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I'm wondering if I should try this method...
I'm a 15 year old male who has slight acne (I personally believe its worse than it probably is), mainly around my moustache area and chin. I've had slight acne for a year or two now and I've tried many methods... washing my face in the morning (shower) and at night (sink)... using acne creams like benzoyl peroxide (which I HATE, it made it worse- plus I dislike chemicals on my face)... I've tried the Extra Virgin Olive Oil method, which didn't do much at all.... switch to an electric razor rather than blade, didn't help, looked worse.....
Just to say, I've tried many methods. I also noticed my face gets dry... again, around my upper lip, chin, and nose. Its all bad in the morning, and not until noon does my skin produce oil to reduce the flakyness and starts to look better. But then my nose gets very oily... and when I get home from school I pat it dry with a cloth. So... my face is either too dry, or too oily.
I've thought about going to a Derm but I want to try solving my acne myself. My older brother, 19, takes meds because he had bad acne as a young teen. I believe mine isn't that bad- my cheeks are actually great and not once have I got anysort of acne on them. My forehead wasn't the greatest for a while back, however, the past months its been great and I havent had any problems with it. So in all, its just my facial area where I tend to have pimples. My nose isn't bad, except for light blackheads.
Now... I've always noticed my face looks amazing when I wake up in the morning. It looks smooth, my complexion is even, and the acne's redness is down. Plus, no dryness is visible at ALL. But, after I get out of the shower, pat my face dry, and finish up in the bathroom, my face starts it cycle again. Complexion is meh... flaky dryness shows up around the chin and moustache area.
To try and stop that I stopped washing my face with any sort of soap. I just let the water splash down on my face- and I've kept the water at an okay temp- not freezing, not burning. But, again, I get the same results.
Now... after seeing this thread, I'm wondering if I should try this method to achieve my "pre shower" look. Tomorrow morning, I'll shower (I have to shower- I feel all greasy and my hair is gross if I dont), and I'll wash everything with soap as usual, but when I wash my hair, I'll try to avoid getting any water on my face and tilt my head back.
I created an account just to comment on this thread. It totally worked for me. I am male and now 22, and I have been acne-treatment-free for two years after having very persistent acne since i was 14.
I did the caveman thing for a couple months and my face was gross and flaky and oily during that time. It worked, but I don't know if it was totally necessary to be that uncomfortable. Btw, i cheated every other week by scrubbing with a toothbrush or towel because it was too much.
Then I washed with water but avoided using lotion for about a year. I had a habit of constantly touching my face to remove dead skin cells. And my skin would flake onto my shirt and my pillows if they rubbed against each other.
My regular routine nowadays -- in my opinion, the best -- is to rub my face with my fingertips under the water of the shower for ten seconds or less. Then I immediately put lotion on, regular cheap Vaseline body lotion. I do that about once a day.
Here are all the reasons to ditch all your salicylic acids and benzoyl peroxides:
RESILIENCE: Your skin will not be delicate and it will recover quickly from occasional mistreatment. A special face wash or makeup for a special day will not cause a breakout. Touching your face for a while will not cause breakouts.
SKIN TONE: I look healthy.
OIL REGULATION: My skin looks the same all day.
MONEY SAVINGS: My face was addicted to chemicals and now it isn't. I buy nothing for it except body lotion, which I am already using for my body anyways. I am pretty sure now that the facial cleanser industry is a big scam.
MOOD: You can fall asleep whenever you want and stop caring about your face. The less you care, the better.
My skin is not *perfect*. I have some tiny bumps that are not red, so I can see only them under certain lighting. I have one pimple at the moment that I don't care about. If I rub my face with my finger, some dead skin cells rub off. But I look healthy and this all takes no energy.
Since I was 15 I got acne. It started with hormon al acne because they were small zits. Past my age of 20 they became more severe. I once ate healthy and do running for some time and my face became more clear. And after a while my cystic acne came back and got worse and worse.
I had enough of this cystic acne that was ruining my face. And the makeup didn't do it justice. It was probably because i had a lot of stress and ate unhealthy for a while. I even got signs of insuline resinstance. ..
So I tried a keto diet (low carb)! And no more cystic acne. I still got a bit of less severe acne. And then I stumbled upon this forum thread!
I'm giving it a go! It's the sixth day and I haven't had any zits for 2 days! I have only washed my face once under the shower with cold water and without touching it.
I also stopped using make-up, only doing mascare and eyebrows sometimes.
I think this works best if you don't use any products at all and let your face heal on it's own.
