Acne.org Products
I started the no wash regimen 7 days ago, after I found a blog about in on Acne.org, I read a lot of blogs on acne because my skin has been horrible for the past 4 years. It wasnt as bad four years ago, but its been getting worse and worse and now its the worst its ever been. Over the four years, Ive been doing everything to try to get it better. Antibiotics, creams, diet changes, Dans (stupid) regimen, natural remedies (manuka honey, tea tree oil, aloe vera, apple cider vingar etc.). Everything kinda helped, but not really. Dans regimen helped with the acne but my face was flaky and always red. It looked like crap and I could see my skin dying. I decided I would rather have had the acne than continue using it. The regimen was wasting my time and energy, I couldnt be in the sun and all I thought about was my face, since I was starting at it in the mirror for more than an hour a day.
Unfortunately, after I stopped the regimen to try a more holistic approach, I broke out like crazy!!! Like crazy! I didnt know you couldnt stop benzyl peroxide cold turkey and I paid (and am still paying for the mistake). My skin has never been the same and I will never go back on anything that could do that to my face. I started having more cystic acne and there were only a few small areas on my face that didnt have acne or red scars from acne (spoiler alert its the places I never put the benzyl peroxide). (DO not quit cold turkey if youre using it. Wean yourself off slowly. Like start using it only once a day, then every other day then every other two day and so on until no more. Then do not wash your face at all!) But the solution still did not click. I thought I just now needed to work harder to clean my skin with natural products (like the honey and shiz), but honestly they didnt really help. Like kinda, but not really.
Ive been so frustrated with my skin that I would cry every day and pray that I could have normal skin one day. One day when I would not be insecure about how it look. I dreamed of a day I could have my future husband touch my cheek out of affection. Anywhooo, after googling things like I want to rip my skin off (out of frustration, dont worry Im not that crazy, well maybe acne made me a little crazy), I found the caveman regimen. The blog started with this guy who was just as frustrated (and kinda as crazy) as me saying how he hated his skin and he was going to punish it by not touching it, not cleaning it, not doing anything for a month. No water, nothing bc he was sick of it. The blog continued and everyone said their good lucks to him and told him to keep them updated. Over time he started blogging about how much better it was getting. He said his face was finally healing itself, like it was gross at first, bc the skin was super oily and the pored were filing up with sebum , but he saw that the pimples were healing. I kept reading the blog and did more research and saw that a lot of other people were saying how amazing it was. I was so angry and desperate at this point that I said eff it, I;m doing it.
I was extremely hesitant at first because I am a girl with lots of pimples and scars, so I have been wearing a lot of face makeup to hide it all. I couldnt imagine not wearing makeup, but I thought about it and decided wtv, I decided I would put on make up the first day and not wash it off, just keep it there. I knew my skin didnt break out to this makeup (Laura Mercier mineral powder), since I used to put it on areas where my skin was fine and pimples never formed.
The second day on the regimen, my face was sooo oily, but I kept going. I was at work all day so I didnt look at my face all day like I wouldve if I was at home, but Im sure my co-workers were like wtf and had the common decency not to ask, but wtv they were going to see it clear soon so I didnt care. Over the week my face looked gross, super oily, white stuff coming out of my pores, white heads everywhere (the pimples were healing), my face was flaky and I my face smelled a little funny, but I kept up my strength bc even though my face looked gross I knew it was bc it was healing and not like the bullshit healing that all those products say happen (the few of months where you break out like crazy and then magic it kicks in), but like actually healing. My cystic acne was going to the surface and drying out. All my pimples were becoming white heads, my smaller pimples were drying and falling off my face. Like one or two new pimples, but theyd dry off extremely fast (I used to get multiple new pimples a day). It was honestly crazy how fast it was healing (compared to before where Id have a cystic pimple for weeks).
On the third day I rinsed my face, but like hardly touched my face with the water. I did not let my hands rub my skin and I used cool water. My face felt really dry after that and my skin kept flaking off (dead skin cells). The next morning it was oily again and continued the oily, white coming out of pores, flaky thing. Again, this sounds bad, but I was so happy because I saw it was healing.
