keep us posted

day 3 into my "caveman regimen"

things are looking more positive than negative. yes theres many blocked pores and little whiteheads all over my face giving a rough texture but they were there before, theres no new breakouts as far as i know.

the oil looks to be controlling itself aswell and the redness that usually comes with it is calming. usually my face looks like someone has slathered my face with butter and bacon (gross right) especially once i wake up in the morning, but i woke up this morning and inspected my face in the "worst mirror" (we all have those dont we? we think we look fine until we look in THAT mirror) and i was pretty chill as compared to getting frustrated and ending up in a crying heap on the floor vowing that ill never look im another mirror again because its too ugly.

BUT i dont plan on getting too excited yet. whenever that happens theres always a drawback which i have yet to experience.

i shall keep you all updated throughout the days! feel free to leave any comments or experiences or recommendations!!

oh i also failed to mention that im a teenage girl - i wear makeup. last time i wore makeup was right before i started this regimen and i used a makeup wipe to take it off so the severity of my skin may be due to this factor!

day 4 into the caveman regimen )

so im not really watching my diet much. whether this is having an effect i dont know, all i know is im eating literally whatever (might give up with vegan, vegetarian is enough for me) like sweets and junk. im still drinking a bunch of water a day though and maybe a mug of green tea and thats it as far as drinks are concerned. but ive noticed no new breakouts, so maybe its not the root cause of my acne. still avoiding meat and dairy and real greasy foods though.

as for my skin, still kind of itchy, and i think i spoke too soon about the control of oiliness yesterday, it was terrible by the end of the day i almost caved in (haha get it) and washed my face but im still going strong. it probably looks less oily in the mornings because i smother my face in my pillow when i sleep by accident, and i DO flip my pillows and change the cases often btw! today however, at midday when i usually look like an oil slick, the oiliness doesnt look too bad on my face and theres no new breakouts on my face unlike what it would be before with about 35 new whiteheads on just my nose - exaggeration but close enough. it almost seems like the current spots have dried up and are ready to fall off. although if i touch my face my fingers will still seem slathered in oil, but it doesnt LOOK too bad, just have to make sure no one touches my face haha, in fact my face is drying out, its kind of going flaky?? thats not supposed to happen yet right? however my skin was dehydrated before from BP and panic-washing (what i call a period of overwashing) which is what caused the oiliness in the first place so possibly... but atm ive just left it.

might actually consider going out without makeup on for the first time in forever??? [children are crying, mothers are screaming in terror, riots have broken out]

as for the antibiotics i think i need to stop them. ive nearly finished my first month's course, and last night i had a serious stomach pain which spread all the way up my spine and my breathing became painful and this lasted for about 5 minutes before completely going away again? could this be the lymecycline or simply just a random attack or something i might have eaten? should i complete the lymecycline course anyway? its definitely not to do with my period or birth control because a) i dont have any other menstrual symptoms and im not due for 2 weeks although its unpredictable and b) i havent started the microgynon yet. please let me know what you think it may be!

feel free to leave any comments/questions/experiences/recommendations/anything

day 5 of my caveman regimen!

i dont really know what to say? not much is happening, theres no new breakouts that im aware of, and the itching hasnt subsided much but its not unbearable. however i woke up this morning and my face wasnt oily! idk whether this is to do with me smothering my face in my sleep or what, and its only midday so i have the rest of the day to know if the oil comes back and how severe!

i still have like a million clogged pores on my face but i think they were clogged to begin with so im just hoping it goes away.

my face currently looks blotchy and is beginning to flake more, is it too soon for this to happen??? however no more spots have come to a head, but some of the clogged pores on my cheeks have flattened and become red and my face does feel very very rough.

still no water has touched my face, except for like one dribble down my forehead when i washed my hair in the bath yesterday but i quickly wiped that away and wasnt a problem.

i need to stop looking in the mirror so often, i just find more imperfections to pick at ahhhh

ill update on day 7 and from there update weekly/if theres any significant difference!

Have you still not worn makeup? I have always wondered how the caveman thing worked with girls because I know if I sleep in makeup I'll wake up with a breakout no matter what

Have you still not worn makeup? I have always wondered how the caveman thing worked with girls because I know if I sleep in makeup I'll wake up with a breakout no matter what

i havent yet no, im only a few days in and havent left my house at all since the start of it (which was also the start of my summer holiday). i normally wear tons but only to school and seeing as i have no school for 2 months i thought it would be worth starting

although i have read about a "modified" caveman regimen where you can wear a little bit of makeup, maybe a small spot of foundation over just the pimple itself and you dont take it off at all, and about eye makeup ive heard of people using coconut oil? to remove it which sounds like it could work so if push comes to shove...

