To get up to speed on what the caveman regimen is and my 14 day update, read the previous articles here and here.
Hey there!
Sorry I missed the regular post on Friday – Youtube was giving me some serious grief. I guess that’s what you get for leaving things to the last minute :/
Anyway – here it is. My video where I tell you what has happened to my skin after 30 days of not washing it, not letting water touch it, no products, and no makeup.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb8lo93s1W8
Click here to read the Caveman Regimen 3 Month Update
** UPDATE ** This topic has been so popular, I’ve finally decided to create ‘Caveman Regimen: The Ultimate Guide’ to answer all your questions and help you through the terrifying process of letting of of skin care (as well as help with modifying the Caveman to suit you and your needs better). Click here for more details!
76 Responses
Tracy:
I was just wondering, what are your feelings on eating baked potatoes, shrimp, or gluten free bread?
Do you have a recipe for gluten free bread?
Is coconut flour okay to use?
Also, if I totally follow your basic skincare system in your ebook (which I bought and LOVE), would there be any chance of weight loss? I’m a completely healthy 16 year old girl but I could stand to lose around 5-10 pounds
Thanks, I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE AND VIDEOS!!!
Hi Lizzie,
Baked potatoes are not too recommended to eat (although I do it from time to time!). They are really high in starch and spike your blood sugar really high… shrimp is fine… gluten free bread depends… lots of them that you buy at the store are still full of junk! There is a gluten free flat bread recipe in my ebook… the one you make out of flax.. check the recipe section again to find it! And yes, coconut flour is awesome to use.
Also yes, eating this way will help you to lose weight if you have extra to lose ! 🙂
Great thank you!
I was also wondering, any tips on staying disciplined with your diet when everyone around you is eating unhealthy junk food?
I live with my family and they are NOT on board with this whole diet and will continue with their unhealthy food choices.
How do I discipline myself?
Hi Lizzie,
I know it’s super difficult when your family and people you’re close to aren’t on board… the best way to keep yourself disciplined is to intensely visualize what you’re going to look like and how you’re going to feel… really put yourself in your shoes once you’ve stuck it out and kept to your goals and succeeded. Just keep that picture in mind every time you get a craving or get tempted or down and you’ll remember why you’re doing this.
Thank you very much! Your advice has changed my life a lot, for the better! 🙂
Wow, I just googled the GASP-Diet, sounds intense! I wouldn’t be able do stick to that but there seem to be loads of good experiences and results for people who do, so good luck with that!
I know – it is intense. When I first read about it, I was like… wow, this sounds amazingly effective, but… uhh… it’s too long and intense. And decided maybe I would do it sometime far in the future. But the idea kept nagging at me and the idea of doing it kept growing on me…… oh I’ll be writing all about this soon, so you’ll hear every little thought process on why I decided to do it… I just ordered a half a grass fed cow which will be ready mid May and then that’s when I will be starting it!
hey tracy, START JUICING!!!!!!! I’m surprised you bearly talk about that…. i been juicing wheatgrass, fruits and veggies for almost 5 months and cleared up my acne dramatically, and plus i feel better than ever before, lots of energy and pumped for life…..it even got rid of my anxiety i had…and throughout the whole time i did the sort of the caveman diet where i washed my face wit water, and the results have been out of this world
Hey Julio!
Haha yes, I know juicing is pretty cool. In fact, I have a juicer and used to make green juice all the time (back before I started this website). The problem was that I found it to be so much of a pain in the ass, I couldn’t keep up with it… cleaning the juicer (like making a whole extra meal per day) + the money for all the extra veggies just ended up resulting in totally slacking off on it, and in my opinion green smoothies are just more economical/convenient, so that’s generally what I recommend. Plus juicers are expensive.
But anyway – you’re right though – they can be quite amazing. Got nothing inherently against them, that’s for sure. Plus, the GAPS diet actually calls for taking green juice, so I’ll probably start the habit up again at least for a while (and probably blog about it!)
Hi, Tracy. We’ve e-mailed a few times about the GAPS diet and finding “internal bliss”. I know you don’t e-mail personally anymore but I was hoping that maybe as you go through the GAPS intro diet you could take us through the yes and no’s and how to’s. I looked more deeply into it and began doing the general intro diet a couple of weeks ago, however, I’m really struggling with food variety and keeping my energy levels balanced. There’s a lot of food prep involved that can be rather overwhelming when working full time. I hope you’ll find this diet beneficial too! Lots o’ love.
Hi Melanie – yeah the intro diet sounds totally boring and difficult! And a lot of work! No doubt about that. I know this diet isn’t do-able for many… wish it was easier, but I guess nothing worthwhile is ever that easy.
But yes, don’t worry, I will be blogging about it quite a lot to give my experiences and tips that I learn. But hey – maybe you can give ME advice since you’re already experiencing it! How long do you think you’ll be on the intro diet for? I’m expecting no more than a month – I hope!
Hi tracy!
I have a couple question about the caveman, since I’m in my 14 day today… I’m kind of nervous about the 2 weeks left cause you says that your skin looked pretty bad on that time. Mine isn’t to bad right now, it just seems a little congested around my nose and chin.
