I WISH I had a sunburn right now...
Nov 03 '00
I'm Canadian, it's November, and I'm writing about sunburn relief. Go figure.
First of all, I would like to say that I am one of the fairest people on the planet. My hair used to be so blonde that it went white in the summer. No joke. I'm Irish and I was born under a rock. Joke. Well, the rock part. I have had sunburns so bad they bubbled (nice eh?). So I know about burns.
A few non-product sun burn care recommendations:
Do NOT scratch the burn...that itch will turn to pain before your scratchmarks fade.
Do NOT let your brother slap you on your burn...you may not be responsible for your actions for the next few minutes.
DO take a cool bath, with baking soda or uncooked oatmeal, once a day.
And last, and most important, MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE!!!! If you moisturize, your burn will heal faster and be less painful. If you don't, the skin will feel tighter as it heals and you will go nuts itching and pulling peeling skin (a fun pastime for some, not for the spectators). That said, there are a huge number of lotions on the market that will do great things for sunburn healing as long as they contain vitamin E. But there are two products that stand above the crowd.
1. Pure Aloe Vera. Do NOT use this on a fresh burn! I bought some a year ago, thinking, 'oh great, natural stuff, this will be good for me' and then, after I put it on, thinking that it felt like I had just poured rubbing alcohol into an open wound. It burned and burned and burned! I definitely didn't expect that! Following up with lotion was a mistake: it only seemed to spread the aloe vera around. Now, lotion that has Aloe in it doesn't seem to cause this obscene feeling; I'm talking pure aloe vera, like the kind you buy at the health food store.
2. Noxzema. You got it; that stuff we all used when we were teenagers to wash our face? It is the most soothing, cooling stuff around. The minute you put it on, you forget all about the penetrating, annoying, persistent burning you felt with every pulse of life through your veins. I would recommend this to anyone who burns quickly and badly; follow up with some lotion an hour or so later, when it has absorbed, and you will keep your damaged skin oiled up enough to heal relatively painlessly.
So that is a fair Canadian's remedy for sunburn, for what it's worth. And no, it's not snowing here yet : )
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Epinions.com ID:
Corngirl
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Member: Sarah Weir
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 3 members
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