Be careful with this. It may work for a while (like the oil method did for me) and then get severely worse. I personally believe all of that bacteria and all those plugs needs to be healed with benzoyl peroxide, etc. before real healing occurs.

Also, yes, get off the antibiotics and start on some hefty probiotics (to replace gut flora necessary for healthy skin).

Be careful with this. It may work for a while (like the oil method did for me) and then get severely worse. I personally believe all of that bacteria and all those plugs needs to be healed with benzoyl peroxide, etc. before real healing occurs. Also, yes, get off the antibiotics and start on some hefty probiotics (to replace gut flora necessary for healthy skin).

Can you tell me about your oil cleansing experience because I just started it

Be careful with this. It may work for a while (like the oil method did for me) and then get severely worse. I personally believe all of that bacteria and all those plugs needs to be healed with benzoyl peroxide, etc. before real healing occurs.

Also, yes, get off the antibiotics and start on some hefty probiotics (to replace gut flora necessary for healthy skin).

i used benzoyl peroxide for 2 months and although it cleared me up of current breakouts i think it dehydrated and damaged my skin which is why it was overproducing oil, so i stopped and i broke out worse than before i was using it, so i dont want to become dependent on that or any topicals for that matter, theyre my worst enemy haha

and yeah ive read about people passing the 2 month mark or so and reporting sudden breakouts, but tbh anything would be better than my skin right now, it literally looks like a rash of small pimples literally everywhere on my face, i wouldnt mind if my acne was in one or 2 areas but yeah :/

ive heard about probiotics doing good for acne, where can i get hold of some?

I wish you the best of luck, this along with a good might work for you. Probiotics are usually in most grocery stores, but if you're not near a store that carries them, go to amazon: https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Probiotic-10-Billion-Vcaps/dp/B0031RJXCK/

This is a good middle-of-the-line brand.

Keep them in your fridge and take on an empty stomach in the morning or before meals.

If you like kimchi (fermented cabbage - traditional Korean food), it is loaded with good gut bacteria.

dayyyyy 7!

so theres really not much to report... its not improving really, or what i can see anyway. im gonna hold this out until day 30 though, and if theres no improvement ill have to see a doctor again. theres still itching and excessive oiliness, although im pretty sure im about to start my period again (three cheers for two week cycles! thanks antibiotics!) so that's probably messed up the whole process seeing as my face definitely gets oilier and spottier on it. some small spots that were already there have come to a head, so im just gonna patiently wait for them to go down.

anyway, ive noticed something strange. my acne is almost like a rash covering almost the whole right side of my face and my t-zone, even my mum asked if i had a heat rash. however, the left side of my face is almost completely clear, but whats strange is that

1. i sleep on my left side, and i know i definitely stay that side all night bc i have to avoid laying on my right ear.

2. my hair is in it. like its pretty much always dangling in my face there.

3. because of the hair, it never gets sunlight pretty much.

i think the rash thing is from my use of BP though, because on my left side, there was only ever one spot which i then used BP on once, and theres a small cluster of pimples in just that spot while the rest of that side is entirely clear. if youre ever considering it and havent already, NEVER START BENZOYL PEROXIDE!!! OR ANY TOPICALS FOR THAT MATTER!!! they are not beneficial in the long run and youll end with long term effects and no long term benefits.

ive never had much of a social life (acne contributes towards my anxiety, i get scared to leave my house often) hence why i began this regimen, but suddenly everyone wants to make plans with me ahhhh

also ive had burning irritation in both my eyes at random points in the day, although this isnt much different from when my face was clear but oily thanks to the BP when i wouldnt wear makeup, so thats saying something.

PPS. my younger sister asked me if i was wearing makeup or if my skin was clearing up today, im not sure if she was being genuine or not but this is so good!!!!

i will update next time theres something new to report, if not ill update in a week's time!!

day 9 - still not too much improvement but i need to say this.