But do you still highly recommand to do this whole process even if doesn’t seem to “work” with your skin? Do you think that the fact of had let my skin alone for those 14 days could be beneficial by itself, even if I’m not necessarly doing it for 30 days?
I’m don’t necessarily want to give up, but I don’t want to let my skin flake and look gross if it’s not totally worth it… Even if like you, I really enjoy to don’t have to do anything with my face! It’s so fast to get ready in the morning right now 😉
Hi Noemie,
Well I can’t say for sure whether you will find it worth it to keep going, but for me, I would say it was. Like I said, it looked the worst in the morning, but seemed to blend in the rest of the day – most of the time it really wasn’t that bad.
Something I forgot to mention in the video was that on day 26 or 27 or something – when I was on the plane home from Australia – that was the worst (I think because of the dry air in the cabin) – and I decided I couldn’t handle it so I took the soft toothbrush that the airline gave us and kind of gently exfoliated some of the excess flakes away – and it was still flakey after that but not nearly as bad. It made it manageable. So you could try that – I’d suggest buying a soft baby brush (that you’d use to brush a baby’s hair) and using that. I think I’ve actually heard people on acne.org doing this regimen talking about using a baby brush in this way.
But anyway… I think it was worth it mostly because I feel my skin is healthier and I love not having to wash my face. But of course it’s a trade off because now I don’t want to wear makeup (but I still do emotionally want to wear it sometimes)…. although I’ve gotten around that by just putting a tiny tab on any pimples that look a little too red, and don’t wash it off. Doesn’t seem to cause any problems and gives me the best of both worlds. Spots are also healing incredibly fast now which is awesome.
damn I did just read my comment, and I think I should be more assiduous in my english class… XD
It is rather boring at times, however, if I had someone making me a big pot of bone broth 24/7, and boiling me copious amounts of cauliflower and broccoli I think I could manage it all without so much trouble. What I found difficult was the amount of squash to be eaten on the intro, the carbs are nesissary to avoid ketosis, but it rattles my candida. That’s something to be wary of while you get through the early days to come. Maybe rotate your veggies more frequently. I found that I’ve been doing the “intro diet” but at different levels at different times. That’s why I’m interested to see how you fair with everything, because I haven’t been strictly following the week by week plan suggested.
I would be on week 3 of the intro diet, but I have to confess, (sorry fellow viewers) that with all the boiled vegetables and meats, with little to no fibre, my stools are nearly non existant. This has been my biggest hurdle. If you have any questions or suggestions do feel free to e-mail me, support with these things is so vital. Lots o’ love.
Hi Melanie!
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your experiences so far (I love talking about GAPS haha… it’s all I’ve been thinking about lately). Since I believe in the principles and whole idea of the GAPS diet so strongly, I like to think it’s all going to be roses and lollipops, but I know for every person there will be different snags… and who knows how it’s going to go for me. Guess we’ll have to see!
I wouldn’t worry how much fiber you’re getting in, but rather getting in adequate fat. If you’re also getting too much magnesium, that can make many people constipated or have watery stools.
Although there is obvious validity to GAPS, I’ve been focusing more on liver/kidney cleansing because I just don’t think I have too much to worry about in terms of actual digestion/gut health. I’ve never actually been on a raw food diet, but that’s something I’ve been wanting to try lately, except I’d be more like raw paleo and not raw vegan.
I think liver and kidney cleanses are a good thing to look into. I’m very interested in doing GAPS to try and heal the gut, but I think some people could do with flushing out these other organs afterwards before all is completely well – I think I could definitely do with both. It’s best to have a good healthy gut before you go flushing out kidney/liver/gallbladde stones anyway 🙂
Looking forward to your GAPS posts! Good luck getting started. 🙂
I did GAPs for a bit along with my 2little boys and husband. It was a little boring at first. I found that the Internal Bliss recipe booked helped out tremendously!! The recipes are fantastic and most of the time, I already have all the ingredients. They are also pretty simple to make surprisingly. Were not following GAPs strickly at the moment. Right now were doing sorta Candida cleanse/GAPs. It took us a while to get the hang of all the cooking (and dishes) but now its totally normal to always have a pot of broth going everyday. We just started adding chicken feet to the broth…which was a little weird…lol. Who knows, maybe I’ll go back and start the Intro again when you do! Its great to have someone doing the same thing you are and being able to relate and motivate each other! But anyway,..If you dont have the Internal Bliss book, I would HIGHLY recommend getting it. Look for the recipe Cowboy stew.. Absolutely.. delish!!
Hey Jessica!
So have you seen any improvement in any of your conditions via GAPS?
I do need to get the Internal bliss book…. I have the What Can I Eat Now: 30 Day Intro book, and I have ordered the actual GAPS book by Dr. Natasha, and also the GAPS Guide (which will be here any day now)…… hahah but another cookbook surely couldn’t hurt!!
I love the new haircut! Sadly, I do not have the possibilty to watch videos here, which is why I cannot hear what you are saying – but I hear it’s all positive?