I started thinking way back and I think washing my face, birth control pill and lots of sugar were the bad guys. I stopt doing that and now my face is clearly healing!
Thanks allot for all the info! I'm very grateful!
Hey guys, I know this was created in 2008 but I'm hping there's still a bunch of you giving it a try/ following the thread. Just want to shout out to othe veterans of this thread, waterwater, wapak, kingpin etc.. for sticking by for so long to answer a bunch of poeples questions. right on you guys. hope you are enjoying cleartown 
So, quick run down, acne sufferer for 8 years and I've tried it all blah blah blah... even as far as accutane (ony for 2 days, the side effects were horrendous and it felt like my body had poison in it). Anyways, after seeing the lovevitamin clear her acne from this I decided to give it a try. I'd always thought about how I was sure my skin woud be clear if i were stuck on a deserted island for months on end and didnt touch it LOL, so i finally read this thread and was like f*** it im gonna do it anyways even if poeple are gonna see my face udring all the nasty transitions.
Curently Day 2! I have about 6 or 7 active pimples on my face that I had since starting. I was really worried about this regimen, because I have a very oily forehead, but srprisingly it hasnt been near as oily as I thought! my face feels lincredible, love this regimen. Feels so great to head to bed without spending or worrying about staying up longer to do my whole shebang. I did make the switch about half a year ago to all natural products (wash with manuka honey, tone with witch hazel and cetaphil moisturizer) but my acne still wasnt clearing up. This seems like the next thing on the list. really excited about this! My face looks amazingthis morning: some of the pimples are drying up, while certain areas of redness on my face are totally shrinking away! I'm being really careful not to touch my face with my fingers as well. Hope its going well for all you guys... will keep regular updates through my journey... i plan on showering every 2cd day, and shampooing my hair every 3-4 if i can. Not getting my face wet though! seems to be the best way to go about it from what the thread is saying 
Another thing, I've found supplements and changing my diet have nothing to do with my acne. The only thing I've noticed and will continue to use for the next month while on this regimen is COD LIVER OIL (the fermented kind). The Omega 3s in it will be great for those with crazy dry skin doing this no wash/just water journey. Check it out, do some reading the benefits for acne are great and I've personally noticed some improvement in the week ive beentaking it.
OH AND! for those in the forum that were mentionng their skin was really itchy under the dead skin mask, and for those were were worried about it, I aint a doc but i honestly thik this is an incredible sign. I heard itchy skin means healing skin (or really dry, but that would only be the first couple weeks of this regimen im assuming) because if it was just dryness that wouldnt make sense, the dead skin mask is literally like a healing mask, the layer of deadness is keeping moisture and oils retained underneath to promote healing. So def think its a good thing. Question: when i do get this dead skin mask, what is the best amount of time to keep it on without gently wiping/scraping it off? 2 weeks? It sounds to me like 30 days minimum of no water abd then after that poit its okay to take off? im also seeing 60 days? not sure which to go by.
For the females out there, i really really dont think wearing makeup on this regimen is a good idea. the whole purpose of it is so your skin can breath, heal and go back to normal. this wont happen, or at least it seems silly, to be putting powder or oil based makeup on your skin. clogs your pores bottom line, and thats the last thing you need when not being ableto properly wash it off. If you wear makeup daily, i think youll have to pick between makeup or this regimen. If you are worried about going no makeup, dont be! Ive done it for a year now (well still mascara and concelear under eye) and you get totally used o it. feels much better and the majority of guys dig girls with no makeup! my ex said they are way more beautiful. plus a carefree attitude is always attractive. but bottom line what matters is how you feel, not guys, but just thought id add that in there for a boost to help encourgae you to ditch the facial war paint 
Sorry for the really long last post.
Update as of evening of day 2: two tiny new pimples came up today but we're gone by evening. Pimples going away Sooo fast compared to when I used to wash. Also, the pimples I do have since before I started no wash regimen really hurt if I lightly touch them. But of itchiness on my cheeks as well. Weird. Anyways will update in a few days.
Hey guys,
Day 3 here. Unfortunately my oil production upped a bit on my forehead, just so happened to be when I had to spend the day in the airports. Other than that, I had a whitehwD last night that pushed itself out, so I could see some of it poking out so I lightly wiped it off. Freaking out about having an open sore I took a dab of honey and left it on it over night. Nice scab today. Still have same amount of zits but my colouring is really improving. Although!! Something so strange, my pimples are SO tender/painful. Didn't have that before starting this regimen... Take care will update soon
Hi guys...
