Why I Stopped the Caveman Regimen

If you didn't know, I tried the caveman regimen out and this is my final update after continuing it for a total of one and a half months. 

It's almost inevitable these days that I have a post explaining a bright and shiny new acne treatment I'm trying. And it usually works for about a month.

I dread that I have to report this back to you guys, but the caveman regimen wasn't any different.

It's hard for me to share acne treatments that don't work because it's not like "oh, this skincare or diet I raved about failed me", it's more like I failed you guys.  Sharing my acne fails when it comes to persistent, severe, adult acne has definitely become a bit disheartening.

Why I Stopped the Caveman Regimen

I had such high hopes for the caveman regimen. I mean the thought of putting nothing on your face and having clear skin- is there anything better? I think not.

What's the Caveman Regimen?

The caveman regimen is the concept of stopping all skincare products including face washing and water in order to give the skin a chance to reset itself. Typically it is done for 30 days since that's how long a typical full skin cycle takes. 

When It Started Going Downhill

It seemed to work for exactly a month and a half.  After that my skin started breaking out in cysts again. A new spot every few days, by the end of the second month I had developed four new cysts and I couldn't take it anymore.

My skin wasn't too greasy or too dry, it felt balanced. Since I wasn't using any irritating products, I am 100% sure my spots weren't from external factors. They were cysts that weren't going away anytime soon, so I HAD to put something on them.

Cysts Came Back With a Vengeance

I started with spot treatments, which worked for a while. That is until the cluster of cysts began migrating around my face. Y'all know what I'm talking about, or does this only happen to me?

Then I started using an all over acne treatment and by the time I knew it I was back to a full-blown skincare routine.

And that's completely fine, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe my skin needed a little break from scrubbing at it every single day! Would it have been nice if the caveman regimen continued working? Yes. But did it? No.

I will never understand why skincare or diet changes seem to work short term on my cystic acne.

I usually get a month or two of clear skin at the most but then bam! I'm right back to where I started. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up anytime soon.

With each #acnefail, I learn an invaluable lesson. It definitely wasn't a loss. And now that I'm completely done with the caveman experiment, there are a few key things I've learned.

What the Cavemen Regimen Taught Me About My Skin

My Acne is An Internal Imbalance

After being on countless topicals and prescription pills, and still dealing with acne well into adulthood- I should have guessed it was an internal issue. But I had to test out the caveman to know for SURE.

Since I put zero products on my skin, yet still continued to breakout, it showed me that product irritation was NOT an issue.

It was (and still is) something going on internally, not externally. Everyone is different but my personal theories are hormones, digestion, and stress.

The Importance of Accepting Imperfections

Since these three separate things are hard to constantly have control over on a daily basis, I expect my balance to occasionally be off and that may show up as acne. 

And that’s, A-okay. I'm not striving for perfection anymore, as someone who is acne prone I know I will occasionally get pimples. I've finally come to terms with this and accepted it for what it is. My goal now is just to be happy and healthy!

Understanding My Skin's Acid Mantle

My skin's barrier (aka acid mantle) was compromised. The reason I kept breaking out pre-caveman regimen was because my barrier was completely stripped from over exfoliation. 

Giving it time to repair itself was crucial in clearing my skin externally. However, it takes 28 days to reach a full skin cycle. I believe this is why the caveman worked for a little over a month and then stopped working. After my full skin cycle had been reached, and my barrier had been completely repaired I began going back into the pore clogging acne cycle again.