Hey lovely,
The prognosis was that I got really flakey in the second half of the experiment, and it didn’t completely get rid of all the mild acne, but the acne goes away really quickly and all the blotchiness and congestion healed up and my skin does look way healthier. On day 30 all I did was wet my finger and gently exfoliate away all the excess dead skin, and then my skin was alright. It’s been about a week since I’ve done that and I’m still doing the caveman and my skin isn’t flakey or gross anymore and it looks quite good. I want to keep it up simply because I love not having to wash my face!
And I also said that I am planning to start the GAPS diet soon
I am doing GAPS and I love it. I did intro in June 2011 and now and in full GAPS but no dairy. I feel great and my skin turned around completely. You also lose a lot of food cravings so it gets easier and easier. Stick with it but make sure to eat enough veggies! Good luck!
Hi Tracy, I was just wondering if you’ve covered the topic, or tried yourself, avoiding SLS? It’s the chemical Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulphate, and it’s in practically everything from toothpaste to hand-wash, soap to shampoo. For some it may be an irritant, my skin is improving so I guess I’m having a bit of success avoiding it myself.
I have no affiliation with this site, but it pretty much explains it more concisely: http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.html
Sorry, just noticed at the bottom of that page they are selling stuff. Just so’s you know I’m not some auto sales bot, I’d advise searching for non-sls products on google.
I ended my caveman experiment on day 18. I was visiting with family after having just gotten back from my trip & the first thing my brother said was “Dude. What happened?” So I washed w/ honey & jojoba oil that night & I’ve been doing that once a day – always at night.
Day 10, I went on vacation. My aunt saw me & said “You look really pale. You don’t look well.” & I could see her eyes scanning my forehead as she kept insisting that something was very wrong, lol.
The next morning I looked in the mirror & was horrified! I seriously looked like part-zombie or something, I kind of got scared. My skin was extremely blotchy & very pale (though the bathroom lighting probably made it seem worse than it was). I still didn’t wash, but I put some zinc on with my fingers & it felt like I was applying an exfoliation scrub due to the dead skin cells. It was very odd & pretty gross, lol.
I applied zinc for 2 more days, never washing it off. Day 14, I was supposed to meet up with family/friends & I caved in, wiping my face with a sulfur soap they have in Mexico. I tried not to really “wash” my face, just sort of swipe it & run water over it.
My face also seemed to look the worst in the morning & by night I would think “Oh, it’s not so bad”. Which is funny, because prior to this experiment I felt that my face always looked pretty good in the morning & terrible at night.
I suppose I’ve always had mild acne, though I wouldn’t doubt there have been some moderate outbreaks. During this regimen, however, I had more acne activity on my face than I have ever had in my life which was disconcerting. I had whiteheads all over my forehead down to my temples, but roughly half of them were red. Kind of weird, right? What was really strange was the amount of (red) whiteheads that rose up within my eyebrow hairs. I must have had at least 20 small to medium sized whiteheads within each brow. I also had activity around my nose & chin, but that’s more typical for me.
It really was so nice to not have to deal with washing my face at all. And my bag of toiletries that I packed was super tiny! I love the idea of not using products & letting my skin heal itself, but I’m not sure if it’s right for my skin. I think I might do a variation of it, like perhaps washing with honey/jojoba just once a week?
It’s kind of frustrating because there are thousands of different ways to take care of one’s skin, but maybe only a few of those is right for any one person. I’m just not sure how much time I should spend trying one method, before moving on to another one. It’s hard to know if my acne is getting worse because my skin is purging the bad or if my acne is just getting worse.
How should one gauge whether or not a particular method is right for his or her acne treatment?
Hi Audrey –
Sorry it didn’t work out so well for you – but remember – I also had a lot of unusual blotchininess and congestion and flakiness in the first month that I wouldn’t normally have.. my skin really did look weird. After a a few weeks I was like ‘okay… is this actually a sign of healing or is this going to get worse and bite me in the ass’. But at the end of the month, it totally cleared up and I really do believe it was just a sign of healing! I’ve been continuing the caveman and my skin actually looks great now…… so maybe it wasn’t not working for you ?
But hey – I understand… I might have done the same if I had anyone comment on my face :/ You gotta do what works for you…. also… I wouldn’t really have known what to say about how long to see if a skin care routine works for you, but judging off my experiment, I would say definitely at LEAST a month, maybe even two
Well I haven’t totally given up on this since no one in my family had bad acne & to me the regimen makes sense.
Today is day 30 from when I first started the caveman. I did freak out & stop on day 18, but I started up again on day 21.
It didn’t seem like my skin went back to square one when I started again – I’m not as blotchy & not really flakey. I also can’t tell if a “mask” ever built up but I’m trying to trust the process.
I will say that my skin has only gotten worse & I really hope that this is my detox moment & that things will clear up soon. I feel like I have the chicken pox because red spots are taking over my face. It’s moved onto my cheeks (where I never get acne) & today my cheeks felt like they were radiating heat, if that makes sense. It’s very odd.
It kind of scares me in a way, but I feel like I’m already in this deep so I may as well just push on. Two more people asked me what was going on because they say they’ve never seen my skin look so bad. Which is true, it has never come close to being this bad haha, but I’m just trying to take deep breaths & hoping for the best.
