Familiarsend

Hi, tbinybg. I haven't used anything else on my face, and my skin is still behaving very satisfactorily. In fact, I've cut down from two washes a day to one morning rinse (using a glass to pour water over my face without touching it, rubbing only around my eyes to remove "morning crud"), and one wash at night. My oil production seems to have decreased, so I don't feel the need to rub my face clean in the morning anymore. I implemented that change a few days ago and it feels great so far. I'm hoping that I might be able to scale back even more on the washing as my skin gets used to this. Oh, and my skin flaking continues to decrease.

I was very skeptical of this method. I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews before trying it. What really drove me to try it was the fact that, since I was about 12 years old, I've been trying different chemical and natural cleansers to try to control my very oily skin and get rid of my acne. I also tried different moisturizers/sunscreens, always wearing a hat in the sun. Nothing has really worked. It only added constantly flaking and sickly-looking pallor to my facial skin. I'm now 26, and over the years my acne has fluctuated between mild and moderate, with occasional flare-ups of perioral dermatitis. Pimples always took forever to go away and they left behind hyperpigmentation. My skin is always best when I'm on an antibiotic, but since experiencing how antibiotics mess with my body, I would never take them again just to treat my acne. It should be noted that I've never worn heavy makeup except for special occasions like being in a wedding party. I used to daily wear Neutrogena's sunscreen, powder foundation, and blush, then cut down to sunscreen and blush only, then stopped wearing sunscreen and makeup altogether a couple years ago. These changes were attempts to let my skin breathe and hopefully improve it. If it helped at all, the results were minimal. My point is, if I still wore sunscreen and makeup, I might need something stronger than water to clean up. If I have to use sunscreen or makeup nowadays, I'll try using raw organic honey to get it off. That's what I had been using as a cleanser for over a year until now. My method has always involved washing my hands before washing my face, and washing my face before brushing my teeth--no saliva or toothpaste residue on my hands. So, after washing my hands with Dr Bronner's tea tree liquid soap for the antibacterial properties, and rinsing it off really well, I now wash my face with cool or slightly warm water, repeatedly splashing my face and rubbing all over with my fingers. I can feel my facial oils on my fingers, and I wash the parts of my face that are prone to flaking last, distributing the oils there. Lastly, I pat my face dry with a towel that I use only on my face and that dries thoroughly between uses. I do this twice a day--when I wake up and before bed. I've been using water only for almost 3 weeks now and my skin has never been better. I still get pimples, but they surface quickly, I pop them, and they go away without scarring! No more huge, red, angry, blind pimples. No more tiny, red, itchy pimples around my nose and mouth. Much less flaking, and I anticipate that the flaking will disappear entirely if I continue this method. It's awesome! My husband and others have commented on how good my skin looks lately. I'm no longer embarrassed by my pimples, because they're not very noticeable and I know they'll go away quickly without leaving behind a scar that takes months to fade. Judging by the comments, maybe this method doesn't work for everyone, but it sure is working for me. Why has no dermatologist ever suggested that I try this? Maybe because water is basically free while acne products, medications, and facial procedures cost money and contribute to their business. Obviously, hormones have played a role in my skin problems, but since trying this method, I'm convinced that if a dermatologist hadn't said, 'Stop using bath soap on your face, but replace it with these expensive cleansers, toners, moisturizers, etc.,' pimples would never have been a big deal in my life. If they'd said,"Stop using bath soap on your face. Try using water only," I might've been feeling confident about my skin for the past 14 years of my life, and I could've saved a lot of money.