I used to visit this message board a few years back, and now that I have been 'clear' for over 6 months (for the first time in 10 years!!!) I felt that it was my duty to return and give my report on what worked for me.
Firstly, some background - I am 28, male, and have been suffering from moderate to severe acne since around age 17. This wasn't restricted to the face, and included back, neck, shoulders, and chest.
I tried just about every topical and antobiotic, and then at age 21 I took accutane (roaccutane) under proper supervision of a dermatologist.
Accutane cleared me completely, but only temporarily as it merely seemed to just temporarily shut off the oil, which came back within a few months of my course finishing. My face returned with acne, but interestingly my body remained clear ever since.
So for the next few years I just gave up and learned to live with it on my face. But then last year I adopted a new strategy and it has worked completely. My first step was to stop using any product. No more salysilic acid, BHA, or even soap or anything. Instead, I showered using absolutely nothing but water!
The difference, however, was that I spent a lot LONGER showering my face than ever before. By longer, I am talking about letting the water spray on my face for at least 5-10 full minutes until oil the oil was fully removed naturally with just the water and with no assistance from any product. How could I tell it was fully removed? Because when I touched my face the skin was 'squeaky clean' just like dishes are supposed to be after you use washing liquid. Then I would dry my face vigorously with a clean, rough towel for a good minute or so. I would perform this simple, but patient, two-step ritual once every day (just before bed) or after any time I did sport. I did no other washing. After about a month I was down to just one or two small blemishes, which I would control with Benzoyl peroxide and after six months it's like my face has forgotten how to produce acne, and i dont even need B.p any more.
So my overall conclusion is that with oily skin you have to make sure that you really are removing the oil fully each day, and also that you do not irritate the skin with any foreign third-party products. Just stick to water. If this works for other people as well as it did for me, it surely puts Clearasil et al (and their grand consipracy) out of business.
You said that you had like moderate acne. Was your acne just papules that could be seen? Did you have whiteheads under the skin? Did you have blackheads? The reason why I am asking is that I have whiteheads under my skin and its called Milia. Many websites suggests that exfoliation will help diminish this problem but its not working. I dont have acne that you can see. I just get whiteheads and blackheads. But uh, yea I have tried everything also and nothing seems to work. Did your acne get worse before it got better? How long did it actually take before you seen GREAT improvements? You said that you only do this 1 time a day right? So when you wake up what do you do? Nothing? I would appreciate you answering these questions because I also am trying to get away from the products but a little weiry you know? Thanks!
You said that you had like moderate acne. Was your acne just papules that could be seen? Did you have whiteheads under the skin? Did you have blackheads? The reason why I am asking is that I have whiteheads under my skin and its called Milia. Many websites suggests that exfoliation will help diminish this problem but its not working. I dont have acne that you can see. I just get whiteheads and blackheads. But uh, yea I have tried everything also and nothing seems to work. Did your acne get worse before it got better? How long did it actually take before you seen GREAT improvements? You said that you only do this 1 time a day right? So when you wake up what do you do? Nothing? I would appreciate you answering these questions because I also am trying to get away from the products but a little weiry you know? Thanks!
Yes... I had moderate acne, papules, blackheads, sometimes small cysts. Not pleasant at all. I wouldn't say that it ever got worse when I started to do this, maybe only a little bit at the beginning as my skin had to get used to being weaned off these facial cleansers. I would say it took about 2 months before I saw GREAT improvements, and around 5 or 6 months before I was totally clear. But then I guess it takes time for skin to completely recycle itself and for your body to adjust to the change. As to when I woke up in the morning, I do absolutely nothing. I should also add that recently I began living in a very hot country, and therefore sweat a bit more, but I still stuck to the same system and I have been fine. It would seem I only need to have one proper, thorough cleanse and exfoliation per day. Any more is overkill.
After washing did you use any product such as Benzoyl peroxide? Ive been told to use it after washing, twice daily. But i'm trying new idea's and cures.. ur cure defently sounds interesting!
this indeed sounds very interersting..I have a breakout at least once a month on my face, back, & shoulders, I take showers for about 30-45 minutes with body wash and my back still breaks out, and so does my face I think for me and a lot of people it's the pipes in our water system unfortunately.
this indeed sounds very interersting..I have a breakout at least once a month on my face, back, & shoulders, I take showers for about 30-45 minutes with body wash and my back still breaks out, and so does my face I think for me and a lot of people it's the pipes in our water system unfortunately.