The one thing that annoyed me was that sometimes my eyes would start stinging and get really watery. I think that because my face was so acidic to combat how alkaline it was before, some of the acidic oil got in my eyes and made it this way. I just tried to blink it away and used a tissue. It looked like I was straight up crying (which was a little embarrassing during a meeting I had with a client at work!), but again healing =happiness.
Update; I am right now on day 8 and my face it drastically better. No more cystic acne. Hardly any active acne, just the dried up scabby pimples that were cysts but came to the surface. They should peel off any day now. Then I will have no pimples. Just a shit ton of scars, which makes me pretty angry, but then I just remember - holy crap! I have no pimples! I also stopped using makeup. Makeup plus all this crap makes it look even worse. Now my skin is dry (I used to have super oily skin!!!!!, and is flaking off the dead skin so you can see the makeup too easily on top of the flakiness). It looks better without it.
So guys, I am serious. If you have acne, and want it to go away and stop using that crap everyday that doesnt really work (some days you think it does and then you break out the next), please just try not washing your face for 3 day, lightly rinse it with cool water (try not to touch your face really), then dont wash again for another 3 days, and then again lightly rinse with cool water and repeat for the rest of your life. Also, try your hardest not to pick at your face. Youre going to be extremelyyyyyyyyy tempted to bc of all the stuff coming of your face, but you need that stuff to heal. Resist picking, itll just mean it will take longer to heal and your face will look like crap longer.
Im finally excited for my skin. I havent had this feeling ever. The idea of not having to think about my skin makes me so ridiculously happy. The idea of one day letting someone kiss my cheek makes me want to jump up and down out of glee. I know its corny, but I dont give a darn.
Good luck to anyone that decides to do this. I cant remember being so happy for trying something. And its the easiest thing! Just dont touch your face! And for the love of G-d, stop using Dan;s regimen, he mightve meant well but that stuff is horrible. It will only make you dependent on it and ruin your skins ability to heal itself.
PS - Also!! Just so you know I was on the macrobiotic diet (no glutten, dairy, sugar, hardly any meat, few fruits, less coffee, etc.) this entire time. I was on it for 7 month and it didnt really help, btu I stayed on bc I lost weight and honeslty felt that when I ate lots of sugar, my face got worse, but like just the diet did not help. Idk if it helped me heal faster or what, btu I think you dont need the diet for this to work. To be honest.
The understand the scientific reasoning behind this, read about the acid mantle and your skin's PH. Also, check out the blog I mentioned here that inspired me ( http://www.acne.org/... face__st__280)
This is really interesting. I found my skin improved when I would only wash it every other day but I've never went further because terrified of what blocked pores could do, but tempted to try this out for the cysts! do you have any pics of your improvement?
Glad you found something that worked out for you!
I think I'd rather die than not wash my face at all...
So, you say you put on some make up at the start of this regimen, and you did not remove it until 3 days after? That's probably why your skin started breaking out. If you are really going to do this, then don't wear make up at all. I know you say you don't put any any on at the moment, but I mean, like never, because not washing your face without make up is not so bad, but not washing it properly and wearing make up is twice as bad.
Are you going to wash your face with water at all in the future? What about showering? How can you justify showering if you don't even wash your face?
I'm not trying to be offensive here, I just don't understand where people [people who you got the idea from to try this regimen] get the idea that you can wash your body but not your face? And how do these people know early humans didn't wash? I'm sure that between hunting mammoths and discovering how to make a fire one person at least must have thought 'man, I stink, I better have a dip in that lake over there'
It's true that you shouldn't load all those chemicals on your face, but not washing it for so many days sounds crazy. After the whole day there's dirt and dust settled on your face and then you just go and lay that face on the pillow, where it all gets rubbed in... Bacteria factory.
I'm going to try this! Just a few questions, by not washing do you mean no water on your face at all or like when you're in the shower you'll rinse your face but not touch it with any products or anything?
