Not Washing or Water Only

Hey guys, TOO EARLY TO REVIEW yet, I've actually just started doing this about 6 days ago now for my acne. I will update in future when I have a good review of how it treated my skin. I just want to mention something though, I notice a few people saying this "broke me out", "doesn't work" etc... and that may be true however PLEASE keep in mind you cannot judge how your skin is reacting to something until at least 6 weeks into something. Reason being is the natural length of average cell cycle from what I've been told is 4-5 weeks... so technically, it is expected to see some sort of a "purging" as dead skin sheds and clogged pores from underneath finally come to a head. So far, this regimen is working so well for me. PROS: facial redness is better by at least 85 percent if not 90, no new breakouts.... only thing I am noticing is some really tiny hard bumps in certain areas and I'm 100 percent sure this is the skin pushing blackheads out. I also notice how GREATLY reduced my oiliness is. like wow. my forehead used to be shiny within the hour after washing with cleansers, now its maintains itself with hardly any oil for the whole day, and my face doesn't feel tight either. CONS: I won't lie, it will seriously feel like your face is unclean when you wash once a day with water. here's the key though... It might feel incredibly dirty or oily but keep the water splash to a minimum. I made the mistake of rinsing my face with water more than a couple times when i was in the shower last night with really warm water. Total mistake, you get out and as soon as you pat your face dry you suddenly realize how much oil came off and its too dry. SUCH a delicate balance as your skin adjusts to running its own show. So if your skin is dry- stick to cold water splashed a couple times. if you are noticing its really oily, slightly warmer will wash away most of the oil but again it doesn't need to be more than 5 secs worth of splashing. Sorry i know this is specific, its really about feeling your skin out. One last thing, I have a lot of tiny tiny clogged bumps on the left hand side of my mouth. They are only noticeable if I press my tongue in this area and look in dim lighting (so seriously not at all noticeable to ppl) but they've been there forever and annoy the heck out of me. I'm obviously expecting to see a big breakout by the 4th week mark when they finally cycle through to a head so like I said best not to judge until 1.5-2 months in. I know its a while but rome wasn't built in a day: your skin needs the time to balance itself, shed off its layers naturally and push whatever is in the skin out on its own. I am washing with cool water every evening once a day, and using a konjac sponge (natural very soft plant material, packed with vitamins) every 4-5 days to **lightly** aid the shedding. Ill be decreasing this to once a week soon and eventually working off to nothing. I'm only doing this because i used to exfoliate everyday with chemical exfoliants so my skin is seriously dependent on exfoliation. It would be a Freddy Kuger mess if I didn't slowly tapper off :P **Update day 14! Skin tone has returned to how it was pre acne, breakouts are only in area of my face that had clogged pores, everything else is clear and no new acne has formed in other areas since this regimen. Only complaint is that dead skin does build up fast so I'm still exfoliating lightly with Konjac every 3 days, 4 if I can push it. Due to dead skin skin does feel rougher but I'm anticipating this will disipate with time. Starting a blog on my journey so check it out if you want more daily type details of skin changes and stages

I've had acne since I was like 13. It progressed to cystic acne in highschool and it truly sucked. I was trying everything and it seemed like there was no hope for my skin and i was just that unlucky guy. Luckily around my Senior year my skin started to get alot better due to me changing my eating habits and drinking alot of water daily but I was still getting pimples every now and then. Fast forward to right now I'm in college. I stopped using cleanser completely, due to me just running out of it and i figured I'd try to go without washing my face for awhile and see what happens. It's about 2 weeks now and my skin is fantastic. I haven't broken out in like a month so (knock on wood it continues) all I do is in the morning while I'm in the shower I'll let the water run on my face and rub with fingers lightly. After I get out I splash with cold water in the sink to close my pores. I haven't used moisturizer during this period but I will start due to the cold weather coming. I've previously had very oily skin but during this period of washing only with water my skin has been even and i cannot be more happy. I encourage you to try it out and see if it works for you. What do we have to lose? We already obviously have acne lol. ALSO CHANGE/WASH YOUR PILLOW CASES ATLEAST EVERY 5 DAYS. This will help alot. AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER

Ok I've been doing this water only regimen for one month now, only showering at night without letting letting the water touch my face until the end of the shower where I just splash my face with cold water using my hands. I have to tell you that my skin is still oily but my acne practically almost gone. I only have 2 big pimples at the moment and the rest is mostly scarring but I can see that they will fade away. It's crazy that I've been messing my face up with all these acne fighing cleansers and medications. For now I will continue to just use water

Ive had moderate cystic acne on my face and back from the time I was about 13 until my 20's. I was put on doxcycline(which worked for awhile) but had side effects because I was on antibiotics for 4 years straight.. muirad made it worse and so did proactiv. I tried 'natures cure' and birth control to no avail and ended up going through every hypoallergenic/all natural/ medicated face scrubs and cleansers you could think of. Finally, over the past 6 months I have stopped. I, personally, allow the water to run over my face in the shower and pat dry with a towel. If my face seems dry (I have combination skin) I put a dab of hypo lotion on my face but nothing else. My face looks better now than it has in years and the pimples I do get are seldom and small. They clear up quickly. I think that it works so well for me because when I stopped 'treating' my face, it allowed my body to do what it had been trying to do all along which was to heal itself.