Aw, I’m sorry it’s not going well :/ I hope it turns out in the end! Do you feel that the acne you are getting is kind of “different” than what you’d usually get? If so, I think that’s a sign of healing, but of course, I don’t know your skin so all I can do is hope for the best for you!
Yeah about 97% of the acne on my face is completely different than what I typically get, so it makes me feel better that you mentioned it’s likely healing itself!
I’m avoiding mirrors entirely but today a couple people mentioned to me that my skin looks a lot better than yesterday. They even asked what I had done because there was that big of a difference. I still haven’t looked though haha!
Anyways, thanks for the feedback, I really needed to vent to someone that knows more about this. I’m going to continue for at least another 30 days so I may bug you again at some point, lol 😀
How are you doing now ?
Hi Tracy-
I think this is a really interesting experiment and I’ve always wondered what would happen to my skin if I stopped doing anything to it! At the moment I use a mild cleanser which I remove with a washcloth, and Sudocrem at night, and I have mild/moderate acne. But I don’t think I could deal with not washing my face at all, I’ll probably try just washing with water in the shower for a few weeks and see how that goes. I have one question though- I don’t always wear skin makeup, but I wear mascara or eyeliner almost everyday and I don’t think I could go without it! How did you manage this? And also how would I remove it if I did wear it, because doesn’t using conditioner or olive oil disturb the ‘cave man’ routine? Anyway, good luck with your skin, personally I think it looks fab!
I still wore mascara during the experiment, so I guess I’m fudging it when I say that I was wearing ‘no makeup’… but anyway, I’m bad and never take my mascara off. But if I did, I would use olive oil or jojoba oil to wipe it off… and just… yeah… wipe it away with a towel or something, trying not to get it on the rest of your face.
Hey Tracy! So I started the Caveman routine a week ago. I don’t let water touch is or wash it and I never wear makeup (I usually wear sunscreen everyday because I’ve had 13 pre-skin cancers) but haven’t been doing that. I haven’t built a dead skin mask yet. My face pretty much looks the same but my acne will come and go in like a day which is AMAZING and not seeing any Cystic acne which I usually do! I usually eat healthy but I cut out sugar more fully. (I had been eating a lot lately 🙁 🙁 )What about after working out? Just leave the sweat on the face without washing? That’s what i’ve been doing. Also, why am I not getting a mask? haha I kinda want this chemical layer to leave if it is there. Also what about sun protection?
Thanks! 😀
Hi Barbara-Anne,
I didn’t get the mask until like… a couple weeks in. It builds slowly, it wasn’t noticeable at all the first week.
Also, yes, you just leave the sweat on your face after you work out, or just pat it off with a towel if you wish.
Sun protection… my vote is with a good wide brimmed hat! And staying mostly in the shade.
Yes just reread your first post, missed that part when skimming! I guess I’m in for a treat within the next week 😛 I was excited about this because i’ve been Primal for about a month and love the whole Caveman way of living! Also, if we don’t wash our faces and that works, should we just not shower at all for full caveman routine? I know it’s a stretch, but thought I’d ponder that one.
Well I have definitely stopped showering as much now that I’m doing this routine… I personally don’t think showering is as necessary as everyone makes it out to be… providing you don’t stink (which if you eat like a caveman, you shouldn’t stink too bad)…. I’ve even read that you don’t actually kill any bacteria at all by showering, you merely move the colonies around your body. I really do believe our society overdoes it on the washing and germophobic stuff.
I totally gave up on this. Either my face was detoxing EXTREMELY or I was doing something wrong. I have had more acne than these past two weeks than ever. Now, my skin had been on benzole peroxide for like 5 or so years prior. I have 6 cystic acne spots right now (hard as a rock), blackheads everywhere, and little zits. I did overdue it with sugar on easter, but I feel like it shouldn’t be affecting me STILL. I really want to be all natural and steer clear of medicine, but I feel like I could be scaring people (a little dramatic :P) I just bought jojoba oil and started washing with that. Anyway, any advice would be great! 🙂 I’m tempted to have my dermatologist inject whatever she does in my face to clear the cystic stuff! I feel like a pre-teen. haha
Aw, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t go well for you Barbara-Anne
hey Tracy I just left you a comment on the candida safe eggplant post but now that I see you’re thinking of starting GAPS does that mean you’re not going to be doing the cleanse in April?
No I won’t be doing it myself this time… I never ended up doing it with the first group either simply due to timing stuff (spending too much time at my boyfriend’s parents house), although I had intended to. Besides, I plan to be hosting the cleanse about once a month or every six weeks, and I wouldn’t be able to (or want to) do it every time anyway..
But don’t think this is because I don’t think the cleanse is a great thing to do – the GAPS has the same goals as the candida cleanse (improve the gut flora, heal the gut), it’s basically just a different version of it and generally more long term. So I’m going to try it and if it’s totally awesome, I’ll integrate the principals of it to make the candida cleanse program even better, or make it’s own program, or combine them somehow.
