Not Washing or Water Only

It's winter in Ulaanbaatar, with awful pollution and -20 celsius temperatures. I've been wearing makeup since summer, and acne issues hasn't stopped for me. I tried washing with soap as well as cleaning with a creme when the weather became colder - neither worked. The oily cleanser helped the dryness a bit, but acne (pustules) continued to appear. Then I stopped using all products, excluding a very thin layer of Pond's creme on my cheeckbones and top half of my forehead (where the skin is dry). It's been a week, and I can tell that I have no new pimples, and the existing ones are healing fine. Also, it's helpful to learn how to pop pimples properly - using a sterilized needle and alcohol wipes. I'm now looking forward to wearing makeup on my smooth skin for the holiday parties! Until then, no makeups! Is it better to have perfect skin and never wear make up, or occasionally mess up your skin by wearing makeup, and hence having to wash with harmful products?

I always had good skin, with the occasional pimple, but i always wanted the perfect skin that movie stars had. With this i began using a cleasner,benozyl peroxide and moisturisers..... WORST MISTAKE EVER. It became my life and there was little improvement. In fact my skin became so bad i was ashamed to go out. So i decided to go back to my old ways and in 4 weeks i have clear skin. It takes a week for your skins oil production to reach a normal level. Marketers have made us believe that it is needed to have all these products. Although its not needed because it violates oil production levels, destroys new skin cells and causes dryness. Its weird at first, especially but you will get used to it.

I've been not washing my face for around four days and it has never looked so good! I started breaking out months ago and tried everything I could think of. I then found the caveman and the do nothing regimen pages on the fourms and alot of other people had success with it so I thought I would give it a try and it works!! This might not work if you have used topicals for YEARS because your skin might be to damaged for it to heal itself.

My friend has been using water only to wash her face for the past 10 years and her skin is amazing! And she only washes her face every 2-3 days. We both stuggled with acne in our early 20's and her skin is now clear while mine is still a mess (because, unlike her, I've been using chemicals on my face for the past 10 years. So I started the "no wash" method 2 days ago and, already, my skin is clearing up. I can't believe I waited so long to try this!

well it just makes sense loads of people dont use face wash in other countries and even here and they have fine skinnnn along with a healthy diet fruit veg nuts etcc this should work soon. try a few days see what happens if it doesnt get alot worse keep it up

I am stunned, relieved, and happy. I was one of those people who was obsessed with my skin. I always had very mild acne off and on since age 16. I had been mostly clear with a little BP or Benzaclin but then was prescribed Accutane for "persistent acne" when I was 19, but I really wasn't a candidate at all for the drug. BIG MISTAKE with lots of tough lessons learned. I wish this site would've existed then so that I could've researched it more. Anyway, after Accutane, my skin became extremely sensitive to everything--the sun, cleansers, lotions, and acne products. I was clear using Benzaclin for a few years, but didn't want to put antibiotics on my face anymore. That's when I started trying everything--diet limitations, candida cleanses, aspirin masks, zinc masks, baking soda, olive oil, vitamins, EVERYTHING. But, my skin wasn't happy. It was the worst my skin had ever been (moderately severe) and I was in my late 20s. My fiance at the time also had tempermental skin and was a Dr. He had researched Dan's regimine, did it, and had success with it. But, then, he just stopped...everything. He got clear with water only and just "not thinking about it". So--I tried it and also had success. It was a difficult transition because I could NOT imagine not washing my face with Purpose and not having that clean feeling. But if you've ever been sensitive to fragrances, soaps, detergents, or anything like that in the slightest and/or are older than 25 (not a teenager anymore)...this could be the answer. There used to be a thread pinned about this as well, but I can't find it now. It was really helpful to me because it talked about how we all over-cleanse. I think this water-only routine works because your skin needs a balance of good and bad bacteria, natural oils, etc. and most acne-prone skin is sensitive and doesn't really react well to exfoliation, chemicals, etc.

I have always used lots of cleansers from clearisil to neutrogena and none of them worked so I decided to sttop and use really diluted soap with warm water in morning and night. This has been a more natural approach to getting rid of spots and has actually worked. I don't feel cleansers and exfoliators are neccesary at all. I wash my face with diluted soap, exfoliate and dry with a towel in a circular motion put honey on my face for as long as i have time (an hour + a day) and drink 8 glasses of water a day. It's the best resulot i have seen in 4 years.

I have had acne for about four years, and though its severity has differed during different periods, its never really gone away. I, like most people have tried every concievable cleanser, diet, and regimin to no avail. Out of frustration I just kind of stopped and was shocked at the results. My skin suddenly got clear in about a week. I do still get occasional pimples but they disappear without leaving those annoying red marks, and much sooner than they ever did when I was applying creams, lotions, and cleansers. I think its natural to want to attack a humiliating problem like acne actively, but once i started letting my own body heal the problem itself, it did magnificently. this might not work for everyone, but if you feel like youve got nothing to lose, I challenge you to try it for a while. It worked for me, after years of trying absolutely everything else. I think most of us sufferers have extremely sensitive skin, so sensitive in fact even unmedicated cleansers marketed for sensitive skin (I tried cetaphil with no results) may create problems. I simply don't use anything on my face and it has NEVER looked this good.