mrfringe

After 5 weeks: Week 5 was odd - started out with less breakouts but more dry skin and more blemished skin then as the blemishes eased off my skin broke out. So into week 6 I'm now dealing with a nasty breakout around my neck area (which is typically my problem area anyway) and still the flaky/dry skin. Not much else to report other than that. Skin seems to have a few days where it's 'okay' - few breakouts and any I get are tiny whiteheads that go within a day or two. Then I'll get a few big ones come up. I'm not seeing any drastic improvements, it must be said. However, as I'm already one month in and into month 2 now I am really keen to keep on going until I reach the 3 month mark (typically when people who've succeeded in this regime say you start to notice a huge improvement.) So I may not keep updating this weekly as there isn't much to actually update, perhaps bi-weekly or just at the end of each month.

After 4 weeks: Okay, I made it... I'm one day away from finishing my first month. It's be tough, I won't lie. Happily, week 4 was much easier than week 3. At least the first 3 days my skin was looking a lot better. I've had a few breaks since though so I'm still dealing with some old scaring and now some new whiteheads, but nothing too huge and angry, thankfully. End of week 3 I was ready to chuck in the towel. End of week 4 I'm still feeling a little unsure on everything but I'm certain not ready to give up. I'm hoping that as I enter into my second month (week 5) I will gradually start to see a decrease in the amount of breakouts and dry skin. Only time will tell and obviously I'll up date this for anyone reading... If anyone is reading!

After 3 weeks: OK this week has been tough. More breakouts, my skin much more dry... I mean, I'm close to wanting to give this up. Say that, I do want to reach the one month mark at the very least so I'm going to keep going for another week and see where I am by next weekend. I hope into week 4 things start to get better.

After 2 weeks: My skin definitely had less breakouts that the first week. I still had a fair few whiteheads come up but they seemed to go away quickly. I had only one large spot come up and that is still under the skin. Yesterday I had to trim my beard and it today my face feels very sore. I also had to use a sponge to exfoliate as hair from my beard was sticking all over my face and neck. Since only washing with water the natural oils on my skin make little hairs and stuff stick to it which is quite annoying. Overall, I'd say my second week was a lot easier than my first but after having to trim my beard I do feel quite dry and sore. Also I ate something yesterday which I think might have broken me a little. So right now my skin looks a little rubbish but I will continue with this 'regime' into week three and post another update next week.

After 1 week: My skin has had a hair few breakouts. Mostly in the areas where I usually suffer (neck, just below the jaw line) however I've also seen a lot of small white heads forming in places I don't often have breakouts. The small white heads are pretty minimal in size and aren't usually inflamed. They are easy to deal with. I've had at least 3 big cystic-like ones on my neck though which haven't been nice. Despite the negatives, my skin hasn't felt overly dry or overly greasy, which has been lovely. Into week 2 now.... I will keep updating this for anyone interested.

I'm currently into week 9. What can I say? It's been 2 and a bit months and I've seen some good and some bad when it comes to my skin. But I want to be honest and the honest truth is, thus far, I don't think this is a solution to clearing MY skin. Maybe it'll work for others but for me it's just too damn drying. I have dry skin anyway and allowing water to dry on your face and using no moisturiser is just very tough on my skin. It's regularly flaky, always dry and if I eat or move my mouth around too much I have to check in a mirror that I don't have dry skin all over the place as the skin easily flakes and it looks pretty nasty. I still get breakouts (true these are less angry and inflamed and they certainly seem to heal a bit quicker) but I'm also getting blotchy and uneven skin as well. I don't want to put anyone off trying this. Ultimately I'm glad I went as far along into this as I have. I'm usually 2 weeks max at trying things and then I give up, so to have stuck at it for 9 weeks is quite an achievement. And I have learned to be less critical of myself and not stress so much about my skin. I'm a lot more carefree about it. I still hate how it looks sometimes but I'm not having sleepless nights or feeling the desire to check myself in the mirror every 5 minutes. So with that, I've decided that come the end of this week (week 9) I'm going to incorporate a moisturisor. I've researched to try and find the most organic/natural one I can. The idea is that I will still only wash my face with water but that afterwards, I'll add the moisturisor to help stop the dryness/flakiness and hopefully this will help the overall appearance of my complexion. I should also say that, as a guy who has a beard and trims his beard hair twice a week, it's been quite difficult to do so with all this dry skin. Afterwards my face feels red raw and looks awful with all this dead skin everywhere, which I then have to try and exfoliate off gently with a wet flannel. So, all in all, the answer for me is that I don't think this is a cure. A lot of people say they get the dry skin but that it eventually subsides. For me, it just seems to be getting more dry as time goes on and actually quite uncomfortable. Also, I haven't really noticed than I'm getting any less breakouts than before, just less inflamed ones and they do tend to clear up quicker. I would say give this a go, try it for a least 2 months and see if it works for you. Hopefully by me making these updates it's helped others or will help you to decide if it's going to be right for you.