I read about the skins acid mantle and decided to leave my skin alone. No soap, lotions, creams, toners, deodorants, perfumes, shampoos, nothing except a natural zinc sunscreen. I rinsed my whole body 2 times a week in the shower and swim in a lake often, oter than that, no face washing.
At first, my face was flaky from the dead skin, but I found that if I left the skin there, the acne and hyper pigmentation was healing. I started about a month ago as its been very hard to not pick at my face. I got no new blemishes unless I picked at my skin. I had moderately severe acne, and now it's almost gone save for a few hyper pigmented spots that are fading. I stopped getting nodules as well. The skin on my body is sooo soft and smooth, and I don't have a need for deodorant anymore, I don't smell. Showers are also very quick. I'm a 17 year old female. My hair is the cleanest looking its ever been and my dandruff is very reduced. My diet is mainly fruits vegetables and beans and nuts, I drink at least two liters of water a day. I definitely recommend everyone to try this for a few moths, it's been a miracle for me. Switching from a commercial sunscreen ( which was making me even more sun sensitive and broken out) to a natural zinc one also helped. Lot, within one day my skin was less red and inflamed and blemishes started to disappear, I think zinc is good for skin and wound healing.
What was your hair like as you did this? I would love to use water only on my hair like I do my face and body, but I hate having oily hair and I did try it for 4-5 days when I wasn't going anywhere and noted it started looking better toward the end, but it felt so stiff and waxy at the roots. And it itched. That's the part I really hate which is why I've never been into any holding or stiffening hair products. I don't see how people can stand that stuff. It also got wavier.
My hair used to be so grotesquely oily I washed it every morning. The night before didn't cut it. But for the last few years I've been able to wash it every other day. And then every 3 days, but it's usually not very nice on day 3. And for the last few months I've been doing the conditioner only method. I wonder if I can get there gradually without going through the stiff waxy phase. I recall that the first time I tried the conditioner only method, I needed to do it daily for my hair to look nice.
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Also, in case anyone else is wondering, I shower daily, water only. In the morning I wipe face with damp cloth. Oil cleanse if I have eye makeup to remove and on a few other random occasions. I haven't washed my face or body with soap for about 3 years now. I Wear mineral powder makeup and zinc sunscreen on occasion. And haven't used deodorant for decades. Not since I was a teenager when I believed it was essential. You also don't need toothpaste. Flouride is toxic. And for years I've read references to studies that found dry brushing was the most effective method for removing plaque, but for some reason, it only recently occurred to me to stop using anything although I might try making a tooth powder that involves minerals that might remineralize teeth. You also don't need a cleaning product for every chore in your house, btw. Save your money for quality food and avoid exposure to chemicals.
And yes, I agree. It still amazes me how soft the skin on my body is since I stopped stripping away the oils and acid mantle.
Also, I hate the term 'caveman' that tends to mean you don't let water touch your face ever and that you need to spend months with dead flaky skin. I don't believe that does anything is just something'caveman' followers keep telling each other. I've never seen any kind of outside evidence or study supporting it. That the acid mantle and normal sebum is important to properly functioning healthy skin is fact. That alkaline soaps and other harsh topical strip it away is also fact. That's it.
What was your hair like as you did this? I would love to use water only on my hair like I do my face and body, but I hate having oily hair and I did try it for 4-5 days when I wasn't going anywhere and noted it started looking better toward the end, but it felt so stiff and waxy at the roots. And it itched. That's the part I really hate which is why I've never been into any holding or stiffening hair products. I don't see how people can stand that stuff. It also got wavier.
My hair used to be so grotesquely oily I washed it every morning. The night before didn't cut it. But for the last few years I've been able to wash it every other day. And then every 3 days, but it's usually not very nice on day 3. And for the last few months I've been doing the conditioner only method. I wonder if I can get there gradually without going through the stiff waxy phase. I recall that the first time I tried the conditioner only method, I needed to do it daily for my hair to look nice.
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Also, in case anyone else is wondering, I shower daily, water only. In the morning I wipe face with damp cloth. Oil cleanse if I have eye makeup to remove and on a few other random occasions. I haven't washed my face or body with soap for about 3 years now. I Wear mineral powder makeup and zinc sunscreen on occasion. And haven't used deodorant for decades. Not since I was a teenager when I believed it was essential. You also don't need toothpaste. Flouride is toxic. And for years I've read references to studies that found dry brushing was the most effective method for removing plaque, but for some reason, it only recently occurred to me to stop using anything although I might try making a tooth powder that involves minerals that might remineralize teeth. You also don't need a cleaning product for every chore in your house, btw. Save your money for quality food and avoid exposure to chemicals.
And yes, I agree. It still amazes me how soft the skin on my body is since I stopped stripping away the oils and acid mantle.
Also, I hate the term 'caveman' that tends to mean you don't let water touch your face ever and that you need to spend months with dead flaky skin. I don't believe that does anything is just something'caveman' followers keep telling each other. I've never seen any kind of outside evidence or study supporting it. That the acid mantle and normal sebum is important to properly functioning healthy skin is fact. That alkaline soaps and other harsh topical strip it away is also fact. That's it.
Sorry to bump an old thread but I've been doing some research on this topic and came across your post. I believe the dead skin is absolutely necessary in some cases. If your skin becomes incredibly raw and dehydrated, I believe the dead skin can help greatly to protect it while it regains it's strength. My skin got so messed up from acne creams that my cheeks were always red, and going out in the cold just made them 10 times redder. Not to mention the healing was incredibly slow on my cheeks to the point where my marks and spots were hardly healing at all.
I started the caveman 2 and a half months ago and since then my face has stopped breaking out 100%, and I quickly built up a thick dead skin layer on my cheeks . My skin overall looks way healthier and more normal. I removed a few pieces of dead skin to see what my cheeks look like underneath and the skin underneath looks much stronger, and what few marks I can see look to be healing very well. I really feel that without the dead skin, my cheeks would not be that much better than they were 2 months ago, especially cause it's so cold out right now