Honestly, after life long skin issues... it has never been better with "water only". That said... as Jenny J said above, it helps to take off the layer of dead skin every once in awhile as it will just end up irritating your skin. In the beginning, you will be sloughing off ALOT of dead skin, something your skin hasn't dealt with in a while so helping it along will help your skin out.

Humifidiers and dead sea salt baths help with any dryness. I would say washing every 3 days is probably good. Keep pillow cases clean too. Air dry. Get sun exposure on your face every couple of days. These things should help ease your skin into functioning on it's own without chemical assistance.

I did it without realizing it, but I didn't see any big changes. There are a couple of things you should consider that actually make sense (unlike the thousands of herbal remedies and supplements that are supposed to solve it but just do nothing) :

1. Reduce PUFA as much as possible. I just discovered fish oil does nothing for me except make me a bit more emaciated (only a bit though).
2. Retinol. Eating liver regularly and supplementing should do the trick. Keep in mind too much retinol won't help.
3. Oysters. Haven't tried this myself yet, but the selenium, zinc, copper and good protein should work really well.
4. Calcium (eggshells). I'm under the impression this is the biggest reason why fat-soluble vitamins (k2 and D3) are popular.

Aspirin and gelatin are great too. I hear a lot of success stories from people that eat oysters and liver regularly. At least you don't have to buy pills. I'm getting oysters in the mail soon and will report about it.

I don't use anything to wash my face, but I do find that if I don't rub it with a wet wash cloth every few days my skin gets a little "ruddy". I would try it, but keep in mind that it can help to slough off a layer every once in a while.

Try taking some activated charcoal!

You may be still having issues with your gut - standard issue paleo didn't quite do the trick for me. I found that fruits and nuts seemed to be triggering acne. Paul Jaminet suggested it might be the sign of ongoing dysbiosis/leaky gut, and suggested that I try taking activated charcoal or another detox aid like bentonite clay (didn't agree with me) or chlorella (more expensive, haven't tried). The activated charcoal alleviated my symptoms in the same way that avoiding fruits and nuts did - a sign that my problem is being triggered by something that it's absorbing.

The interesting thing is, when I avoid fruits and nuts (or take charcoal) my skin has a very different quality - much less oily.

The charcoal isn't a long-term solution, but it might be good to know if you still have issues in your gut.

I second the water only approach as well - my skin improved years ago when I stopped using medicated cleansers and creams, then improved again when I stopped using face washes all together.

Fruits are by far the biggest culprit for me though - but I'm working hard at healing my gut!

I've had to do this for most of my life. I have a number of skin issues related to a genetically damaged immune system, so I never wash my face with anything that would scour or scrub it, and I don't use soap on any part of my body (though during the summer, I do occasionally use the liquid from soaked soap-nuts every few days). Unfortunately, though it DOES reduce the incidence of flares, it doesn't seem to have stopped my dermatitis, roseola, and psoriasis completely... they just don't get as bad as when I was using cleansing products on my skin.

Have you tried washing it with oils? Our culture screams for oil free stuff, but I am in love with washing my face with a mix of coconut oil and a VERY small amount of tea tree oil.

Switching to water only, and specifically luke warm to cool (never hot!) has been the best remedy ever for my skin issues. I do need to gently massage with a wash cloth or I do start to feel congested and yukky. If my skin feels a bit tight or dry I also mix in the palm of my hand a few drops of oil (coconut, jojoba, rosehip, olive, whatever is on hand) with some witch hazel or lavender water or similar.

It did take a while to have a really noticeable effect, I'd say about 3 months, and this was after being on a paleo diet for about 3 months prior to that. My change in diet alone definitely helped, but going water-only took me that much further.

I have tried this but I had to stop because my face was just too oily. Does anyone else have a very oily face but DRY hands, knees, elbows, feet, etc? It seems like my face is stealing all my natural oils.

Sorry to crash your party, but I have a couple of thoughts:

1. You might be having an autoimmune reaction within the layers of your skin. Its not common but it does occur.
2. There could be deficiency of EFAs, consider essential fatty acid (fish oil) supplementation, if you haven't tried it yet.
3. Always try to think of the skin as an organ of elimination, in the clinic I often find the skin state of health is reflective of the intestinal wall health.

Just some thoughts,

Shawn Soszka, ND, LAc.

I wrote an entire blog post on this subject! Read and enjoy :) http://katieboule.tumblr.com/post/23804722907/caveman-skincare

I can only say what I've tried. I've got pcos so prone to acne especially along jawline (deep cysts when it gets really nasty).

Good things:

gentle massage in warm water with facecloth occasional use of mild soap 9maybe once a week, or less, just randomly when I feel a bit icky) occasional "oil cleansing" or dab of coconut oil - I realised too late that CO clogs pores! concentrating diet on fatty ruminants - cattle, sheep, goats etc NOT fish surprisingly. I think I need the sat fats. no make up "powdered paper" for dabbing off oily bits (maybe a bit girly ;) )

OK things: Oil cleansing regular moisturising with CO mineral make up

Bad things: Collapsing into a bad diet, especially overdoing coffee and sugars and dairy Honey wash/scrub (feels lovely straight away but came up REALLY oily after this interestingly) Commercial moisturisers, creams, including sun cream and spot cream Commercial make up

Have you tried massaging your own oil around your face into the dry areas? It was drummed into me not to touch my face, but gentle massage does seem to help. You can look up various "anti ageing" massages if you like! :D

I've been struggling with skin stuff too, and have gravitated towards the "caveman" regimen over the last 2 months. It hasn't been a magic bullet for me but I don't think I've healed my leaky gut yet.

I wonder, do you have dry skin or oily skin? I know you said "Don't recommend moisturizers" -- and I understand how annoying it is when people who've never had serious problems with their skin just throw names of topicals at you, as if there's some magic product you've just been stupidly ignoring, when of course you've tried so many things already.

FWIW, for the last 2 months, I gave up all products and stopped washing my face, although once in a while (about twice a week) I have wiped it off with a wet paper towel. (I will confess to one or two honey-and-salt scrubs during this two-month period as well.) Washing my face in the past always made my face really red and inflamed afterwards, sometimes for as long as 30 minutes, but this no-washing thing did not really do that much for me. My skin was still breaking out and seemed to be harboring some inflammation.

In the last week however, I started moisturizing when my face felt dry. (Not recommending any particular moisturizer!) And my skin has started to look a lot better. The tone is not red, and there's a nice sheen to the surface. I am still not washing it, but I think for me, even with no soap and minimal water exposure, my skin still needs a moisturizer to prevent inflammation. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

The only time I wash my face is when I shower, and I go two to three days in between showers. Since I don't tend to stink, I base when I shower after how greasy my hair gets XD

I've tried facial cleansing a few times with "expensive" cleansers and the like and it seemed to always either a) dry out my skin too much or b) just forget to do it!

In the shower, I only use handmade soap on my face, and have done so for years.