Quickly calm sunburns this time, in 3 simple steps

 Soothe the burn! Your 3 quick and easy steps. 

Spring in California is not an uncommon time to get a surprise sunburn. Of course being California, and due to our temperate weather, suprise sunburns can also appear in the middle of Summer, Fall and Winter. As a now native Californian (how many years need to transpire before YOU would cout a transplant as native?) sunburns are  an ongoing concern.

 

The biggest concern with a sunburn is not just the peeling but the DNA damage that leads to hyperpigmentation (fancy word for dark spots) and pre-mature aging (fancy word for "OMG, why do I look like crap?")  Did you know there is a way to reverse and prevent the DNA damage caused by sunburns? 

Here is how to save your skin and soothe the burn!

1. Gentle AntiOxidant Cleansing

Skip any foaming, exfoliating or scrubbing cleansers. Use a non-foaming, milky cleanser or a mildly foaming lotion-texture cleanser preferably containing anti-oxidants like green tea, reservatrol or vitamin e.

Do NOT use a washcloth or rub hard. Keep it light and gentle. If it still doesn't feel clean enough to you, go ahead and wash with the same cleanser twice.

Pelasante Gentle Soothing Cleanser contains a high concentration of green tea. The cleanser is a nice cross between a foaming and milky cleanser so it lightly froths and rinses clean. Great for daily use.

2. Immediately apply topical Vitamin C

One of the great secrets is that Vitamin C is extremely healing when applied immediately after a superficial burn including sunburns and stove top burns. It will speed up the healing, often preventing a blister and repairing damaged DNA.

Advance Vitamin C by Pelasante is in soothing and hydrating light serum base. Use it every morning on clean skin to prevent sun DNA damage. Apply it after over-exposure to the sun to repair DNA damage. Immediately apply it to minor sunburn and reddening, up to twice a day. to repair and prevent further damage plus prevent blister and speed up healing.

3. Soothing gentle Moisturizer, at least twice a day

 Keep your skin well hydrated, apply your moisturizer 2 to 3 times a day to prevent it from drying out because the dryness will slow down healing. Avoid any AHA and BHA products like glycolic, lactic and salicylic acid and avoid strong stimulating essential oils.

Stick to soothing anti-oxidants - green tea, reservatrol or soothing plants and herbs like chamomile and aloe vera that also help calm the burn.

Power Hydrator is popular with sensitive skin due to its high concentration of soothing and cooling green tea. This large bottle of moisturizer can be used from face to upper body twice a day to maintain and improve hydration.

4. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen and hats

Keep your damaged skin OUT OF THE SUN. A re-injury is even worse for you. This is vitally important so I "fudged" the 3 step how to and added a 4th.

Apply THICK layer of SPF on all exposed skin, slap on a wide-brim hat and UV protective sunglasses and  AVOID SUN EXPOSURE - both direct and in-direct sun for one to two weeks while your skin heals.

Sensitive skins prefer a mechanical only sunscreen with Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide since they don't penetrate into the skin but place a "shield" over it. Pelasante (insert name of mechanical only spf) will give an SPF 50 protection that is perfect for sensitized or traumatized post-sunburn skin. 

Got Sunburn? Ouch! Here's how to calm it down 

When you use these 3 steps, ... with the 4th step too, you will be amazed how quickly your skin will calm and heal. This is perfect for minor burns, if you have a deep sunburn you must immediately see yor MD. 

These steps also slow the development of hyperpigmentation (those ugly dark splotches) and slow the ravages of pre-mature aging (the "hey, I am looking pretty good" effect). 

How did this work for you? Have you tried this before? Do you have a home remedy that your prefer and can recommend?

I look forward to hearing more from you. Have a great week and take good care of yourself.

Michelle G. Lathe

PS: I made a bunch of simple images that I am just going to post on the bottom for ships and giggles. Which one is your favorite? Can you come up with a better one? Put the image under comments. I will update this blog and post and credit YOUR image.