LIke no water on your face ( I avoid letting my face touch the water in the shower -not easy to do)
I think I'd rather die than not wash my face at all...
So, you say you put on some make up at the start of this regimen, and you did not remove it until 3 days after? That's probably why your skin started breaking out. If you are really going to do this, then don't wear make up at all. I know you say you don't put any any on at the moment, but I mean, like never, because not washing your face without make up is not so bad, but not washing it properly and wearing make up is twice as bad.
Are you going to wash your face with water at all in the future? What about showering? How can you justify showering if you don't even wash your face?
I'm not trying to be offensive here, I just don't understand where people [people who you got the idea from to try this regimen] get the idea that you can wash your body but not your face? And how do these people know early humans didn't wash? I'm sure that between hunting mammoths and discovering how to make a fire one person at least must have thought 'man, I stink, I better have a dip in that lake over there'
So yeah the first few days I left my makeup on only because psychologically I could not handle not wearing makeup and i did not break out the first few days from the makeup. My face looked like crap bc all my pimples were becoming white heads, my face was super oily and you can see the sebum in the pores. I didn't get any new pimples. But, I agree wearing makeup and not washing your face is not a good idea. I didn't break out from it but I was scared that if I continued to leave it on I would. Also, your face looks even crappier with it on, since it accentuates the grosseness of your face. I also think some makeup is worse than others. This particular makeup never broke me out, so I used it. I wouldn't try this with bare minerals for instance bc i broke out from it once. But yeah you're right. No makeup is best, but I actually would rather not wash my face and wear makeup than wash my face with a cleanser.
Also, I want to wash my face with water every three days, since it gets pretty gross by the third day. Some people don't wash it at all and props to them, but I just can't since I have to face people. I am hoping that one day my face will go back to normal and I can wash it like every other day with water.
I think that people that have normal skin with a proper acid mantle can wash their skin everyday with water and be totally fine. My acid mantle was just effed from all the products I used over the years and then blasted into oblivion bc of Dan's Regimen. I think I have to rebuild it to be normal again. I am crossing my fingers it is rebuildable and I think it's possible since my skin is clearing from this not washing thing.
Now I think my body's acid mantle is just fine, since I never used harsh products on my body, so that's why I can shower my body and even use soap and not break out. I continue to shower with soap everyday because I like it, but I think I am giong to just start washing my body with water everyday and soap every once in a while. I also will use shampoo and conditioner less (I did a bunch of research about how it makes your hair worse. I am also going to start using baking soda instead of tooth paste. This whole experience made my think twice about the products I am using, so now I am researching everything. I feel like I'm becoming paranoid lol.
I am glad that you got your acne on check. but my face gets oily, dirty, and rougher if i did this. soon ill break out like i did b4.
"if you did this" How do you know if you don't try. Isn't it worth trying. I was also scared, but honestly, nothing else worked and my skin sucked anyway. It was worth the chance and I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy I tried it. You may not be ready now, btu I hope one day you are.
What if you have red marks? I assume you have to use something for that right?
Unfortunately, I have a lot of red marks, like a lot. So much so that although i do not have that few active pimples (that are currently drying up), my face looks like it's covered in pimples. And, no, I do not use something for it. It kills me to not use somehting since I'm so used to doing anything and everything I can to cover it up, but I jsut remind myself of how far my face has come in only 8 days and that I need to continue this. My face is not going to look good for a long while since it was jsut so bad and I have lot of red marks, but it's something I ahve to accept and keep going.
This is really interesting. I found my skin improved when I would only wash it every other day but I've never went further because terrified of what blocked pores could do, but tempted to try this out for the cysts! do you have any pics of your improvement?
Glad you found something that worked out for you!
THanks! I just took a few pics but am going to wait to take another few pics after a few more days to show any improvement. I wish I took pics before I started so you can see the before and after.
Also, remember to wean yourself off from whatever you are doing. If you're doing bp do not stop cold turkey!! You face will freak out like mine did
I'm not saying this wouldn't work. But there is no way, no matter how bad my acne is would I not wash my face. I take a shower every morning before college. It would be impossible to wash my hair without splashing water onto my face. Not to mention the amount of oil/dust that will be on your face and then spreading to your pillow once you sleep turning it into a grease pillow.
