Not Washing or Water Only

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.

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.

Cystic acne nonstop since i was 15. Face scarred badly, but cysts and zits stopped with diet and NO MORE CLEANSERS. Caveman is the way to go. Sometimes even washing with water will upset my skin, so I just dont wash it at all anymore. Like other say, you do build up excess skin, so a wet soft washcloth will do fine. I don't moisturize or apply anything to my face or body at all. I also only wash my body and hair with water, soap and shampoo twice a week. You won't smell if you're eating healthy. I feel that high cardio workouts also work to exfoliate my skin. When I feel too dirty, I run up a hot shower and let my pores open up with all the steam ( I do not let the water touch my face, as it is so sensitive, even the chlorine upsets it) I do stress that your DIET will determine your success. I have always had overeating problems as well, so when i indulge, I break out, still at 26. FOODS TO AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE ------------- SUGAR -------------- keep in mind that simple carbs ( white bread rice pasta cereal etc) turn into sugar in the body, so you must cut those out too. Complex carbs ( beans, brown rice, pasta, bread is not great, but not as bad as the white stuff) just make sure it says WHOLE wheat. I've had the best skin of my life eating WHOLE food without red meat. Chicken and fish, whole veggies and ABSOLUTELY NO SUGAR and MINIMAL SODIUM intake (sodium increases redness and inflammation in the body... especially your face). Side note... chemical manufacturers are not looking out for you... Living in capitalist America should be your first clue... These people just want your money and will exploit your biggest insecurities. They want you to slap harmful chemicals on your face, clog your pores with makeup, eat yourself into a blimp, because they know the body will expunge it all through your sweat and zits, then you'll go running to them because they offer "cures". ?Me and many more fell for their tricks and paid dearly for the lack of knowledge, with scars. Do yourself a favor and feed your body well, treat it well, encourage it, work it out, and love it. Change your habits and drop negative people around you so you can begin to HEAL. I am still battling food cravings, still giving in, still breaking out occasionally, but it feels amazing to know that I can be free of this curse. Hope you try this, and spread it to everyone in need. Good luck.

The best thing you can do for you your skin is " don't do anything " .... if you leave your acne alone , drink green tea every day , drink 4 liters of water per day , sleep 8 hours every night , avoid smoking and drinking alcohol , change your pillow case every 5 days , avoid dairy foods , take care of your hygiene and .... i mean , just live in a healthy and NATURAL way like our grandparents did and your dream for a perfect glowing skin will come true ... good luck ♡♡♡

I've had cystic/moderate acne for the past five years (ages 14-19) and I can honestly say that there is nothing better you can do for your skin than simply doing nothing. My long acne story short: the past five years, up until the past 3 months, I had used a ton of products from Clearasil to tea tree oil to facial masks however the only product that worked was Epiduo. I had clear skin for a year with epiduo but it made my skin so dry and sensitive that I couldn't go 3hrs without a moisturizer. As such, I stopped using all skincare products completely and it has worked. I let some water touch my face each morning in the shower and that alone is my entire skincare routine. I also physically exfoliate once a week due to the build up of dead skin cells. I used to get huge cystic acne but I haven't had a cyst since I started washing with water. That being said, after I stopped using products I had an initial breakout period where my skin got very dry but it soon began to regulate itself. If you are reading this review don't waste any more of your time or money on acne treatments. Leave your skin alone for a few months and see the difference it will make. Stick with it.

I have had cystic acne for over FOUR YEARS! That's a long time. 😂 I was only ten years old when it started, which is just great right? Here's what cleared my body (and face) acne. 1. Wash only with water. No soap. Body, and face! 2. Shower (water only!!) in cold or lukewarm water. Hot water drys your skin out, and opens the pores to bacteria, which will obviously make it worse. 3. Drink PLENTY of water. Distilled or bottled water is best for you, and your skin. I drink about 6 bottles of water a day, though I'm trying to drink more recently. Keep yourself hydrated! 4. NO TOUCHING. Picking, popping, poking, or scrubbing will only make your acne worse. Hands off! :) 5. Get plenty of rest, and go to bed and wake up at the same time. It's easier said than done, but try your best. 6.EXERCISE! Sweat it up! Rinse with water after a good workout, but don't stop exercising. It's good for your skin as well as the rest of you. :) 7. And above all else, just ignore your acne. I know that's hard to do, (believe me I know) but don't let it bother you. Lots of people have acne, even though those people are conveniently the people you don't know. I promise other people have it. I did, and not stressing about it helped the most. Leave it alone and use your time doing for others instead of worrying about your skin. Whenever you are tempted to worry or pick, just find something to do that will bless someone else. Think about somebody other than yourself for a while. There are far greater problems in this world than acne, even though acne can be very debilitating for your confidence. Good luck!

I've had severe cystic acne since I was 20, it's been about 11 years now. I've tried everything under the sun, spent thousands of dollars and nothing worked. My skin is extremely sensitive. The last few months I have started washing my face with water and a clean white face cloth. With the white color cloth I can wipe off the coverup makeup until I dont see the makeup on the cloth. I have to admit it was scary in the beginning, so I took cephalexin (my face meds) for the first week or two. After that I ate healthy every day (fruits and veggies), drank water and washed my face with water and a face cloth 2x a day. After a few weeks I noticed that my face was no longer red and my face matches the rest of my skin tone! I have had a few minor pimples since then but they heal much more quickly. I highly recommend trying this method. I think since I no longer irritate my pores with chemicals they got smaller, no longer inflamed and were able to heal properly.