So I ended up rinsing my face once with cold water last night, just because I didn't feel comfortable sleeping on my pillow after having been in the airplane all day.
However, I broke down tonight and washed my face. The feeling was unbearable... and my skin was really starting to look nasty... i have two fairly itchy red spots under my eyes and I kinda freaked out cause some ppl on this thread developed seborrhic dermatitis from not washing... looked exactly like it. I think it may be better to ween off.. so my plan is to start washing only once a day (at night) and then after a week or two I'll wash once every second day... I noticed more of a dead skin buildup on my scalp oddly enough when i was doing this regimen the last couple days. Oh well, at least i tries cold turkey. Will come on back here when I can get down to nothing without having a weird skin rash!
oh- I may give the acne bootcamp program a shot as well then since I'm back to washing. heard some good things and doc neal answers your questions within a day (not affiliated with them btw)
Hey all,
I just wanted to come on here and just warn you... I think this can totally work for a lot of poeple but be very careful if you have overly oil skin. Seborrheic dermatitis is super easy to get with this regimen if you have very oily skin. I got it and had to wash with dandruff shampoo for three days before it went away.
Be careful if you have super dry skin as well because you could potentially develop eczema as well.
Just a caution, watch your skin carefully.
Hey Everyone,
I've been reading acne.org forums for a while now, trying many different things. I decided this topic would be my first post. Just wanted to let everyone know I am trying this regimen (mainly so I can ask questions, also for my own personal diary), on day 4 now.
Things I've noticed:
1. My pimples actually heal on their own now. No need for popping, it just clears and scabs over.
2. Has anyone had problems in the morning/night when you are sleeping? Sometimes when I am half asleep/waking up i would pick a pimple, and it gets pretty messy. I just cut my nails and hoped for the best tonight
3.Everyone has talked about their skin complexion getting better, mine has gotten darker (not from tanning, more like the dead skin turning dark).
4. Irritation is unbearable, My skin is not oily, instead it seems dry (mostly because its flaking). How has anyone dealt with this?
The caveman regimen cured my acne. I started it about 5 onths ago. I think the most important thing to temember is to listen to your skin. For instance, i started out almost extreme caveman, I didn't let water touch my face for about 9 days, then I gently washed with a very gentle cleanser. Then i didn't wash for another week. I followed that for awhile, washing maybe once a week, and then after another few weeks, i started gradually increasing the number of times i washed my face to once every 3 days or so. This seemed to be working well. Because i did wash my face gently, it kept any dead skin mask from farming. I don't see the need to be extreme. I found that i got great results from washing ever few days. However, now at 5 months, i do wash my face everyday, but only once at night and i do not use any chemical products. In the morning i just splash my face with water. I also started putting on a homemade msm aloe gel mixture and that works wonderfully at fading scars.
I think it was important to start off with not washing my face at all. It broke my psychological NEED to have a squeaky clean face and cured my fear of oil and sweat. I think it also gave my skin's acid mantel time to rebuild. Having said all that, i live in and extremely humid climate. I found that at least in the summer, washing my face with a gentle %100 natural once daily works very well. Once the summer is over and its not so humid i may go back to not washing...we'll see.
My point is, play around with what works best for you, but I highly recommend no washing or washing every 3 days at most for the first two months, then you can start washing a little more often and it shouldn't cause problems. I think the extreme caveman is a little unnecessary...washing once every few days was very beneficial in keeping the infamous dead skin mask from forming.
But I highly recommend this regimen. It cured me of acne. My skin is wonderful now
Well.. I registered here because I thought caveman's regime can actually work for me..
I'm 17 years old and I started getting acne when I was 14-15 years old..
That might sound weird but I was that kid that was lazy to wash his face.. Yep, I rarely washed my face until I was 15 years old, for the past year I started using those exfoliators, cleansers, benzoyl peroxide, moisturizers etc.. and literally my acne got worse.. After reading that thread I thought to myself that my acne got actually worse after becoming more "hygienic" and I didn't even think about it or noticed it..
Gonna start caveman's regime in 3 days because I am trying out sudocrem + benzoyl peroxide right now.. I guess benzoyl peroxide and sudocrem gonna make my acne worse, we will see but I can't wait to try out caveman's regime !
On 13 November 2015 at 10:55:43 PM, Chloe123 said:I did this 2 months ago. I really do think this works with time. However, my acne is hormonal so it made no huge difference. This helped my skin become thicker, however i feel like it has made my skin sensitive towards certain things. eg) if its too windy or hot, i will get these random red patches on my skin thats itchy. This believe it or not had the best effect on my blackheads. It didnt help alot and im now applying differin, however it purged out 40% of my blackheads.