how can i identify seborrheic dermatitis?? i know its caused by excessive sebum and yeast feeding off that or whatever, but my face is so overly oily im worried thats what may be on my face. the oiliness hasnt subsided at all yet 9 days in, it still looks like ive been sweating buckets by the end of the day when its just sebum. my skin is also very VERY rough at the moment and looks like theres millions of tiny bumps all over my face as if theres meant to be an eruption of tiny whiteheads but there hasnt been yet, and there is a bit of flaking in areas, and kind of looks really patchy, and theres red spots that arent whiteheads or anything. my skin also feels really tight and itchy and that hasnt subsided much since the beginning either, and some areas just kind of look scarred over? theres also major dandruff (gross ik sorry) although i think thats my shampoo, but i plan to change shampoos soon anyway because i recently discovered garnier test on animals :/// and if it is seborrheic dermatitis, how would it have been caused/does it go way/how can i get rid of it/how long does it take to go away?? can it also be helped by the caveman regimen?

one improvement though since the beginning is, i THINK the blackheads on my nose are disappearing??? so thats a positive i guess!

but yeah if anyone can offer any explanation or tell me if that is normal for the beginning of the caveman regimen, i need to hear it please!

alsooo i still havent washed my face. the only water that has touched my face is tears after breaking down to my friend yesterday about the state of my skin (im highly emotional anyway, my period is due. this happens a lot), and the tiniest drizzle of rain after i went out to town today (with no makeup on??!??!?? im getting better at this)

Hey! I'm 16 too and I suffer from forehead acne. I started my adaptation of the caveman regimen (of only using water to wash my face (because I can't stand not washing my face so i just spray some water at my face in the morning and at night and let the water wash my face when i shower)) a few days ago and at the beginning, it seemed to be working like a miracle because my forehead improved drastically. However, my period is coming soon and my forehead always breaks out really bad around 5-10 days before my period and clears up during my period or once it starts. Now it's terrible - i have tons of whiteheads (like what you've described) and it's super bumpy and extremely itchy (it takes so much will not to scratch and touch my forehead!) last night, i couldn't stand the itchiness and temporarily abandoned my regimen and washed my face with heads and shoulders because my acne seemed more like pityrosporum folliculitis (a symptom of it is it being itchy) but now it's just getting worse. I'm thinking about going back to water only.

I suppose it's normal for your skin to start breaking out at the beginning but i believe over time it will work out. Good luck!

Hey! I'm 16 too and I suffer from forehead acne. I started my adaptation of the caveman regimen (of only using water to wash my face (because I can't stand not washing my face so i just spray some water at my face in the morning and at night and let the water wash my face when i shower)) a few days ago and at the beginning, it seemed to be working like a miracle because my forehead improved drastically. However, my period is coming soon and my forehead always breaks out really bad around 5-10 days before my period and clears up during my period or once it starts. Now it's terrible - i have tons of whiteheads (like what you've described) and it's super bumpy and extremely itchy (it takes so much will not to scratch and touch my forehead!) last night, i couldn't stand the itchiness and temporarily abandoned my regimen and washed my face with heads and shoulders because my acne seemed more like pityrosporum folliculitis (a symptom of it is it being itchy) but now it's just getting worse. I'm thinking about going back to water only.

 

I suppose it's normal for your skin to start breaking out at the beginning but i believe over time it will work out. Good luck!

thank you! and yeah same here, my skin is horrendous just before my period, it almost makes my period feel like a relief bc i know its just because of that and nothing im doing wrong. and yeah, for a little bit i did panic and break down and think i was developing/had developed seborrheic dermatitis or something like that from how oily my skin was, but i discovered that its normal for your skin to be itchy and feel like sandpaper at first, which is what the rash-like symptoms i was experiencing were. but i still havent yet washed my face, the itchiness does get overwhelming sometimes, but im still going strong and the whiteheads have calmed down a bit

as for the head and shoulders - does that normally help your skin? because i know i use that for my hair because its exceptionally good for dandruff, but it dries out and damages it so much so i could never imagine putting anything like that on my face omg

i wish you luck with going back to water only though! id say look out for the products you use on your hair or letting the water from your hair run down your face in the shower, because i hear that can be a cause of forehead acne??

okay so day 14 - still not too much to report.

my skin definitely looks clearer than it did though. the only problem now is the redness around the right edge of my face and cheeks which im not sure what they are. ive heard about a breakout at around week 2 of this regimen, but i have yet to experience that - the only breakouts im getting are from my period. i got one painful lump in the crease of my chin two days ago, but by today its gone completely. otherwise it would have grown bigger and more painful.

oiliness is still out of control though, is this normal for week 2? and flakiness has definitely gotten more intense but i was prepared for that. i was wondering if it would mess up the regimen or not if i was to exfoliate gently with a flannel or something now? the itchiness is almost unbearable!

my bad picking habits haven't done too much damage so far anyway theres a few blemishes under my chin and jaw, but im not too worried atm.