I could not imagine leaving my house knowing my face is scabby/oiley/flakey and just plain dirty! I may consider it if I won the lottery, brought a beautiful house in the countryside with lots of fresh air and where nobody can see my face. (I'd have to buy a months worth of food supplies as I wouldn't dare go into town with my face all greasy and dirty.)
I'm not saying this wouldn't work. But there is no way, no matter how bad my acne is would I not wash my face. I take a shower every morning before college. It would be impossible to wash my hair without splashing water onto my face. Not to mention the amount of oil/dust that will be on your face and then spreading to your pillow once you sleep turning it into a grease pillow.
I could not imagine leaving my house knowing my face is scabby/oiley/flakey and just plain dirty! I may consider it if I won the lottery, brought a beautiful house in the countryside with lots of fresh air and where nobody can see my face. (I'd have to buy a months worth of food supplies as I wouldn't dare go into town with my face all greasy and dirty.)
Im; in the second week and the flakiness calmed down. I used a paper towel to exfoliate my skin and my face is actually dry now. It's funny bc i alwasyt hought i had oily skin, but I have dry skin. My skin must have been over compensating with oil ugh. There is still white stuff coming out of my pores but I;m hoping that will calm down soon as well. I'll keep you all updated. And all i gotta say is that if i need to go through this for some time for my skin to balance and and be normal and acne free, bring it. And the oil produvced on your face is not dirty, it actually heals your skin. YOu break out bc your skin cant handle the bacteria around you naturally. This is bc your skin is not acidic enough and can't kill the bacteria. Look up the acid mantle, you'll see waht I'm talking about. I used to think the oilier i was the worse my skin will be, but it's not about that. it;s about the ph of your skin and how well it can defend against bacteria.
When i got lazy i did the no wash routine. my face got worse.
How long did you go not washing your face?
Day 14
Alrighty, heres an update. So my skin is much less oily now, but I looked at my skin and I have two newer mediums sized pimples. One smack dab in the middle of my forehead and it is taking its sweet time to heal (maybe less time than my past ones, but because of its location, it seems not fast enough) My other pimples that I had before are also still healing. The old cysts that came to the surface are still healing.
This weekend I went home to see my family and they gave me mixed reviews about my skin. My sis, whos seen me without makeup while my skin was bad, thought it looked better. My dad, who only really saw me with makeup, told me he doesnt see that its helping. I explained to him its because I don wear makeup now.
Its just so hard not wearing makeup. We had this big celebration while I was home with a lot of people and all I wanted to do was hide in a corner and smash the camera-mans camera. Im not going to lie, this is a tough thing to do, since I still have acne (which is mostly old, except for the two new pimples - which could be worse) healing with very prominent red marks; on top of that, I have all the scars from my old acne showing. So all in all, I do think this is healing my skin even though I still have pimples since a lot of my pimples healed fast, the pimples I am getting are not too bad (other than the location) and I do not have any cysts. Its just so hard without the makeup and my confidence is taking a big hit.
Also so the pimple on my forehead was a white head two days ago and it popped on its own and started bleeding. Then a dark scab formed on top of it like any wound. I am admitting that I put a little makeup on it and another pimple bc they were dark scabs and I couldnt bear the thought of showing up to work with them. I have to resist peeling off the dry skin and scabs. Its hard though. Every morning I look at my skin and see if there is any dead skin that is hanging off so I can take it off and I scratch off some other flakes that come off easily, even though I dont know if I should. The flakes are usually over my scars, so I guess thats proof theyre healing, but I dont know if they need the dead skin on top of it to continue the healing process.
Also, yesterday I exfoliated my entire face with my finger nail, no water. I just wanted to see what would happen. A lot of dead skin came off and a lot of it did not want to come off. I tried not to be forceful. After I was done my face was superrrrrrr red and I cried. This morning the redness was down than goodness and I have no new pimples, but Im going to be much more careful about exfoliating. I dont thnk I will do it for another two week if I decide to again.