Make sure, when you do this to exfoliate gently with a washcloth once every 2 weeks. If i had of exfoliated and didnt let that awful dead skin mask occur, i dont think i would have these itchy rash patches i now have.However, in general i do think this is effective for most people. If it works for you in the first month, continue.
I did try what i could say as a caveman routine , for me.At the start it worked wonders, not washing face for 1 week straight was tough ( including skin peeling and white heads)but worth it, however, after the first week skin started breakout, as in cystic acne of sorts and whiteheads, it was developing all over the face, trust me , it was devastating, i persist for another week and it became worst, that's when i stopped andwhen back to cleansers.
Hey, I stopped this regimen. It is actually too difficult not to touch your face when it starts scabbing and such. Instead I wash my face only once a day to allow my body to deal with acne on its own. But anything less and my face will get way too itchy, and impossible to manage.
Hey guys I'm back!
So i tried caveman last winter and got sebhorric dermatitis. It's been a year and recently I wanted to try again however to avoid what happened last time, I'm trying a modification where I rinse with water briefly once a day. echoing Mexx's post above, This is working WAY better for my skin than no washing at all did. Its only been a week but I'm really happy. listen to your skin. if it feels tight as heck, it could be eczema so don't rinse with water so much if at all. or, put a hint of moisturizer on super dry spots to aid the skin while it figures itself out. If your skin is too oily, to avoid sebhorric term like i got just rinse everyday with slightly warm water. works like a charm.
again, feel your skin out. "caveman" one special way may not work for everyone.
On 12/16/2016 at 7:03 PM, smiles23 said:Hey guys I'm back!
So i tried caveman last winter and got sebhorric dermatitis. It's been a year and recently I wanted to try again however to avoid what happened last time, I'm trying a modification where I rinse with water briefly once a day. echoing Mexx's post above, This is working WAY better for my skin than no washing at all did. Its only been a week but I'm really happy. listen to your skin. if it feels tight as heck, it could be eczema so don't rinse with water so much if at all. or, put a hint of moisturizer on super dry spots to aid the skin while it figures itself out. If your skin is too oily, to avoid sebhorric term like i got just rinse everyday with slightly warm water. works like a charm.
again, feel your skin out. "caveman" one special way may not work for everyone.
My son turns 21 in 5 days...for the last few years he has only done the 'caveman'...not by intention--he just sort of fell into it.
Anyway, he doesn't use any products on his face at all. He stands under the warm shower and lets the water rinse his face for a few minutes...he says it's "relaxing". That's it. He hops out and dries off with a towel.
Through high school, his acne varied from mild to moderate, but now it's virtually non-existent and his face doesn't get oily or anything. Like anyone else, he gets the occasional zit, but overall he's happy with his skin.
I told him not to change a thing! Once you start using products, your skin becomes dependent on them...so if it's not broken, don't fix it!
On 1/6/2017 at 0:50 PM, TheBean said:My son turns 21 in 5 days...for the last few years he has only done the 'caveman'...not by intention--he just sort of fell into it.Anyway, he doesn't use any products on his face at all. He stands under the warm shower and lets the water rinse his face for a few minutes...he says it's "relaxing". That's it. He hops out and dries off with a towel.
Through high school, his acne varied from mild to moderate, but now it's virtually non-existent and his face doesn't get oily or anything. Like anyone else, he gets the occasional zit, but overall he's happy with his skin.
I told him not to change a thing! Once you start using products, your skin becomes dependent on them...so if it's not broken, don't fix it!
Thanks so much for sharing that!! So encouraging on my journey... I'm only two years older than your son, hope to be in the same boat as him in a few months with this regimen. I'll hang in there! best not to do too much right? everything in moderation. So happy for him that he is clear now 
Best! xx
On 8.1.2017 at 10:49 PM, smiles23 said:Thanks so much for sharing that!! So encouraging on my journey... I'm only two years older than your son, hope to be in the same boat as him in a few months with this regimen. I'll hang in there! best not to do too much right? everything in moderation. So happy for him that he is clear nowBest! xx
How's your skin?
lol hey man I did it for a week (accidentally) and my face cleared up. yea I still have some of them. So it's true that you need to take a break for a while before changing to another brand. Be sure to do some exercises and go out, join a camping or hiking party. It really helps my skin.
We all need to sit down and enjoy the nature anyway.