Hi Tracy-I am going to do GAPS as well. I was wondering what you recommend for someone to use on their face while coming off of proactiv. Every time I try to come off proactiv I have a severe breakout. Is that the story with everyone that tries to come off BP?Would the caveman approach be a good idea, or should I wash with something gentle for a while? An esthetician recommended witch hazel, do you have any experience with that? I really want my skin to be off BP for good I just don’t know what the best approach is to avoid a major breakout. Thanks! Have a great day!
Hi Tiffany,
Yes, it’s very normal to have a breakout after coming off BP… your skin tends to freak out as it withdraws from the chemicals. It’s unfortunate because it really puts you in a viscous cycle, but try to be strong. I don’t know for sure what will work best for your skin, but I actually would advise the caveman if you can handle not wearing makeup… I think it would be a great idea to let your skin just completely regulate itself and heal from the chemical abuse. If you can’t do that, just raw honey would be fine.
Thanks. I have never tried to get off BP by “doing absolutely nothing” to my face. I’ve always tried to switch to other natural products.
I’d just like to say that I love your blog. It was interesting reading about the caveman regimen since I have never heard about it before. But it appears that I have been on it for a few years without knowing about it. I never wash my face expect for with a little water every three days or so in the shower and I dont use any products. I stopped wearing make-up a few years ago. People always ask me how I have such clear skin and what products I use. I always used to say I don’t know why or because I eat well. But now I’ll tell them it’s the caveman regimen. I do notice that it makes a huge difference when I am eating good and feeling good. When I am stressed or eating bad I will usually get a small breakout. But otherwise my skin is flawless on this regimen. But I am tempted to try washing my face with honey it seems very pleasant.
Hey Tracie! I’m so thankful to have found your blogs! I started this caveman regimen about 8 or 9 days ago and things were going pretty well until today- my skin was very flaky and I couldn’t resist but to use some water and rub the dead skin off.. This resulted in redness and blotchy spots. I was wondering if this was the result you got when you used water and your fingers to sort of exfoliate, and whether this reversed all the progress I was making? Thanks:)
Tracy
This is the 10th day that I have not washed my face at all and I have so much congestion on my forehead it is driving me crazy there are little bumps all over the place especially on the left side and it just looks gross. I haven’t had any cystic breakouts since I started and I had been getting a lot along my jaw line, but I just feel like my whole face is congested, especially the forehead. Can you tell me a little more about what your forehead congestion was like and how it went away? I really hope it goes away by the end of this and doesn’t just get worse… Thanks! I just need to know that this is the right thing to be doing and its not making my skin even worse!
Hi Lina,
Hmm well it’s hard for me to compare mine to yours as I can’t see yours… mine just looked like…. rough bumpy sandpaper…I don’t know how to describe it any better than that. But it went away! I hope yours does too. If it came out of nowhere and seems different than anything else you’ve seen on your skin, it’s probably just a healing phase. It’s very positive you aren’t getting cysts!!
Thank you! Let’s hope it’s a healing phase. I’m almost half way through so I can’t wait to see how my skin looks in the end. Til then I’m just avoiding mirrors, eating healthy, and trying to think positive thoughts!
I’ve been fascinated with the caveman regimen for quite some time now. I’ve tried it with water but ended p giving up after about 6-8 weeks of the worst skin in my life.
I’m on prescription BP now and I have been using it every night for several years. My skin is always pretty clear but my skin tone is way off and redness/dullness are inescapable. About 3 weeks ago I decided to push for natural again and started using cetaphil and then swabbing my face with water/drops of tea tree oil. I stopped BP cold turkey and switched to this regimen without working my way in.
Now, my face is beginning to feel congested and I feel like a storm is brewing. I am wondering if I should go back to BP now and start with an everyother day taper (with caveman regimen mixed in) or if I should just continue with my tea tree oil/cetaphil routine and brace myself for a strong purge – not trying caveman until my skin gets used to tea tree oil/cetaphil.
Should I go back to BP and start my caveman taper from there or should I continue with Teas tree/Cetaphil (man, I feel the pressure of a breakout building) and not even consider caveman until the antibiotics are kicked?
Please advise.
Hi Stephanie,
It’s hard to say… it’s not good to switch between skin care too much, but if you know that BP will help, I would probably go back on it for a while and then slooowly taper off it into the caveman.
Hi Tracy,
I can’t believe this is my first message to you when I feel like I’ve known you forever. You have honestly helped me so much and I don’t know where I’d be without you! I used to have severe acne just like yours. I started getting acne when I was 12 and I’m now 17. I suffered really badly in my cheeks and forehead, not so much on my chin and jaw. I’m currently having my first actual breakout for a few months (which I guess is something to be proud of) and I’m a bit down in the dumps at the moment, which is why I decided to contact you.
I started my holistic journey about 7 months ago – the diet, the lifestyle, the stress and the skincare routine. I had many breakouts in that time and eventually they did just stop. I washed my face with honey for around 6 months and my skin got so much better when I began using it. Although I no longer had acne, there were other problems with my skin that made me miserable. I have a lot of hyperpigmentation in my cheeks. My face was extremely congested (especially my forehead) and it looked absolutely disgusting in sunlight. I would shy away from sunlight and made sure I kept my distance from people so they didn’t see these horrible clogs and scars. I hope that the caveman is the final hurdle before success! At the moment I’m in college and I don’t feel I can jump straight into the no-wash caveman. I decided it would be best if I just rinse my face under the showerhead once a day, every day – but definitely no rubbing!