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 :)

Day 2 of using only lukewarm water and a washcloth in the morning, evening and night and I must say I have seen drastic improvements !! I have oily blemished skin and my skin is not irritated by any kind of cleansers or chemicals..i just apply my sunscreen when I go out everyday and when i come back home I just wash it with lukewarm water again. SO HAPPY !! iTS WORTH A TRY !!

If you're looking for a sign that you don't need face wash - THIS IS IT! Trust me! All those chemical-loaded products will only deteriorate your skin! Some background history: My acne is hormonal and genetic so basically I wake up everyday with a new pimple here and there. Recently, I decided to amp up my skin care regimen. I went from using Clean & Clear to Cetaphil to Dermalogica Clear Start. I also got a few facials. Looking back on it now, I should have known I was being too harsh, but I only realized when all HELL broke loose! Literally just last week my face was so horrible that people were constantly asking me "What's wrong with your face?" , "Are you having an allergic reaction to something?". I was so embarrassed that I would avoid human interaction as much as possible and hide myself away. It took a serious toll on my confidence and self-esteem. I've never felt worse about myself! Now: After complaining multiple times to my best friend (who has flawless skin), she urged me to quit face wash and just use water. After much research, contemplation and just being frustrated I decided to give it a try. Now it's been just over a week and I'm already seeing huge results. A lot of the redness has calmed down, my old pimples have dried up and my skin is a lot less oily. There's still a lot of pigmentation but I feel so relieved that this is working for me. I finally have hope! However, my skin is now really dry and flaky and sometimes I feel uncomfortable with not cleaning my face, so here's some other things I did this past week that you can also try: 1) Drink lots of water and green tea (definitely helps!) 2) Soak face in green tea - I soak napkins in warm green tea and rest them on my face for about ten minutes - softens up the skin and brights it up, also applies some antioxidants to the surface (great for preventing breakouts) 3) Exfoliate GENTLY with green tea leaves afterwards (I just burst open the tea bag) to remove dead skin cells 4) Soak face in milk (use method above) - moisturizes, reduces pigmentation etc. 5) Exercise - blot face with a clean rag to remove sweat 6) Wash face with very diluted Cetaphil or soap after workouts (not sure if this helped or made it worse so I won't do this anymore, still trying to figure out how to clean skin post-workout, help?) 7) Avoid sun (I had no classes for this past week so I've been able to stay home and avoid the sun, I believed this helped significantly) 8) Improve your diet - no carbs, sugar, dairy products, cut down on the hormone-filled chicken etc. 9) Use a sterilized needle to gently burst new white heads, then wash area with lukewarm water (google this method for more info) NB- I only used the green tea and milk about twice this past week to reduce the redness and give me some temporary relief. Overall, once you use your discretion and monitor your skin you should be fine. Play around with some natural remedies and figure out what works for you and DON'T GIVE UP! If you're suffering from acne and it's affecting your social life and confidence, just remember that you're not alone! I know what it feels like to be extremely insecure and self-conscious about my skin :( (I still am to an extent). I know this post went a bit further than just using water only but I really want to help and encourage someone who's in this same situation. I know how hopeless you can feel when your skin is at its worst. I would have given this method five stars if I saw perfect results but it is too soon to tell. It will probably take months before my skin clears up (I may come back to update). In this past week I've learnt to love myself despite my skin problems and not let acne hold me back. I hope you can do the same! Stay positive and don't give up the fight! :)

I gave up on topicals due to the frustration of trying to restart differin after quitting for about 6 weeks. After 8 weeks of differin, bp, cleansers and moisturizers, I was fed up as my acne was not improving. So, out of frustration I quit cold turkey. At first I washed once a day with water only. It was working pretty well. Then I tried twice a day and my skin got worse. So I quit washing all together and its been pretty good. Still get breakouts, but smaller. No need for makeup.

There are a lot of people on here talking bad about the water-only meathod. Of course it won't work for everyone because everyone lives their life differently and has different habits. I for one have a terrible habit of touching my face, which is part of the reason I breakout. I also sleep with my jawline shoved into my pillow, so when I constantly washed my face and slathered moisturizer or cream or whatever on it, it just built up on my pillow case and transfered to my face resulting in more breakouts. So I thought Proactive would work. $80 and a month later it only made my face worse. So I washed my face one last time with an exfoliating wash and left it be. I rinse it off in the shower and pat it dry. At night before bed I take a cotton washcloth and wet it with warm water to wipe my face with and it feels amazing afterwards. It's only been a few days but it's slowly getting better. I never really had oily or dry skin but I have noticed a huge difference with the way it feels without the chemicals. It feels like fresh clean skin and thats the way it should be. I don't have to worry about getting anything on my pillow cases anymore. And I have given up using makeup for this expiriment and I must say it has been a huge improvement. I recommend this to those who are patient and want to ween off the chemicals. and also try washing your pillow cases and try not to touch your face too much so you don't transfer any more bacteria to your pores.

I have been struggling with acne for years I have sensitive skin so I can't use things with scent in them but I have tried every signal face wash u name it this acne needs to stop it's wrecking my confidence PLEASE HELP I heard using just water helps but I'm scared to try it what should I do ? !!