Hi... replying to this, I can't comment on water supply, but all I can say is that since I began this regimen everything got steadily better until I was completely clear. And during this period I was having my showers in the UK, France, Lebanon, and now the United Arab Emirates! I think as long as water is not ingested then it's mineral content doesnt really have an affect if it just being used to wash.
...and to reply to the other poster... for the described first 2 or 3months of this regimen I used b.p. once per day only after performing this ritual. Just spot applications to the one or two zits that did appear. After 3 months there was no longer any need for it at all. And now of course, I spend absolutely no money on anything!
I should also add one more detail - I only use an electric (dry) razor, as again I dont want to wet shave as this involved putting products such as shaving foam on my skin.
Very interesting. I'm not sure it would work for woman who wear makeup. A lot more than water is needed to clean off the makeup. But it might be a good morning routine.
Very interesting. I'm not sure it would work for woman who wear makeup. A lot more than water is needed to clean off the makeup. But it might be a good morning routine.
Actually, given that I am normally wearing suncream every day (as I am in a very hot country), I dont see that makeup can be considerably more oily and difficult to remove than this. As I stated before, the solution I found was really to do with just using water, and simply spending longer, much much longer with the water cleaning your face. Water alone will clean you, it just needs a lot of patience I think.
So when you shower and rinse your face for 5-10 minutes, what temperature would you say the water is? Lukewarm? Hot? I know the temperature of the water makes a big difference, so I just want to know what temperature has been working for you.
Thanks
Hello there.. I'm new to the board. I'm 27 and have had severe acne since I was about 13. I ended up finding out at the age of about 18 that I was allergic to peanut oils and that eating any foods that contained peanut oil was causing me to have severe break outs, this included deeply-set cystic acne as well. Well guess what my favorite food was? Peanut butter! (and some pretzels contain peanut oil too) I ate peanut butter numerous times of every single day. So once I learned this was my problem, I of course steered clear of Peanut butter (though it was like a smoker having to quit cigerettes!) and the problem lessened some. But I still have the scars pretty badly and the overly oily skin. So I'm not a professionaly by any means, but everything below is from experience.
In response to "My Cure That Worked" :
The rubbing vigourously with a towel afterwards I'm a liittle concerned about. As I've always been told to "dab" dry, not rub and scrub dry.
However the removing oil with nothing but water I do have to agree on, though my experience is done differently, it's a little shorter of a routine:
Make sure the water is warm... not too hot, but more hot than cold. Fold a wash cloth (with texture) and hold it under the warm water until it's completely saturated. Then press the cloth to your cheek. Wet the cloth again to warm the temperature back up, then press it to your other cheek.. Keep doing this until you've dabbed all of your problem areas; forehead, chin, neck, chest, etc. These are called Hot Compresses. Doing this allows the hot cloth to absorb the oils from your skin.
This can also be done before using a soap or cleansing agent as well. My dermatogolist told me to do it before using one, because if you draw the oils out BEFORE using the soap, then it allows the agent to do its job better.
*NOTE: The only time I would suggest NOT using this technique is if you have Rosecea. Rosecea's problem areas will become inflamed or more towards the service of the skin by contact with heat.
Hello there.. I'm new to the board. I'm 27 and have had severe acne since I was about 13. I ended up finding out at the age of about 18 that I was allergic to peanut oils and that eating any foods that contained peanut oil was causing me to have severe break outs, this included deeply-set cystic acne as well. Well guess what my favorite food was? Peanut butter! (and some pretzels contain peanut oil too) I ate peanut butter numerous times of every single day. So once I learned this was my problem, I of course steered clear of Peanut butter (though it was like a smoker having to quit cigerettes!) and the problem lessened some. But I still have the scars pretty badly and the overly oily skin. So I'm not a professionaly by any means, but everything below is from experience.