I completed the first 30 days and there were many ups and downs. After the 30 days my congestion actually worked its way out and sat on the top of my skin with a shit ton of dead skin. I was so happy at this point. I thought it was time to exfoliate. So then I gently exfoliated in circular motions with my fingers in the shower and it got rid of the surfaced congestion and most of the dead skin. My skin was left a bit red and still with some flakes and I still have the hyperpigmentation in my cheeks.
It has been a week since I did this and the flakes already returned. My skin is also very red, dry and blotchy on my forehead, chin and around my nose. On top of this misery I have broken out with two medium sized pimples on my cheek, two medium sized pimples on my forehead and about 6 small pimples across my jawline! It has reallllly got me down Tracy.
I just need some advice because I’m stuck in no man’s land at the moment. Do I continue the caveman and hope the flakes, blotches, dryness and redness eventually stop? Do I go back to washing with honey? And will my hyperpigmentation in my cheeks ever go away!? It’s been bloody months! I just don’t know what to do at the moment and I need some reassurance, guidance and confidence. I’m currently putting off a lot of events because of my troublesome skin.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for leaving your first comment 🙂 Love it when long time readers come out of the woodwork. I understand how you’re feeling, it’s awful when you haven’t broken out in a long time and then all of a sudden you do! With the caveman, it’s normal that things won’t be instantly amazing after thirty days… it’s a progressive healing, and there will be flakes and dry patches and maybe some breakouts before things get back to their normal state. Like how things were when you treating your skin holistically, it’s slow and there’s ups and downs. I say keep going, I think things will get better, but if things start getting worse, please go back to using honey. And yes the hyperpigmentation will go away (it can be slow but it will happen), but I would encourage you to please not avoid events and living life in the mean time due to the condition of your skin – in reality, you are the one who is the hardest on yourself; other people aren’t scrutinizing you the same way. Sending love x
Thanks Tracy – really needed that little confidence booster!
I do have one last concern at the moment. After starting the Caveman, I have developed really little tiny lumps across my chin and jawline. They are different to the clogged pores on my forehead, as they are a slightly redder color. But they dont really look like acne either. They dont bother me too much but it some lighting it looks horrible! Maybe they are just tiny pimples, but I’d say there is about 50 of them across my chin and jaw – they have been there for a while too! Did this happen to you on the caveman? What do you think it might be? And what do you think might be causing it?
p.s. I hope your enjoying India!
Hi Tim, I can’t say for sure if they are just a symptom of healing or if the caveman isn’t going to work for you. The caveman doesn’t work for everyone – just to remind you of that. Although when acne appears that is different than usual acne you get (which it sounds like it), it an often be a sign of a detox or healing. You also don’t have to puritanical about the caveman – if you are having trouble with clogged pores or something you can rub a little bit of jojoba oil into your skin once a day which can help unclog them
Ace. Cheers Tracy!
Hi Tracy,
Has the skin flaking gotten less bad over time for you?
My skin has a massive buildup of dead skin cells and it regularly irritates my skin and makes it itchy and sore to the point I can’t sleep at night. It’s been like this for about two months now and I’m growing desperate.
–
Pia
Hi,
From my experience going on 3 years of caveman, what is happening is it sounds like you are experiencing dry skin due to a few factors. One could be if you are showering with hot water, or touching your sensitive skin and rubbing it. For people like us sensitive skin means just that. You have to take extra precaution when dealing with your skin. That means avoiding things like, chemicals, hot water, direct abrasion – due to rubbing/washing/scrubbing etc.
The caveman regimen is great for healing your skin, but you have do so knowing that your skin is and will always be sensitive. Do not allow hot water to touch it, no steam etc. This will dry out the skin as well.
Avoid shower water touching your face, simply tilt your head back to wash the hair. Once out of the shower use cool water to splash your face, not touching/washing/scrubbing your skin with your hands, it’s simply that easy. If your skin is hydrated by it’s natural oils and not dry the skin will shed on it’s own.
Think of it as a skin scale, you are just at the sensitive side of the scale, which in reality, once you get this down it makes life very easy.
Last thing, let your face air dry, do not towel it off or rub it, will take 10 mins or so after you are done splashing it.
Good luck.
Hi MJ,
Thanks for your advice and sorry that it took so long for me to reply back.
My skin has improved vastly since my post. I’m now convinced it was this bad because of stress (due to a new job and some exams). I still have the dead skin mask but it’s not itchy and uncomfortable anymore. I am very strict on not letting water touch my face and it has started to flake a bit, which I interpret as a sign of healing. It’s not very oily anymore either.
Cheers
Hi Tracy,
I live just down in Vancouver, so we are not far away!