I'm thinking about doing this. My face has only gotten worse by using a wash every evening.

I'm thinking about doing this. My face has only gotten worse by using a wash every evening.

yeah it sounds like youve irritated your skin more with products everyday, in which case this regimen could work for you! good luck

week 3 - 9 more days until this part is over!

the dead skin mask is only noticeable when looking up close. for 4 days i went without looking in a proper mirror (the mirrors in my room are currently plastered in posters bc of this) and by the time i looked yesterday, its definitely improved if even a little. small red bumps like there were before are spreading on the other side of my face where i said it was clear, so im not sure what that is? i read it might still be a detox period according to thelovevitamin? to be fair my diet has been pretty bad, i keep craving sweet stuff but at the moment, my skin definitely looks like it has improved. the red bumps that were there before have calmed down a little, and theres still a few whiteheads, but as far as theyre concerned its a normal amount (i think some of it is due to the pill aswell - ive been on that for nearly 2 weeks now and the mood swings are terrible! ive screamed at just about everyone who's tried to talk to me, its like the pms hasnt finished when my period has so im wondering if its the same in terms of acne.) however the breakout on my forehead has definitely subsided, but theres no noticeable dead skin mask there its weird, it just feels a bit rough but still very oily. sigh i was hoping this would help the oiliness

the dead skin mask - oh god. theres brown and yellow blotches on my face, but i heard that was normal and washes away when you finally exfoliate soo! also the oiliness hasnt improved much. my nose still looks wet by night. i havent left my house much since i started this, but then again i dont anyway, ive only had to cancel a few plans. but im going on a plane tomorrow so that should be fun :/ im going somewhere hot though, and ive heard that helps clear people up a bit so fingers crossed!!! and i will try and update when i can but so far, im hopeful about this regimen. i think ill carry it on after the 30 days for another month to see if it clears up the rest of the marks, but exfoliating every 2 weeks or something instead?? spots do come and go quickly though, there was a /slightly/ larger one on my forehead last night that i tried to get rid of and its pretty much gone by this morning. if it was up to my products, it would stay there and get more inflamed for the next week or something. (damn you, duac.)

also are there any tips on exfoliating???? ive heard some people say their skin feels dry and irritated when they do it with water and a washcloth/fingers or something but im really gonna have to :/

update soon

Good luck to you. Word of caution, if you are not on point with your root cause of acne, this has the potential to make your acne worse (since it is not being treated), this happened to me.

Good luck to you. Word of caution, if you are not on point with your root cause of acne, this has the potential to make your acne worse (since it is not being treated), this happened to me.

thank you! and yeah ive thought about that, but seeing as my skin only seemingly got worse earlier this year after using the wrong products (aka a harsh cleanser i bought online that wrecked my skin/caused infection which i then used bp to sort out and stopped bp cold turkey) im going to blame that, at least for the most part. i dont remember a time when i was using topicals/makeup and didnt have acne, so im just hoping. im also taking lymecycline and microgynon 30 at the same time (as i am a teenager so hormones are going to contribute aswell), which could be worse or could be better, who knows

sorry to hear it didn't work for you though, but good luck with finding whatever does help you if you havent already may i ask, what did you do after it made it worse for you?

update: day 22 i caved in and exfoliated the dead layer with a washcloth, i couldnt bare how gross i felt. i had a breakdown because of how red and nasty it looked underneath, theres so many blocked pores and red bumps but by the morning it wasnt as red and looks better than before i exfoliated anyway, with still some dry skin i couldnt get off yet. im gonna go another few weeks without washing but splashing w water every few days maybe. BUT my skin underneath is still excessively oily? like before i got rid of the dry skin on top, it would get excessively oily more so than before but i gathered that was normal. will that clear up at all? will keep updating!

Can you post a picture

Can you post a picture

yep! i took this two days after i took the dead skin off, slightly blurry n bad lighting but u see what i mean! you can also see the oiliness that still is

hi

i just wanted to say that the 2nd august would be day 30 of the no wash regimen. however, i exfoliated the dead skin earlier than i was meant to (day 22) and it did look nasty at first. BUT, a week later i still havent used anything on my skin. instead ive been splashing my face with warm - cool water every few days (days that i shower) and so far its clearing up. rather than a rough texture i can see natural skin texture coming through. dead skin is building up again but on the 2nd i will exfoliate it properly. of course, i am breaking out still but i know for a fact that is just being caused by the pill so im not stressing. it's better than it was. will keep updating