Ok this post might be a little long, but please just hear me out. I got started on birth control at a pretty young age, like 14, and ever since then I've had relatively clear skin despite a few little pimples here and there. I'm 21 now and I just recently got married so I had my birth control removed and my face got really pissed off at me. I had cysts and whiteheads and nasty angry pimples all around my mouth, chin, and cheeks. They have always stayed away from my forehead and sides of my face for some reason. Anyway, this sucked. And I freaked out and tried everything. You've heard the story. Been the dermatologist twice and nothing really seemed to help, and if it did it only left me with nasty side effects that weren't worth it. So anyway, one day I got really upset at the way I looked and was discouraged that nothing seemed to help my face and I just quit washing it for about a week. The first couple days I was in such a depression I didn't even shower. I sat on the couch day and night and just sulked. To my surprise though, my face looked a lot calmer and the cysts were starting to disappear, and my face wasn't as oily as it normally was. In fact, it wasn't hardly oily at all. Weird..... Then it hit me. When I was in basic training for the Air force, we obviously never had time to wash our faces, and so I went an entire two months with taking very quick showers and never putting any chemicals or products on my face.... and I remembered how clear my skin was. I had never seen it so perfect. Granted, I was always exercising every day and eating extremely clean, and there was no opportunity to drink alcohol or any other thing that tempts us in daily life. But still... You get the point. Products = bad. Water = good. Ok, so after remembering this and seeing the quick results of just my couple days no shower I looked up on the internet if not washing could actually clear your acne, and I came across this. It's been two weeks now, and my face is clear. I still get the occasional pimple, and one time I got one on my cheek where they are harder to heal, but as far as cysts go I haven't gotten one in a couple weeks. My skin tone has begun to even itself out too which is crazy. Pretty much this is what I do.... I shower in the morning and I use a wash cloth and gently rub on my face. That's it. Warm water, washcloth, boom done. After I get out of the shower I do nothing, I do my hair and my normal routine, sometimes I put on some makeup, and I go about my day. At night, I will take my makeup off with a baby wipe and then just splash some warm water on my face. If I wore makeup, I will again take a washcloth and just rub gently to make sure all the makeup is gone. About 3 times a week, I will use a cotton ball with a couple drops of tea tree oil and water and just rub on problem areas, but lately my face has been so clear I haven't had to do this. I just did this in the beginning when I was still trying to get over my big problem pimples. I also drink a lot of water, green tea, and I exercise. My diet isn't bad either. I still eat pizza and cupcakes on occasion too but I try to incorporate as much fruits and veggies as I can. I'm really not sure if this will work for everyone, but I think all these acne companies really just want your money. If their products really cured acne, they would go out of business. And as far as all natural products go, they still had a tendency to make my face dry which only caused more problems. And I always think about my husband too... he never uses anything on his face and he has perfectly clear skin. Soooo crazy I have never thought of this before! I also want to point out that I thought my acne was all hormonal. I thought my hormones were just out of whack from getting off birth control after being on it for so long, and that eventually they would go back to normal. I thought that the reason my acne would never go away was because it had to do with something internal that was going on, but after using this method I know that's not entirely true. Maybe I really don't have acne, maybe I'm just allergic and sensitive to all these products!!???? Sorry if I rambled, I'm just excited. Lol.... anyone should try this if they don't have anything else to lose.

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 on caveman for 5 months (only washing my face with cool water once every 2-3 days). Here's my background: Around the age of 18, I started to get bad acne, I mean really bad. I went on accutane 3 times. Still came back. Low self worth, depression, etc. Went on a number of diets, blood type diet, paleo, vegan, alkaline, candida, you name it. Still had acne. Started to get psoriasis + eczema + sheborric dermatitis + rosacea after the 3 rounds of accutane. Wanted to kill myself, thought I looked like a freak. Non-existent social life by this point. The entire time I was always washing my face at least once a day. Used only natural products too (e.g. apple cider vinegar, manuka honey, etc). Still, had all these skin issues. Felt nervous every time I didn't wash my face. Had anxiety about eating new foods in case it broke me out. Realized I had some really unhelpful stories about my skin, and that the need for control was the cause of all my stress (both physical and mental). Read a quote somewhere that doing more of the same will only get you more of the same - if you want to see a dramatic change, often times the solution is characterized by simplicity and elegance (and, will also seem counter-productive - even outrageous). The caveman routine will go against all of your mental conditioning - so much BS we've been taught to believe without realizing or ever questioning. So I decided to go full caveman and not wash with anything but cool water, every 2 days. Here's how it went: End of week 1: A new sense of freedom, more free time as I wasn't spending 2 x 10min per day on my routine. Started to break out a bit but nothing major. End of month 1: Random little clusters of pimples on my chin, but they seem to go much quicker End of month 5: Basically 99% clear. Anytime I get a new pimple forming, I'll purposely not wash my face for a couple days and most of the time it will never surface. I feel so much more in touch with my skin, like it's thanking me. Since starting caveman, I never broke out any more than I already was. In fact, less, and the frequency between the breakouts decreased significantly (starting caveman, at times I could have maybe 10-15 active pimples - after 2 weeks, I'd have maybe 5 on a 'bad' day). I also did not look in the mirror for the last 5 months as I wanted to fully detach myself from the need to control my appearance, realizing I'm only doing this for myself (this I found very helpful). After about 3 weeks, the psoriasis + eczema + rosacea disappeared and never came back. 1.5 months in, the sheborric dermatitis went as well. By month 3, I still had acne (mild), but by this point I didn't care about it. I felt more and more at peace with the way my skin was, realizing that it's perfect the way it is in this very moment. You'll find yourself having a deep sense of connection with yourself, and this realization (well at least for me personally) that we need to be kinder to our bodies - they've gotten ourselves this far, why abuse and punish it with chemicals, the need for control, and constant washing ? Seriously, one of the best things I've done. Do the caveman. You won't regret it.