Anyway my story is my whole life i never used cleansers and only a moisterizer occasionally and had pretty ok skin. The usual pimples on my period and when i ate bad.. Then in January i got my faced waxed..Bad decision! I broke out like never before and then i started using products..and it got worse…so then i stopped using everything and did the cave man regimen in April and water occasionally but i do find it does dry my skin too…
The skin broke out bad all over at first and slowly improved…it is the third month and my spots from the first month left dark brown spots? And they are still there? How long did these brown spots take to heal for you? Other then that i feel the skin is dry and a bit irritated which bothers me…otherwise nothing really bad. Not sure if i should put some oil on it for the dryness but i will see. Thanks!
Hi Jocelan 🙂 Yes you are not too far away at all! The brown spots if they’ve been there long enough can probably just be exfoliated away. In my earlier caveman days, I used to get a few brown spots sometimes that were a bit stubborn and one day I realized that I could just gently exfoliate them and they’d be gone. I was like ‘oh. Why’d I stick it out with that brown spot so long, if it was that easy to get rid of’.
Anyway yeah if you are using water on the caveman, it can be drying, which is why I still do a mostly no water caveman regimen. Or if you live in a really dry climate. But yeah feel free to modify it and use an oil that you like to moisturize your skin. It’s no problem to modify the caveman to suit you better.
Hey Tracy! I am on a wifi connection that is not strong enough to watch videos, but I just wanted to ask–are you glad to did the caveman challenge? I read both your previous articles but because I can’t watch this video I don’t know what the final result was!
Thanks,
Holly
Hi Holly,
I’m thrilled that I decided to take that leap of faith and try it! I’m still doing it two years later because I love it so much. I’ve found that I get fewer pimples than I did before, and if I do, they’re smaller, heal super fast, and don’t leave much of a mark… my skin tone is more even… also because I’m not staring at my face examining it twice a day like I used to when I washed my face, I’m much happier and have a much happier relationship with my skin (also the fact that acne & skin always looks the reddest & blotchiest right after you wash it or apply products to it, meaning that since I don’t do that anymore I never have to see my skin at its worst… which is awesome!). The biggest thing for me though is the time saving and the freedom of not having to worry about doing the skin routine thing… I can now go camping, stay at people’s houses, and not ever worry about how to do my elaborate face routine. It feels amazing knowing that my skin isn’t addicted to or dependent on anything except itself 🙂
But yeah, check out the info page for the Caveman Guide for more details about how it’s helped me and could help you too if it’s something that resonates with you! https://thelovevitamin.com/caveman-regimen-ultimate-guide/
Hi Tracy,
Your story has been inspirational to me and you started my journey to better health and treating my acne. I hate to bore you with my life story but I’ve always had acne but I treated it with proactiv and my face looked great and I did that for years. The only skin issue I had was that it was extra oily but I could deal especially since my face was pretty much perfect, oh and I was on BC which made it that much better. Then one day after YEARS of using proactiv I just decided I wanted to do something healthier for my face so even after being forewarned about doing it cold turkey, I did it cold turkey. HUGE HUGE mistake. My face blew up and I struggled to find something for a whole year, nothing worked so inevitably I went back on proactiv and it wasn’t as effective. SO, I dealt with it and just lived with it because my face was better than not using proactiv. Then a couple years later I decided to take the plunge again but I was going to do it right this time and it worked for about 6 months then massive amounts of stress and anxiety hit me like no other at that point in my life. My face blew up worse than when I wasn’t using proctiv. That’s when I discovered your site. I decide to take risks and not see a dermatologist and try and deal with this thing naturally. It took a loooong time and a lot of expensive visits with my naturopath but it got me to a much better place. I was supposed to do a Candida cleanse but never fully committed to it for I don’t know what reason. Just too darn lazy I guess….I know, not a good excuse at all. I haven’t seen my naturopath since December 2013 because I didn’t want to go back and spend more money when I couldn’t commit to the diet change, which I know I HAVE to do. So here I am today, about 90% clear but I still have acne along my jaw line and some in the area of my cheek bone. It’s soooo stubborn because one week it will be getting better then the next I have 5 new, what I consider, cystic acne and the stupid part is that one side of my face has always been worse than the other. I’ve currently started back on proactiv because nothing else was working…I KNOW I KNOW! After all that I went back to the harsh chemicals but I’m at my wits end. ANYWAY, after writing you a book, I don’t know which path to take. I would love to commit to the caveman regimine but my diet is not on point, my hormones are probably still off (I am taking estroblock) but I just don’t know what to do, I am terrified as I don’t know what to do something completely out of my comfort zone but it sounds like such an awesome thing and it totally makes sense to me. I’m just at my wits end. If there’s any suggestions I would love to hear them and again I’m sorry for writing you a book. Thank you again Tracy for your awesome website and your story.
Hi Kacie.. hm I don’t know. The Caveman might help but I’m not saying it’s going to be your saviour if your acne is mainly hormonal / stressed based. Did you ever have your hormones tested with the naturopath? I suggest maybe checking out my female hormonal acne guide for more guidance there. You might also consider just getting on good probiotics if you aren’t already and don’t want to commit to doing a full candida cleanse. The fermented cod liver oil is also awesome too. These are just some of my suggestions of things you can try. Good luck sweets x
How do you end it? Ive been doung it for a month and a half-ish, the results were relatively good 🙂 🙂 but now i just wanna deal with removing current red marks left behind !
