! I'm not using anything but water on my face. The dead skin is most noticeable after I rinse it. And what I was doing before was putting moisturizer on top of it after I rinsed, thinking it was because my skin was dry. But I don't think that's what it is. It's DEAD skin, skin that won't get better by slathering moisturizer on top! In fact, that would probably clog my pores even more.
So what I've been doing is: after I rinse my face, I let it air dry. Then I wet a washcloth, and GENTLY brush off the dead skin from the obvious areas. It's amazing how much there is... Especially in the areas where my pimples are bigger, mostly my jawline. Then, in the morning, I notice that from moving around in my sleep, there is more dead skin in small areas. So I wet a washcloth again, and brush them off. I've been doing this for a couple days now, so I dont know what the long term results will be. But so far, my face is smoother overall. Less bumpy, and seems hydrated enough. The good thing is, my skin is not producing nearly as much sebum as it used to. Just I'm sick of the bumpy skin! D: I'm wondering what other people are doing to help with the dead skin problem..
Thanks for all the encouragement Tom it helps to have someone doing it too I hope it's working for you! I've found that I've really had to tweak the regimen to really get it to work for me.
Did you guys get a breakout after stopping with using anything? I always used BP and moisterizer. I stopped with applying BP about 7 days ago and stopped with using moisterizer two days ago...but now I'm seeing spots forming. My skin isn't dry or anything, my bod can regulate the oil production perfectly after 7 days. Is it expected to get a breakout in the first period? I'm almost on the point of applying BP again to stop the pimples forming...
Did you guys get a breakout after stopping with using anything? I always used BP and moisterizer. I stopped with applying BP about 7 days ago and stopped with using moisterizer two days ago...but now I'm seeing spots forming. My skin isn't dry or anything, my bod can regulate the oil production perfectly after 7 days. Is it expected to get a breakout in the first period? I'm almost on the point of applying BP again to stop the pimples forming...
I started breaking out a lot once I stopped using Dan's regimen. I think it is expected to break out since your face was dependent on the BP to fight off the breakouts. I think if you give it time, it will slowly balance itself out and you'll breakout less.
Reading all of this, it b rings me back to something my mom used to say. She used to model when she was younger and she told me that none of the models washed there faces. They just used a hot cloth to steam their face quickly and then rinsed with water, and thats how they kept their skin from aging or breaking out. I think I might lock myself up for a week and try this out.. My skin is quite beautiful in between the occasional blemish here and there. AND NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, i have friends who barely ever wash their faces and they have perfect skin. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........................................
I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION.. what about when I'm in the shower and I'm washing my hair with shampoo and conditioner and it runs all over my face and stuff? What do I do then? do i just not wash my hair and go cavewomen............. or should i give my face a nice water bath afterwords?
@harlowefey: I always rinse my face in the sink after showering, because the shampoo tends to run down my face a little. And I'm definitely NOT giving up shampoo! XD
What I've been doing for the past several days is rinsing morning and night, and gently removing dead skin with a face cloth. Im still amazed at the amount of dead skin there is, although it has definitely reduced since the first day I started removing it. What I have found is that after I rinse, the dead skin shows up a little clearer, probably since rinsing gets rid of the extra oil. Then I take a damp face cloth, AFTER I've let my face airdry, and gently scrub off the obvious dead skin. I find that my face no longer is feeling dry, and I think that's because there's no more flaky dead skin sitting on my face! I haven't even been using moisturizer.
So far, these are the best results I've gotten on this regimen. My bumpy skin is going away! Good luck to anyone else trying this regimen
Oh and one more thing to add: I'm hoping that as my skin has a chance to heal (now that I'm making sure I remove any dead skin that is clogging my pores) the layer of dead skin cells that should naturally sit on the top layer of skin will be even and normal. Then I shouldn't have to remove the dead skin every day like I'm doing now. I hope my prediction comes true!
I'm feeling very discouraged today :/ my jawline acne is so bad on one side. It's even worked its way up to my lower cheeks. I feel so gross. I haven't left the house today and I'm not looking forward to seeing any of my piano students today. They all have such clear skin, and mine looks like crap :/ I have to stop the wash cloth idea. I think it's irritating my skin. It definitely gets rid of the dead skin, but I think it's tearing up more of my skin that otherwise wouldn't be flaking up. Now I have to wait out this horrible breakout :/ and this is when I flip out and start ruining my skin in an attempt to heal it faster. Today I have been randomly running my skin under cool water without touching it. This has seemed to reduce the redness. I just can't figure out what to do with my skin 
I don't want to go back to using cleansers and moisturizers because it's impossible that that is what's causing the problem. I know I can figure this out without using any products on my face.
It just feels better to vent on here. I wish this day was over and I could get in bed and sleep away some of this depression :/
Pretty gutted today. Been doing this for about a month and half now and today I can see lots of little reds spots appearing. I moved house the other day and got pretty sweaty so I used Simple face wash, dont know if thats got anything to do with it. Saying that, because ive been moving for the past 2 weeks ive basically been living on microwave meals, frozen pizzas, takeaways and a fair bit of alcohol. Feelin a bit crappy today. Im stopping the booze and going back to my healthy eating starting today
@nagenodydna: I really hope thing work out better for you in the future! Personally, I hate blaming my pimples on something I ate. I think of all the people in the world who sit on their couch all day and eat junk food and have perfect skin and it makes me not worry too much about what I eat, although I do try to eat healthy. I'm just giving my opinion, but it could be different for others
An update from yesterday. Not touching my face has made drastic improvements in just one day. And whenever I feel my face is a little warm from irritation or whatnot, I go to the sink and run it under cool water, without touching it.
Also, I got rid of my closeup lighted mirror. I put it farrrrr away xD I think i was being drawn to it when I was bored or restless. People don't see me that close up anyway. Im going for a week without touching my skin! And after that, I'll set another goal
I think what I eat, drink and lack of sleep definitely affects my skin. Not looking very healthy today, but most of it is self inflicted! we'll see anyway..........
Eating well ive noticed generally makes me feel fresher and happier.
Defo stick with this warm water only though, because there has been a big improvement and I just couldnt take going back to face washes ever again,its a never ending viscious circle of buying a new one, it working for a week, then your face feels horrible again so you try another and another
Yes I totally agree with you on the face wash thing! I would be unhappy with my current face wash, so I'd buy a new one. It would work for a week, then I'd start getting breakouts again! And the cycle continued :/ I just KNOW its possible to get clear skin without any manmade products!
I also do agree that if you eat unhealthy, it could cause breakouts (I had to think about that one for a while!) but I also believe that there are many people on these forums who are freaking out so much about what they eat, that they start to get rid of important things in their diet! But yes, I think we should all be eating healthy. (I say this while I have 3 boxes of cookies on my dresser lol.)
An update on my condition: I have not picked at my face for 2 days straight, going on 3! The past bad breakout I had is going away so fast. I also do not see any dead skin like I was when I was picking at my face. I think it's healing on its own, without my help! And the dead skin I otherwise would have scrubbed off with the wash cloth seems to be forming a sort of protective barrier against anything bad that could come into my skin while it's healing that's my opinion anyway 
I'll keep you all updated!
Oh and also, it's been so nice not having that stupid mirror in my bedroom! I rarely look at my face anymore, and when I do, it' in a regular mirror, as everyone else would see me. And I've found that things aren't as bad as I thought!