Not Washing or Water Only

Omg do it! I never post on here bc nothing really helped. This is the answer people, stop using crap on your face. Deal with the horror that is your face for the first week and week going!

As a child, I had flawless skin. I had a few breakouts during middle school and decided to see a dermatologist. Everything went downhill from there. They decided to put me on antibiotics and topical, which cleared up my skin for a year but then my skin got 10X worse. I had cystic acne all over my face They decided to put me on more medications and topical and nothing worked. I decided to go to an esthetician and she cleared up my skin but her treatments left me with acne scarring. She did micros, chemical peels, she even had some sort of red light tanning bed. It wasn't actually a tanning bed but those beds are supposed to help with healing. After a few years being with her, she decided to move and my skin decided to get worse. This time, I had enlarged pores and an orange peel skin texture. I went to the dermatologist and they suggest to go on Retinoid again. I didn't see any improvements so they suggested to try fraxel. Of course, I decided to do that because as an acne sufferer for 8 years now I was helpless and depressed. I just wanted something to cure my skin. I finally decided to quit all the chemicals and just clean my skin with water these past two weeks. My skin doesn't break out as much and isn't red or inflamed. I really wish that I never decided to see a doctor for my skin and just washed with water but I can't dwell on the past and I just have to be hopeful this will get better. I now know that if I ever have kids, not to trust doctors so easily because they're mostly in it for the money, unfortunately. Is there anyone out there in a similar situation? Also, has anyone had their pores minimize by washing with only water? I know breakouts have been getting better for most of these reviews but Ihaven't seen anything for pore sizes or orange peel textured skin. Any advice would be helpful and appreciated!!

If you had told me to do this 7-8 years back I would have given you funny looks. But guess what, I did it and it actually worked. Stopped using soap and started washing my face with water only. The first thing I noticed was how less irritated my face looked. The dry scaly patches disappeared within a week. My acne started healing better and the redness disappeared. Gradually within about 2 months, my skin was not sensitive at all. Today I have been following this for about 3 years now and I have never looked back.

Up until the age of 23 I had very clear skin with an occasional pimple just before my period. I used to wash my face twice a day and sometimes put moisturizer at night if my skin got too dry. Everyone complimented me on my skin. After I graduated and I started working, I started getting acne rapidly on one spot. I didn't do anything about it because I trusted my regimen and I hoped that it would go away naturally. But it still kept appearing in one spot and I started getting a bit more concerned. My skin since then has gotten worse and has become extremely sensitive even though I didn't change my regimen. It still wasn't as bad as it is now Slowly, I started switching to anti-acne products and ended up buying more products in the hope that I would go back to the skin I had. Around 2 months ago, I stated an intensive acne care regime. Just after I used a face mask, BAM! I got 4 more pimples. It was alarming because everytime I used a more expensive or new anti-acne product, I would immediately develop acne. So I went natural and I gave into all sorts of anti-acne regimens. NOTHING WORKED. My skin just kept getting worse. I decided to go to one of the best dermatologists in my city and he prescribed myocycline for 3 weeks and 2.5% BP gel for my already inflamed acne and an anti-pigmentation cream for marks. I continued to use sunscreen and moisturizer. None of it really worked on my skin. When I was younger, my acne would subside in a few days but my acne now persisted the more I used any sort of product. I started observing my dad's skin and asked him how his skin is so perfect even though he is out in the sun everyday, most of the day. He told me he does nothing to his skin (I live in hot, humid weather). I started researching more and realized that your skin is an organ too. Do you rub your organs with chemicals and peels and scrubs? Noooo! You have to leave them alone. So I decided to stop all products, chemical and natural because even natural products would irritate my skin. I realized that my skin is meant to be left alone. Since the last 5 days I have only been splashing my face with water, twice a day. And, WOW. My skin is smoothening out, my acne has already subsided and come to a head, pigmentation marks are fading, and even though I live in sticky, humid weather, my skin has actually become less oily! I am happy!

