Best Acne Solution #2 Stop Washing Your Face

My acne took a dramatic turn for the better after I was trapped one weekend in a snowstorm and didn’t wash my face for more than 48 hours. Not only did my skin improve but I’ve been able to save thousands of dollars by not buying the latest acne treatments. My journey to an acne free face began one Friday winter night after attending my regular country line dance class held at a local bar. After class, I stuck around to shoot some pool (which I was good at from my college days) with a new classmate. I stayed out later than usual not because I was interested in the guy, but because I was having fun “beating him at pool” and didn’t want to stop.

Before I knew it, it was 1:00AM and the manager was telling us it was time to leave. When we stepped outside, we were stunned to see a full-blown blizzard and there was 12 inches of new snow on the ground! My new friend Joe (not his real name since I can’t remember it) insisted that I follow him back to his apartment located just a mile away. I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive home that night in the storm so I agreed to his plan and stayed the night on the couch.

The next morning I woke up in a panic. It was still snowing hard and now even the airport nearby was shut down. Great! Here I was stuck at a stranger’s apartment. I was horrified when I realized I didn’t have any of my make-up with me. I frantically searched through my purse but all I could find was some lip-gloss, mascara and chap stick. What an idiot I thought! How could I have left home without my foundation, powder, concealer and blush?

Because my acne typically got worse after I was in the bars (smoke, alcohol and staying up late always aggravated my skin) I decided the only alternative at that point was to skip washing my face. It was bad enough I had slept without washing my make-up off, but to wash my face now without being able to apply new make-up made my anxieties skyrocket. How bad was my skin going to get I worried? Wasn’t all that dirt and grime going to clog my pores and make my skin really look bad?

To make matters worse, the weather channel was reporting the storm wasn’t going to stop any time soon. I could tell Joe was equally uncomfortable with the situation, which only made me more obsessed with how and when I was going to be able to leave. I only lived 15 miles away! How hard could it be to get on the freeway and drive home? Well, the blizzard took a turn for the worse and there was no way I was going to make it home that day.

We watched movies, played cards and games to pass the time away but as each hour passed I felt more and more trapped. I was self-conscious as it was about how I looked, but now without my make-up on I was clearly distressed. I wondered how guys coped with acne when they couldn’t use something to cover it up. Of course Joe had flawless skin but my heart went out to all the guys that didn’t and what they must have to go through. I remember being irritated with Joe too because he didn’t seem the least bit concerned about how anxious I was to get home and yet, he didn’t seem to be enjoying my company either.

I had no choice but to stay another night at Joes but by Sunday morning I didn’t care if I ended up in a ditch- I WAS GOING HOME! I couldn’t wait to take a shower and wash the dirt and grime off my face. On top of everything else, I was exhausted from lack of sleep and stressed out about the prospect of driving on snowy roads.

I ventured out about 10:00 that morning hoping the roads were plowed well enough to get home. Even though the news reporters were warning not to drive on the roads “unless it was an emergency” and the airport was still shut down, I didn’t care. I figured I would drive slowly and eventually get home. What a shock! The roads were worse than I had imagined. Even the main freeways were barely plowed and every inch of the way was treacherous. I finally made it back to my apartment two hours later stressed out.

I immediately jumped in the shower and scrubbed my face clean with a washcloth and soap (Neutrogena of course) but to my amazement my skin looked better! I usually had acne breakouts on my chin, forehead, and cheeks and around my nose. But now I could barely see the pimples on my forehead and the ones on my cheeks were dramatically improved. My chin looked about the same, but overall there was a clear improvement. I couldn’t believe it! Had I accidentally stumbled on a cure for my long-standing acne? Maybe I was sensitive to all the soaps, harsh chemicals, skin peels, and masks that I had been using. I was perplexed. I spent the rest of the day wondering how my acne looked so much better after everything I had been through.

Since I wasn’t leaving my apartment, I didn’t use any make-up on my face for the rest of the day. What better time to see if my acne would continue improving if I just left it alone? My biggest fear though was it might get worse. That night, though it was difficult, I decided to go to bed with out washing my face again or using any nighttime acne treatments.

The next morning I woke up to get ready for work and I was delighted to see that my acne looked about the same. The good news was that it wasn’t worse. When I jumped in the shower, I used my hands and lightly splashed water on my face. I avoided using a washcloth and soap. When I stepped out of the shower, I lightly patted my face dry with a towel and left it alone for 30 minutes before applying my make-up. For once, my skin didn’t feel like it was going to crack when I smiled. As I stared at my face in the mirror, I thought wow; my skin looked great! In fact it looked the best I had ever remembered it. My forehead was almost acne free and my cheeks looked better than ever. I was shocked and amazed.

That night, I did the unthinkable. I went to bed without washing my face and taking my make-up off. My skin was starting to look better than I had ever seen it and what if all I had to do was stop using all the soaps and chemicals? What if I had been wrong all these years? What if I were spending thousands and thousands of dollars on acne treatments that didn’t work after all? What if they were all a scam? What if the problem wasn’t dirt or grime after all? What if in fact, all the acne treatments were making my skin worse? What if my acne wasn’t caused by stress like so many experts claimed (after all, being stranded in a snowstorm at some guys place without make-up ranked at the top on my list of stressful events in my life). Every preconceived notion about the cause of my acne was flying out the window.

As the days went by, I continued to wash my face with water only but just once a day in the shower. I went to bed every night without washing my make-up off. My skin continued to improve to the point where I only had acne around my chin area and no longer had a single pimple on my forehead. The severe acne I suffered with on my cheeks and around my nose was at least bearable. Although I solved the half of my acne problem by stopping all acne treatments, it would be another 20 years before I would find a lasting and complete cure for every area on my face.

To this day, I always go to bed with my make-up on. I never allow soap or anything other than water to touch the skin on my face. I use powder foundation and blush only and use make-up brushes (not pads) to brush it on. I wash my brushes and my hands often throughout the day and use a nailbrush to clean under my fingernails daily. I cannot guarentee that my way of clearing up half of my acne will work the same for you, but why not give it a try? What have you got to loose?