Hi! So I've posted on here once before talking about how I "cured" my acne (or so I thought) with the following skincare routine: Burts Bees peach scrub, Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar toner, Go Green serum by Mojo Spa (Chicago local), and the Origins Ginzing mouisturizer. While I had no big red angry spots while I was using this routine, my skin texture was terrible. My cheeks were super bumpy and if you caught me in the wrong light it was really bad. I decided it was because I was over exfoliating by using the peach scrub twice daily, which was maybe valid, but things went downhill from there fast.
After seeing tons of instagram skincare threads I decided to try using Cetaphil daily cleanser. I switched around with a few things and tried out some different products which all irritated my skin (Juice beauty regimen, snail cream, dead sea mask, organic moisturizers, etc, etc,) but remained constant with my use of Cetaphil. My skin started breaking out horribly. I was literally covered in acne, my skin was the worst it had ever been. I didn't even really recognize myself. I attributed it to the other products I was trying out, but eventually I realized the cause was undeniably the Cetaphil (although the other things sure didn't help).
I was wrecked emotionally and couldn't stand what I looked like and on a desperate google search binge I came across reviews of the Caveman regimen. It made sense to me and honestly I would've tried anything so I thought I'd share my results with you all thus far.
I started on October 16th, and I can't even explain how hard the first day was. Showing my face in public with no makeup on was extremely difficult for me, I am a college student and I'm constantly surrounded by friends and peers who have perfectly clear skin and I was the most self conscious I'd ever been. However my skin felt thankful for the break. Although it did get very dry. I would recommend staying extremely hydrated the first week or so.
At day 2 my redness was already down, but being in public was still difficult. The dryness increased and I got a ton of whiteheads popping up (which I read about in other people's experiences so I wasn't too worried). The whiteheads were super challenging because I looove picking at my face. And leaving a big gross white head sitting there was insanely difficult.
By day 3 I had gotten pretty oily and the whiteheads just kept appearing. My skin felt better but if anything it looked worse. I had tons of dead skin, it was really dry and I was covered in whiteheads and hyper pigmentation. Side note- at this point I had been splashing cold water on my face at nighttime because doing absolutely nothing after years of skincare seemed really wrong.
Day 4 was pretty similar. Still dry, less oil. My skintone was balancing and my redness was really going away.
My parents came into town for the weekend so I went back to wearing makeup but I only washed with my peach scrub and sprayed some mario bedascu rosewater on after. Honestly the exfoliating felt really nice but delayed my progress.
October 25 I was becoming much much more comfortable in my own skin and things were slowly improving, especially redness) but I still had big cystic spots and whiteheads.
I had to go to a wedding and halloween parties so I was wearing makeup on the weekends again which once again messed with my progress.
Nov. 6 I have only 6 ish cysts, a few whiteheads, some clogged pores on my forehead and a lot of hyper pigmentation but things are looking a lot better.
Today (Nov. 8) was the first day that I was pleased with my skin texture, and the reason I decided to write this. Besides where the actual cysts/whiteheads are, my skin is flat and calm. And although I still have the pimples, I can tell my skin is much happier and that I'm on a good path. It's hard to explain the difference I feel but I do feel much healthier.
I think that the best thing about caveman is that it forced me not to stress about my acne, and I was drinking tons of water to keep my skin from feeling so dry. It truly is very freeing and I've definitely noticed really positive changes. My skin isn't perfect, but there's no easy fix for years of damage from harsh products. I'll update again in a few weeks! Hope I helped someone (I know this isn't super informative but I would be more than happy to answer any questions)!!