When you go outdoors, of course you don't want your skin to get sunburnt. Intense sun exposure leaves skin dehydrated, red, dry, and flaky. Did you know that sunburned skin can be tanned simply by soothing, healing, and moisturizing it? With a number of home remedies and store-bought solutions, you can easily repair the damage and restore your skin's healthy glow.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Soothes Skin
Step 1. Cool the sunburnt skin
The easiest and obvious way is: Apply something cool to your skin. Apart from feeling pleasant, this process also reduces redness, swelling, and soreness of your skin. There are many ways to do this process:
- Cold shower/bath.
- Use a cold compress such as ice or a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel.
- Rub the skin with an ice cube. Give a pause between uses so that the skin is not damaged.
Step 2. Stick the cucumber slices on your skin
Cucumber soothes and moisturizes irritated skin. Take a cucumber from the refrigerator, slice it thinly, then apply it to the sunburned area. The wider the cross-section of the cucumber, the better. Apart from cucumbers, you can also use potatoes. Potatoes contain a lot of water and can moisturize the skin.
If the cucumber slices are hard to stick to, try moisturizing your skin with a little oil or lotion first. They both work like glue
Step 3. Apply aloe vera gel
Aloe vera is known as one of the natural ingredients that can soothe sunburned skin. Apply aloe vera gel or a gentle lotion containing these ingredients to sunburned skin as soon as it's red or stings. Repeat several times a day so that the stinging and irritation does not appear.
If you are growing aloe vera, cut the center of the leaves and apply the flesh to the sunburnt skin for a 100% natural cooling effect
Part 2 of 3: Caring for and Healing the Skin
Step 1. Apply a topical steroid ointment
When applied to the skin, steroids can relieve pain and swelling, making them suitable for sunburned skin. There are many different types of steroid ointments sold in stores. One of the most common is hydrocortisone ointment. The trick, pour a pea-sized amount, then apply gently to sunburned skin. If needed, the ointment can be reapplied every few hours.
Topical steroids are different from drugs that athletes often abuse. The type that athletes use is an anabolic steroid. Over-the-counter steroids are completely safe to use (except in certain cases, when used by small children)
Step 2. Soak with tea water
Some say that the tannic acid in black tea can soothe sunburned skin and prevent peeling. First, boil a pot of water. Put 5-6 tea bags in hot water for 5-10 minutes. Cool the tea to room temperature (chill in the refrigerator to shorten the time). Once cool, apply to the sunburnt area using a washcloth or spray bottle, then leave for half an hour. You can also apply a wet tea bag to your skin.
Teas that are often recommended are black teas such as Earl Grey
Step 3. Soak in wheat water
As strange as it sounds, oats can help treat and speed up the healing of sunburned skin. Wheat helps to normalize the pH of the skin and reduces itching and skin irritation.
- Prepare cold water for soaking, then mix in 2-3 cups of plain (unsweetened) mashed oats. Soak for 20 minutes before rinsing the body or doing other treatments.
- You can add 3/4 cup of baking soda to the soaking water to make your skin even more moisturized.
Step 4. Spray vinegar water on the skin
As strange as it may sound, vinegar helps balance the pH of the skin so that it can relieve and heal the effects of sunburn. First, take a cold shower. Then, put the vinegar in a spray bottle, then gently spritz onto the sunburnt skin. After leaving it for about 1 hour, rinse your body or take a shower again with cold water.
- During that hour your body may smell less pleasant, but the chances of your sunburned skin peeling are reduced.
- Almost any type of vinegar can be used, but according to some sources, apple cider vinegar is the best. Avoid using balsamic vinegar because the sugar and coloring can irritate the skin.
Part 3 of 3: Moisturizing Skin
Step 1. Apply moisturizer
To improve sunburn dry skin somewhat, apply a gentle hypoallergenic moisturizer to the sunburned area. Daily lotions are generally suitable for use. You can also try using a few drops of a neutral oil like baby oil, olive oil, or canola oil.
Try to use products that don't contain artificial fragrances or scents, as the chemicals can sometimes irritate inflamed skin
Step 2. Drink water
Sunburned skin becomes extra dry and inflamed. So, make sure your body gets enough water to stay protected. Keep skin hydrated both inside and out to reduce flaking and chapped skin. The Mayo Clinic recommends about 9-13 glasses of water per day.
Water also helps with headaches that sometimes arise when you get sunburned
Step 3. Apply whole milk to the skin
Milk fat helps moisturize sunburned skin by relieving the sting and preventing peeling. Whole milk is usually the cheapest and easily available milk option. Wet a washcloth with whole milk, then apply it to sunburned skin at 20-minute intervals, like when applying a cold compress. Alternatively, add whole milk to cold water, then soak.
- Do not use low/non-fat milk. Without fat, milk loses a lot of its moisturizing properties.
- Greek yogurt that is plain and rich in fat also has the same effect when used as a lotion. Do not use sweetened yogurt because it is sticky and can cause skin irritation.
Step 4. Apply the potato paste to the skin
Potato starch contains a lot of water, so when applied, it can restore moisture to dry skin caused by sunburn. Grate one potato until it becomes a starchy paste. Then, apply the grated potato to the skin and let it sit for a while. After 20 minutes, rinse your body with cold water.
To make pasta, you can also use a blender. If using a blender, cut the potatoes into small pieces first. Please note, some blenders are not capable of processing one whole potato at a time
Step 5. Apply coconut oil to the skin
While many natural oils can moisturize and soothe dry skin as well as store-bought lotions, coconut oil is a better choice. Apart from providing moisture and giving skin a healthy glow, coconut oil also gently exfoliates, removes dead skin and aids in recovery.
Coconut oil is available in lumps at certain health food stores and grocery stores. The chunks will melt if exposed to hot hands
Tips
- Stay out of the sun until the sunburned skin is no longer red. If you have to be exposed to the sun, apply a high-SPF sunscreen to protect yourself.
- For severe cases, exfoliation is unavoidable. However, the methods above can help keep the stinging and irritation to a minimum, during the healing process.
