You apply sunscreen every time, every two hours, you swear you do. Okay, well maybe that one time you forgot. And that one time you got a burn. And boy did it burn. But can sun damage be reversed? Is there something to stop the pain and burning?
Applying sunscreen is important at any age and for any skin tone, don't think that if you are dark that you won't get any sun damage. Of course the lighter your complexion, the more you need to protect it.
After every exposure to the sun, you should apply an after sun product, even if your skin is burnt or not because you need to replenish the skins moisture and calm any sensitivity.
It is just as important to apply after sun care as it is to apply sunscreen. Think of pasta. It keeps cooking even away from the heat until you put cold water over it. Same thing with the skin. It keeps burning until you use an after sun care to "extinguish the fire".
Unfortunately no matter how quickly after sun exposure, you apply after sun care, you cannot undo damaged caused by UV rays. The UV rays have already penetrated the skin and have caused DNA damage that is not repairable.
So what should you do after a sunburn? Well make sure to drink lots of water during sun exposure and afterwards to keep from getting dehydrated. You can take a cool to luke warm shower afterwards. Pat dry and do not rub area. Using a thermal spray water like Avene's thermal water is great to soothe and hydrate the area. Then you want to apply you after sun care product.SUN BURN DON'TS
- Do not apply butter or olive oil on the burn as you may have heard. This does not relieve pain, yet it keeps the burning sensation trapped.
- Do not rub area, pat instead
- Do not expose area to sun/UV rays for a couple of days at least.
Probably someone who never used sunscreen or aftersun!
11 comments:
Another good tip is to use an after sun moisturizer that is very thin and light. The lighter it is the better because if it's too heavy it'll trap heat and just make a sun burn that much worse. Aloe is a go to so is Supre's After Sun Soother
David: Thanks david! great tip!
Maricela
Excellent blog entry about sun care!
Thanks! I used to tan in salons ALL the time and got burned so bad so I had to learn much of this the hard way through trial and error. Another really good thing to try out is an AHA product that can help to diminish the effects of long term song exposure (which I'm sure I'll need in the future). This is also good for drier skin and skin that's not prone to break outs.
great post! i sooo dont want to look like that last picture :O haha
aww i meant to drop by saying that you have been awarded the "i heart your blog award" because you totally deserve it <3 http://pinkboxmakeup.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-heart-your-blog-award.html, but i saw your comment so you already know haha you're one step ahead of me! :D thanks for the lovely comment dear, you're too sweet :)
Catanya: Thanks sweetie!
David: Oooh tanning beds are horrible! Glad that you figured out that they are!
xAgnes: Yes i just saw it! thanks so much for tagging me....ive linked you in my awards page/tab.
Maricela
Ew...that last picture is so gross! That lady could donate her skin to a luggage factory when she dies!
I try to avoid the sun as much as possible. I wear hats, sunscreen and try to hangout in the shade if I will be outside. If I do happen to burn, I slather on a lot of aloe with vitamin E and drink lotsa water.
I do agree that AHA (alpha hydroxy) is the only way to really make a difference in reversing such damage the sun does to our skin.
Here's a website where I get some of my AHA products. Even my husband uses them:
http://www.neotericcosmetics.com/alpha-hydrox/products.html
OMG that last pic is awful xxxx
Hiii! Thanks for commenting on my blog about the dangerous pigments by that Cosmetics Company and the water-pigments test I posted about.
It allowed me to discover your blog and I had to subscribe. :)
Great tips about taking care of sunburns. I don't sunburn much and try to stay out the sn, but I can't believe I didn't know about not putting oil or other body butters on after
Eww, that last picture is so disgusting! I can't believe that lady's still sun-tanning despite her skin condition.
BLIX: haha sooo true! She could deff donate her skin for luggage! at least whoever bought it could know that it wouldn't be damaged from the sun anymore!
kirstyb: Agreed!
Gigi: Hey darling, no problem! you have a great blog and you are very knowledgable, I really enjoyed that post! Thanks for dropping by!
Exuvalia: I know! She is famous though because of this pic.....it's a very well known pic in the beauty industry...
Maricela
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