I have combination oily/dry skin and growing up I always used this method because it made sense and worked. About ten years ago (18 years old) I got some stress-related acne and figured my luck had run out on not using products. I tried everything on the market and it got a lot worse. Then I went to a dermatologist who told me to wash with warm water, then rise with cold water and pat dry. If I was especially oily, he said to use a mild soap with moisturizer in it (Dove, Oil of Olay). That was pretty much what I already did before trying all the harsh products, and as soon as I went back to the basics my skin cleared up. I had since recently gone through the exact same cycle, and again as soon as I went back to basics my skin came back (after horrible, pizza face and cystic acne all over). It all cleared up and hasn't been back. I think a lot of the hype about this "not working" may be from people who take it to the extreme. It's not a really extreme measure. Its as simple as feeling your skin out. If you feel extra oily, use warmer water on those areas and "melt" the oils down, guiding them to the dry spots, or wipe them in the warm water with a wash cloth. If that doesn't work, use a very thin layer of mild soap. If you are extra dry, use cold water. I swear it works for me and my skin is radiant and clear. No reason to strip off all of your natural oils just to back it up with moisturizing (which I do use, with SPF). Hope this helps.

Used everything, nothing worked.. you've heard it all before. I stopped using everything' Just water' first few days slowly improved' week 3 got a few pimples and struggled to continue with using nothing' Then mid week three really cleared up. On day 35 now' Really happy. Still get the occasional pimple but thats fine' so much better than having lots of pimples / patches. The hardest part is sticking with it.. the body really needs time to get rid of everything' Im sticking with it.. have heard by 3 months skin is almost perfect.. also as well as improved clear skin, the skin tone is also evening out. So i say hang in there, its tough but don't cave. Plus you save so much $$$$ ps used to believe it was food related.. but now i can eat anything (chocolate chips anything and I'm fine). Just let your body do what it needs too. Also the salty beach water helps too

Please excuse the length but you seriously HAVE to read this. I have been abusing my face for a little over a year now. I used every single kind've of treatment short of accutane: retinoids, Bp, SA, topical and oral antibiotics, chemical peels and an array of face washes. I believe acne is not in my genetics, for i would only get the occasional pimple here and there before i started using acne treatments. All of the crazy chemicals stripped my skin of it's acid mantle and changed the structure of the skin into that of someone who has acne. I gave the Caveman regimen a try about ten months ago. I guess my skin was wasn't ready for the sudden withdraw of the multiple harsh chemicals i was using, it went from moderate eyesore acne to big pustules of the likes i've never seen. I panicked and after like 3 days of not washing i went back to the vicious cycle. I slowly realized that any kind of chemical was not the way to go and whenever i tried to apply something basic like proactive or Sacylic acid, my skin immediately broke out in whiteheads, Kind've like it's way of telling me "Hey, Idiot! Don't put that crap on me!". I started only washing with water, which dried me out quite a bit. I then when and purchased Aveeno Naturals Daily Moisturizer. I stopped washing my face completely and used the moisturizer on the flakey skin i had. Results were wonderful. This is pretty much the official start of my caveman regimen. About 4 days in i noticed that my natural skin tone was returning and not that disgusting pale/red color that mad me cringe when i looked in the mirror. Though, every voyage is not without it's bumps. My skin is no where near perfect. I occasionally have to pop a pimple here and there but no where near the severity of when i was using cleansers. I now don't wash or apply anything other than a little moisturizer, and my skin looks better than it has in about a year or so. As for the flakes, they are my main concern, but they are dying down, and normal skin is returning. I used to have awful clusters of closed comedones that would horde gunk, but those are gone too. Follow what i've done precisely (minus the harsh chemicals of course) and you should have a similar experience :)

I wanted to stop using "dangerous" chemicals on my face so I decided to go water only. Face used to be clear, and after a month of water only, all hell broke loose. 3 months later, I am still trying to fight my acne. My face was clear before I started this and now I am suffering from awful breakouts again. Take my words of advice: DO NOT TRY THIS!

My acne was actually caused my irritation and I didn't realize it for years. If I use any facial wash besides just water, I break out. I just take a sea sponge, wet it with water, and gently massage my face with it. If my face is more oily, I just do it more often. My skin glows and feels lovely. My acne became terrible after using Proactiv. I started water only after that experience.

I have hormonal acne, being a teen. I tried to get rid of it with Benzoyl P and other topicals, but lets just say it didnt get better. After looking at my 3 siblings' relatively acne-free faces (they're about the same age as me), I realized that this could NOT be genetic, adn it was something I had done. I stopped using the benzoyl and facewashes, and even stopped washing my face for a while. I started drinking a lot of filtered (NOT tap, read about chlorine and copper) water, and I wash my face every couple of days, and my acne is almost gone/unnoticeable.