I just wanted to share my success story with the Caveman Regimen so far.
About me: 21 year old male, started getting acne when I was probably 13 or 14, tried basically every acne cleanser possible including proactiv. These worked for a while, but as I got out of my teen years I started to realize the only acne I still had might be because I do too much to my skin. Every morning and night I would wash with salicylic acid wash, followed by toner and salicylic acid moisturizer, and this just got to be too much for my skin. My nose and chin were extremely red which caused unnecessary acne, and my forehead would be covered in oil by mid-day. Anyway I was home alone for a week straight so I decided to try the caveman regimen (with some water every so often).
Before I describe how things are going, I want to tell everyone that in my opinion this only works if you think your acne is from too much cleansing. Also, do not go straight from your BP or SA regimen to no washing at all. For about two weeks I went from my morning and night regimen to only washing in the morning, and at night I would just use some witch hazel (100% natural) to quickly clean my skin. I feel like this helped my skin slowly get used to not using cleansers, and helped me avoid some of the side effects of the caveman regimen (like the dead skin mask and purging)
During my first week (I should add I started taking fish oil and Vitaming D3 supplements, which I feel helped with my oily skin), my skin was VERY oily, and I wanted to wipe it away after the first few days. But around day 3 or 4, I woke up and it was just dry...it felt gross, but it looked pretty okay. I showered and just splashed water on my face every few days since I did have to work. It made my skin feel a little tight, but eventually the oil would come back (LESS AND LESS EACH TIME).
After about a week and a half, I literally stopped thinking about the fact that I was even doing the regimen. my skin started feeling normal, I got a few breakouts but I expected purging from kicking my face washing regimen, but since I eased into it they breakouts werent bad at all (never felt embarassed leaving the house).
Its now the end of week 3, and I literally do not think about it at all. Even today, I had a ball game so I had to put sunscreen on, and afterward I just used water to gently splash my face and rub off the sunscreen. I could feel the dead skin when I did this but not as bad as people talk about and you can't even notice it in a mirror. The redness around my nose is going away, and actually my giant blackheads are ALMOST GONE. Its like my skin slowly pushed the blackheads out (I could actually see it some mornings) and my pores are naturally closing. My nose area is regaining its normal color, and the redness on my chin is fading (this part will take a while, I really messed up my chin).
Anyway I just wanted to post this because I really think this regimen is SO easy if you ease yourself into it (wash less and less each week until you are completely off cleansers). Like I said, after like 2 weeks I didn't even think about the fact that I was doing it, which is the NICEST FEELING EVER going to bed at night. I know its only been 3 weeks, but even the "purging" that people talk about has been less acne that I got when I washed (and the pimples are gone in a day). Even if my skin doesn't get better than it is right now, I barely get pimples, they go away quickly, my skin isn't oily anymore, and best of all I can literally go straight to bed without thinking about my skin. Just try the regimen (by easing into it), its the best feeling ever.
I don't have many old photos of when my acne was bad (obvious reasons lol). But for the last year I'd say I only had one or two pimples on my face at a time along with one HUGE one on my neck which always seemed to reappear in a new place once that one went away. My problem was mostly redness from overwashing for so many years, thats why I decided to try this.
Its now been a full month, I never got the dead skin mask (dead skin did flake off when I splashed water on my face but nothing bad at all). My skin looks pretty darn clear still, redness on the chin still but its still looking better, and my neck looks great too (that was the scariest part when I stopped washing my face). Last weekend when I put on sunscreen the next day my skin looked a little oily, but I think its because it was tough to rub off sunscreen with just water, BUT I never really got any acne from it still. This weekend when I wore sunscreen again, I got worried because I rubbed my skin pretty hard which used to break me out like crazy, but nothing!
Also, a little extra news, I have been eating foods that usually broke me out like crazy (non-organic meats, sugary snacks, etc.) and I have been fine! Maybe one or two small pimples around the mouth but they go away in less than a day. Also don't break out after drinking beer anymore which is probably my favorite thing lol!
@leelowe1 are you taking Vitamin D3 or just Vitamin D? I have heard D3 is best for skin and I feel like its been helping with my oilyness a lot!
I don't have many old photos of when my acne was bad (obvious reasons lol). But for the last year I'd say I only had one or two pimples on my face at a time along with one HUGE one on my neck which always seemed to reappear in a new place once that one went away. My problem was mostly redness from overwashing for so many years, thats why I decided to try this.
Its now been a full month, I never got the dead skin mask (dead skin did flake off when I splashed water on my face but nothing bad at all). My skin looks pretty darn clear still, redness on the chin still but its still looking better, and my neck looks great too (that was the scariest part when I stopped washing my face). Last weekend when I put on sunscreen the next day my skin looked a little oily, but I think its because it was tough to rub off sunscreen with just water, BUT I never really got any acne from it still. This weekend when I wore sunscreen again, I got worried because I rubbed my skin pretty hard which used to break me out like crazy, but nothing!
Also, a little extra news, I have been eating foods that usually broke me out like crazy (non-organic meats, sugary snacks, etc.) and I have been fine! Maybe one or two small pimples around the mouth but they go away in less than a day. Also don't break out after drinking beer anymore which is probably my favorite thing lol!
@leelowe1 are you taking Vitamin D3 or just Vitamin D? I have heard D3 is best for skin and I feel like its been helping with my oilyness a lot!
Vitamin D3. Glad you're doing so well. Keep us posted 3,6 , 9, and 12 months down the line.
I started the caveman regimen 24 days ago, and my skin is almost perfect now! I can hardly believe it. I really didn't think it would work for me because nothing has. Well, to be totally honest, erythromycin in the morning and bp at night worked nicely for years, but I moved to Japan (my husband is in the military) and my skin erupted amd they wouldn't prescribe me erythromycin out here. Plus i just didn't want to have to be putting chemicals on my face every day for the rest of my life. I tried the all natural route and that didn't work (oil cleansing destroyed my face, tto did nothing, peels felt terrible and the down time wasn't worth it, etc) and I was just about to turn back to clydomycin (which they do carry out here) and bp and except that my skin would just never be perfect amd that i was cursed with "problem skin".
Well I don't even remember how but I stumbled across this regimen at the lovevitamin website. So I decided to try it....it has been CRAZY to watch the transformation of my skin. It looks so healthy now, and my skin is almost perfect with no active acne whatsoever.
I will warn you, I experienced a breakout around day 14 but it was different from my usual breakouts. Before. When I would break out they would be the big deep bumps. Then I would squeeze them and usually get them out but it would leave a huuuuge mess on my face. I'm just so thankful, I'm apparently not prone to scarring on my face. Anyway, this breakout was different. They were small little bumps that would turn into whiteheads in a few days if I left them alone. However, i did panic at this stage and was thinking about giving up. But i decided to stick it out amd magically within another 3/4 days or so, it just disappeared! And now I'm on day 24 and its almost perfect, plus my skin feels strong amd healthy AND i'm waaaaaay less oily.
Please try this, anyone who is dealing with acne...and give it a fair chance. At leas 30 days.
Oh, one last thing. I didn't do the hardcore version. I am swiping my face once a day with acv/water mixture, usually post workout, amd then every 4/5 days or so I do wash my face with a very gentle cleanser...plus i do let water run down my face in the shower. But besides that, i'm doing nothing. No lotions, creams, products, bp, salicylic acid, spot treatments....nothing...its sooooo liberating!!! Sweat also seems to help alot, i loooove sweating at the gym...it seems to help my skin clear even faster