In response to "My Cure That Worked" :
The rubbing vigourously with a towel afterwards I'm a liittle concerned about. As I've always been told to "dab" dry, not rub and scrub dry.
However the removing oil with nothing but water I do have to agree on, though my experience is done differently, it's a little shorter of a routine:
Make sure the water is warm... not too hot, but more hot than cold. Fold a wash cloth (with texture) and hold it under the warm water until it's completely saturated. Then press the cloth to your cheek. Wet the cloth again to warm the temperature back up, then press it to your other cheek.. Keep doing this until you've dabbed all of your problem areas; forehead, chin, neck, chest, etc. These are called Hot Compresses. Doing this allows the hot cloth to absorb the oils from your skin.
This can also be done before using a soap or cleansing agent as well. My dermatogolist told me to do it before using one, because if you draw the oils out BEFORE using the soap, then it allows the agent to do its job better.
*NOTE: The only time I would suggest NOT using this technique is if you have Rosecea. Rosecea's problem areas will become inflamed or more towards the service of the skin by contact with heat.
Hope this helps some of you!
A Partner in Battle,
- Blaze
So if you wear make-up through out the day, would you still recommend doing this routine before cleansing to remove the makeup then? Or would that just allow the make-up to go into your open pores?
i would liek to try this...do you think it would still work for the female populatio...as someone said earlier, we wear make-up and plus our hormones are alot diffrent...
and ....you say that you dont use any products....do you use soap ect on your body? are you getting spots in any other areas apart from your face...
So when you shower and rinse your face for 5-10 minutes, what temperature would you say the water is? Lukewarm? Hot? I know the temperature of the water makes a big difference, so I just want to know what temperature has been working for you.
Thanks
I use the hottest temperature that is still comfortable. Definitely not boiling, definitely not lukewarm. Hope this helps
i would liek to try this...do you think it would still work for the female populatio...as someone said earlier, we wear make-up and plus our hormones are alot diffrent...
and ....you say that you dont use any products....do you use soap ect on your body? are you getting spots in any other areas apart from your face...
I use absolutely no product (including soap) for any of my body. My chest, back, etc. are virtually spotless. But (as I mentioned in the first post) these areas were largely cured by accutane.
As for make up, I often wear very greasy and oily sunblock, which this routine manages to remove. This can't be that different from foundation. The key is just in the length of the time you let the water run on your face. At first you just have to be very very patient. Try having the hifi on and waiting until at least 2 or 3 songs have finished playing
So you don't wash yourself with any soap at all on your whole body? You just rinse your body with water every day? I don't mean to be rude, but that sounds kinda gross. I mean, what about B.O. and stuff?
Shybit,
I don't wear foundation make-up. I only wear eye make-up. But if you do wear make-up on your face, here's what I would should suggest (and what I did on the rare special occasion that I did wear foundation).
Either go with CMD28's suggestion and rinse it off with just water for 10-15 minutes (eventually it WILL come off with the pressure of the shower head) -or- Use a light dermatogolist recommended soap like Dove for sensitive skin (no perfumes or dyes) plus some warm water to get the foundation off. Then after the make-up is off, try the Warm Compresses. I'm not sure if you're on any perscriptions, but after the Compresses you would apply your medication.
Overall though, I would suggest trying to get out of the habit of even wearing foundation. The agents in make-up is so harsh on sensitive skins like ours. I know it's hard, cause you are probably feeling like you want to HIDE behind the make-up. Maybe you have alot of reddness and you're trying to even out your tones. But these Compresses that I'm telling you about, also will help to reduce some of that reddness as well. If you still feel the need to wear foundation, then do it at a minimum, only when it's really needed. Don't wear it around the house or just to the super market when it's not necessary to look your best. Let your skin breathe. I only wear foundation for important events such as Weddings and functions where alot of pictures will be taken for the benefit of others. I don't want other people to be stuck with hideous pictures of a blotchy me. Anyways, I'm rambling... Hope this helps hun.
My cure that worked 
I think for me and a lot of people it's the pipes in our water system unfortunately.
I think as long as water is not ingested then it's mineral content doesnt really have an affect if it just being used to wash.
Re: My cure that worked 
