One of the best things you can do for long-term skincare is protect your skin from the sun. But let’s face it: Sunburn happens. How you treat your skin when it’s burned can affect skin damage levels, recovery time, comfort, and how you look. So instead of pretending it never happens, let’s talk about how to take care of that sunburned skin.
1. Get out of the sun ASAP. Full symptoms of sunburn may not show until six hours later, so if you start to see or feel any signs, it’s time to seek shelter or cover up.
2. Anti-inflammatory pain relievers like ibuprofen or aspirin (as directed by your doctor) reduce swelling, meaning your skin won’t look and feel as puffy, and may also reduce the amount of resulting skin damage.
3. Trade the piña colada or iced coffee for water (and plenty of it). Sunburn draws fluid to the surface of your skin and away from the rest of your body, leading to dehydration. Staying hydrated helps you appear fresh, radiant, and beautiful and keeps you feeling healthy.
4. Take a cool shower or bath to soothe that hot skin. Use gentle soap to remove irritating sunscreen, sweat, and chlorine – but don’t scrub or exfoliate. You might look a bit shiny, but that’s because the top layer of your skin has been burned off. Adding ground oatmeal or an oatmeal based treatment to your bath can also help soothe your skin..
5. Moisturize frequently. Avoid moisturizers that block your skin from breathing so you don’t trap heat produced by the sunburn. Moisturizers with vitamins can soothe your skin, help limit skin damage, and make peeling skin less noticeable. Consider BNY’s ultra hydrating White Diamond Facial Serum followed by White Diamond Face Cream.
6. Soak a cloth in a bowl of whole milk with ice and set it on top of your sunburn for a few minutes. Remember not to rub. To rinse the milk off, splash cool water onto your skin. Milk soothes inflammation, and the coolness helps your blood vessels contract, reducing redness and puffiness.
7. You’ve probably already heard about aloe’s natural soothing ability, but have you ever put it in the refrigerator and applied it cold?
8. Brew some black tea and let it cool before applying it to your skin with a cloth, as it may help draw heat from sunburned skin and restore your skin’s pH balance.
9. Toss some chilled cucumbers into a blender to create a paste you can spread over your sunburn. Cucumbers are a natural pain reliever and containing healing antioxidants.
10. White vinegar or 1% hydrocortisone as directed by your doctor can help reduce the sting, soreness, redness, and puffiness of sunburn.
11. Apply SPF 30 or higher if you’re leaving the house.
12. Your skin will heal faster if you don’t use a lot of makeup, but if you do need to cover up, go with a green tinted moisturizer or concealer to neutralize redness and stick to the troubled spots only. Instead of lipstick or gloss, opt for a hydrating lip balm for the next couple days.
13. Wash your face with BNY Cleansing Milk, which clears away dirt and makeup without removing moisture. Follow with Purifying Facial Cleanser to introduce continuous hydration and gently balance pH levels.
14. Don’t pick at peeling skin or blisters. You’ll only damage your skin and add unnecessary time to its recovery.
15. Serious sunburn requires medical attention.
16. Learn from your mistake and do a better job protecting your skin from the sun. Your future beauty thanks you.
When did you first start to take sun protection seriously? More sunburn treatment tips to share? Leave a comment here or Tweet @brillianceny and we’ll Retweet!
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