Hey Tracy, I have found myself loving the idea of the caveman and for some reason my guy says it is right but im about a week or two in and i have a lot of clogged pores. I never really got those too bad. Inflamed acne is down however(mild acne). Is this normal to expect? Im kind of freaking out haha. My diet has slacked which is what im thinking did it.
Also I read your jojoba oil article and I got some. Should I start using it now? Or should I do the caveman for at least a month or two.. my face feels so rough!
Hey Calvin, your skin is going to be a little crazy for a while! It’s sorting itself out after years of washing. Things will get better in the long run though
Hi Tracy!
Have you heard about teenagers doing this? Im 16, with average acne all over my face, which is really annoying. What are your thoughts? Im not sure if my skin would be able to regulate itself (it gets quite oily and I get stress pimples and pimples every month, so from hormones) and im pretty scared of it breaking out worse than it is already…
Hi tracy!
I’m a long time reader who has recently taken the plunge and gone hardcore caveman. I’m on my 23rd day and still have alot of congestion. Not only that but the middle of my forehead has completely broken out (between my eyebrows is covered in bumps where they had previously cleared, red spots in my eyebrows and what looks like something terrible brewing around the centre!) my diet is pretty clean. i’m just wondering whether you found that the congestion came in waves and would flake off and then come back again? Also, did you get more red spots than normal in the first month? Its not like me to get red spots on my forehead! Really concerned at the moment, i’m so upset by it that i’m staying in so no one can see me :’)
Thanks 🙂
Hi Tracy,
i have a lot of whiteheads now and bigones it is the one that replaced my pimples in my face so its not pimples now so much white head ive been doing this regimen for like a month now and still nothing good happened though my pimples is now a bunch of whiteheads and looks you know unpleasant. What do i do?
Hi Tracy. It’s the 5th day of my caveman regimen and I accidentally popped a truly big whitehead…..and then applied a little bit of oregano oil with a clean Q-tip but now I’m afraid it will get infected and even though I tried to get all the pus and blood out with many clean Q-tips, is there a chance for the bacteria to get back into my skin and form another whitehead soon? My first concern is that, taking in consideration that I am not washing my face and sebum, dust, hair (I have a cat. it’s summer. my house is full of cat hair) etc. there are higher risks for an inflammation. Please answer
Hey Tracy you’re amazing! It’s day 6 for me not using water or anything. I just woke out daily and let pat dry my sweat. But i just wanted to ask what’s your routine after 30 days.
So after you got rid of the dead skin mask. Did you splash cold water onnce a day every day ? Or do you continue you just not put anything on your face? Looking forward to sharing my story just like yours! God bless
Hey Tracy you’re amazing! It’s day 6 for me not using water or anything. I just work out daily and pat dry my sweat with a towel. But i just wanted to ask what’s your routine after 30 days.
My Face Is going through little small bumps my old pimples are hard and crusting away. And my dark spots have lightened i think Because of the mask.
So my next questions (sorry lol)
So after you got rid of the dead skin mask. Did you splash cold water once a day or every day ? Or did you continue to not put anything on your face? Looking forward to sharing my story just like yours! God bless
Sorry i also wanted to let people know that it’s only been 6 days and I’m seeing results as far as the healing process.
I dont Have severe acne i recently broke out due to using all different types of products. So this is my break to heal my acid mantle and trying something different to avoid making my face worse.
However if it continues to really fix my skin problems I’ll stick to it: saves money, time and stress lol
I have oily combination acne prone skin. (Usually breakout around and between my eyebrows and the side of my cheeks.
I Just want to know what to do once everything clears up so i can Maintain healthy skin and not make my prior mistake. And what’s crazy i used To just use a hot rag to steam then splash cold water and put on baby lotion and i was Fine. But during quarantine i had a lot of time to try different stuff which killed my skin. Now my old routine doesn’t event work :(.
Pros : So far everytime i workout and sweat my skin looks better after I pat dry the sweat. Less oily in the morning 🙂 as well. Skin looks radiant after i sweat.
No new pimples, just small little bumps( believe it’s my skin healing itself)
Skin is less oiler in the morning when i wake Up. (Still have to pat dry the excess oil) but i think it’s my skin getting used to not having to compensate for all the oil i was Taking away with the products.
Healthier diet (feeling better/less stress)
I drink Plenty of water almost a gallon a day.
Cons:
Flaky and small patchy skin especially around the nose/cheeks/ little as of now on the forehead
Certain times my skin looks patchy but after i workout It evens out(it’s weird lol)
Always wake up with to oily skin (but everyday it gets less)
Face is Itchy at times,(usually it’s the old pimples that itch, i believe that’s a good sign ?) I’m getting better at not touching my face.
I had a few Brown spots that kind of feel like crust. I scratched One by accident and it came off so easy and it was hard and off white color and crusty.
But other than that I’m stick to it. Gonna go 28 days and just remove the dead skin away. Hopefully everyone in the future do not have to use products and can be natural 🙂