I know that this post was not as hopeful as the others and thats not bc I dont feel like this works, I just feel like now I understand how long this will actually take to work. I have a feeling its going to be months before I start feeling much better about my skin.
I also decided to stop eating rice for a while (I am gluten and dairy free and only eat certain fruits). I stopped eating rice for 5 days before starting this no wash thing, since my doc said I may be sensitive to it and when I first started the no wash there were no new pimples. After I started eating more of it, I got the pimples, so Ill start not eating it again (just a shame bc its usually like 65% of my diet). I am also trying to stay away from coffee again (I caved after a few days of the regimen and drank two cups). Basically, thinking about it now, I feel like I started eating food I would not have normally (due to skin sensitivities to them) since I saw my skin healing so well. I was all like oh, it must just be the irritation that is not good for my skin but I think that diet also really affects me. When I eat sugary things, gluten grains and have coffee, I feel my face get superrr itchy. Maybe I should go back on my crazy candida diet. Maybe the diet in addition to letting my skin heal itself will help it heal even faster.
Sorry for being such a downer today. Again, I think this is worth it and it will help over a long time, its just been a hard few days (going to that party, seeing family and all). All I want to do is stay home and not see anyone. I wish I wasnt working so I dont have to see my co-workers. Ugh and next week Im traveling to visit clients.
Ive been watching a lot of movies lately to get my mind off of it, but I end up staring at the actors skin in disbelief. How they hell do they have such clear skin. Its so bizzare to me. Anywhooo, I have hope that this will get better. I just need awesome will power and not put makeup on! And eat well and not too much! And work out more! Mother this is annoying, but hey it builds character right? Is a good way right? -_-
since when does dirt=bad, soil is dirt but is used to grow our highly nutritious vegetables . I think we've been conditioned to wash (over wash) ourselves and because this fallacy is so widespread, anyone who doesn't conform is seen as disgusting. Everyday people pay large sums of money to go and cover their bodies and faces in dirt. The way I see it, the mask that builds up on your face overtime acts like a barrier for your skin. The clearest I've ever been was when I was doing the caveman regime. Unfortunately, because of my now long hair, it's impossible to wash it without drenching my face, but I would do it again if I could.
OP, I really have to advise against wearing make-up if you plan on doing this 'regime'. I know it's difficult having to bare your face to all, but you do yourself no good wearing make-up whilst your skin is accumulating all that dead-skin necessary for shielding your skin.
Week 3 of the no wash regimen:
My face is defnitely getting better and better everyday. No more cystic acne and my face is healing. I stopped washing my face completely (Even with water) two weeks ago. My face is not oily anymore and if anything my face needs the oil or otherwise why dead skin gets all flaky and worse looking. I have to admit, I am wearing makeup and not washing my face. I know this sounds crazy. If you were to tell me I would do this one day I would look at you like a crazy person, but I always notices that I did not break out from my specific makeup and i could no go out in public with all the redness from my scars. Thank goodnesss I have no been breaking out from this! It's honestly great. I am not saying that all types of makeup is good or that this particular one would be good for you, but it seems fine for me and my face continues to heal. Maybe the oil adn the dead skin are acting as a sheild from the makeup. Who know, but i knew this was the only way I can continue this and handle it emotionally. Could just be lucky, so if you can do this withouht makeup, please do! I also have not been eating rice, so that may also be helping me in some way.
I'll give you all an update in another week.
I did the water-only method for 8 months or so, and my skin looked healthier but was really oily. Then I used face wash again for a couple months. It made my face look better at first*, but then it got worse, so I stopped again. For the last couple months I've been using just water again, but unlike the first time, I've been rubbing my hands around my face as I do it. This gets all the oil off and I exit the shower without oily skin. I can feel the oil when I start, and I don't feel any by the time I finish. It's been working out wonderfully.
*I think due to the fact that by rubbing the soap on, I was rubbing the oil off. But then the chemicals in the face wash caught up with me.