Summer Sun and Treating Sunburns - General/Family Life

It's still full on summer season, if you're on my blog page you may have also noticed that I've changed the theme to correlate to the summer feel and colors too! :) I know korny but I like to keep the flow and colors with the season or whatever I'm doing. That's besides the point of course - squirrel!

So as I was saying, it's still summer and I realized that I should have posted this at the start of summer. Hopefully this helps many of you and especially others moms! Obviously there will be varied results because everyone's skin type is different and treatments may not work as fast or the best as what I write on here-just for your FYI. 

For starters, I hate using the Banana Boat brand not only on my kids but for myself. It leaves this awful oily sensation after spraying or rubbing it into your skin and the worst part is the sticky sensation as well! Then lets not forget about the fact that I have sensitive skin on my face (and yes that's not me just self diagnosing as many people do, I went to a specialist Dermatalogist to have that determined) and I noticed that using Banana Boat would have my breaking out after literally every use! It didn't matter whether it was a spray on or a rub in or whatever versions they have and it also didn't matter if I wiped it off right away or left it on as long as the directions instructed. So in my book this brand will always be a NAY. I'm not going to be going into every brand used as sunscreen but I started with this one at least because it's the most commonly used and I know it's purchased/sold literally EVERYWHERE.

So which one do I use you may ask and its one that I advocate for anyone (especially for your kids)...

I use and advocate using the Neutrogena brand and the image above shows the exact ones I use routinely and for the occasion, they are also approved by my doctor and have done really well for my kids and I; so much so that even my mom and sister like using it as well and they each have different types of skin types. Yes before any of you decide to point out, on my snapshot there's a CVS one and NO I DO NOT use that one but I didn't feel like cropping that one out to just copy and paste :p I found that the "roller" ones (the ones that look like deodorant sticks) are convenient and so easy use. I have one literally at home, in my vehicle, and I carry one around in my purse just in case! The specific ones I routinely purchase is the "Sheer Zinc" one that I use on my kids and the one I tend to carry around in my purse and vehicle is the "Mineral Ultra Sheer". The ones I purchase are the ones I also make sure that have for "face and body" in addition to making sure that they are waterproof. My kids and I tend to sweat a lot when it's super hot out so I found that the ones that have "waterproof" labeled helps and still works well when you're sweating in the sun!

The best part you don't have to worry about some oily feeling or sticky and the wait time for your activity after "rolling" it on your skin is pretty instant, so you can feel secure in being protected right after having put it on! I have also found that you don't have to worry about if it was evenly sprayed on or evenly spread by your hands because it's almost like you're "drawing" lines along your skin with the deodorant like stick design so you have an even coverage throughout!

NOW, we come to the treatment of sunburns! It's common knowledge and advertised to use aloe vera for sunburns I know, but I also know that a lot of those products can be expensive and/or are sometimes hard to find when you need them. SO I'm all about alternatives when I need it and being prepared; that means I've also done the trial and error (especially before I write a post about it). With that being said, I'm going to use a most recent event of sun exposure to exemplify my healing methods. I personally don't get red when I've had an extensive amount of sun exposure, on the contrary I bronze/tan after the sun exposure no matter what I'm doing, BUT some specific areas of my body will have this "red lining" mixed into the tanned area or I'll have what looks like a bruising design but slightly dark red coloring if it was an area that got the burn. So below is the example of what I'm talking about...

So the same day of the sun exposure I get home and shower, without scrubbing the skin at all though! I simply use the dove sensitive skin bar soap and rub in with my fingers. The reason why I don't scrub is because I don't want to irritate the skin especially not really knowing yet what area got more "burned" than others. Since I want to make sure that I'm still clean and that I get off all of the sunscreen layer, that's why I rub in the bar of soap and "scrub" with just my fingertips to clean up. I DO NOT use hot water not warm water; I use a slightly cooler water temperature than a "warm" temp; to help refreshen the skin and body heat so that I don't feel like I'm continuing to boil even after the sun exposure. When you finish in the shower and are trying to dry off, BE GENTLE when towel drying-a simply hard pat down is more than enough to absorb the water/moisture and be dry before you lather up the lotion. YUP you read right, now ititss time for the lathering up part of the sunburn healing process! These are the specific lotions that I stand by and advocate for anyone, to help with the burn! 

So as I mentioned this is the day of after the sunburn and I'm already towel dried. So for immediate use I use the Jergen's Ultra Healing lotion and I use a simple suggested amount on my palm to lotion up the whole body for that first layer. Then I follow-up with a generous amount in my hands to lather only the areas touched/burned by the sun. You will almost feel like "sucking" feeling from your skin if you pay attention and the areas that are either tender or that you feel to be slightly sensitive from after the sun exposure are now being soothed by the cold feeling of the lotion. I don't rub in this generous amount (second layer) of lotion but I rub it around enough so I don't look white. I'll make sure I have and only using cotton clothing and its clothing that I won't care if it sticks or has the excess lotion on it. If you don't want to feel a sticking sensation of your clothing then I don't recommend this for you BUT it does work so don't knock it till you try it! ;) So now I'm all comfortable and healing...if you're immediately going to bed than I suggest drinking at least 30mL of water before bed to take care of the hydration portion of the sun exposure you had your body go through. Because it's no joke when they tell you to stay hydrated and drink lots of water after you got your sunburn! It really goes a long way! NOW if you're like me when I have the sun exposure events, there's at least a few hours before bed SO I have plenty of time to drink at least 40 to 50mL of water, then right before bed I'll simply check the sunburnt area and if it doesn't feel as slick as then I lathered that excess lotion layer (the second layer) than I use the CeraVe lotion and lightly rub some of that lotion in for the night...by the next morning none of the burnt/tanned areas are sensitive or hurt and I don't have to worry as much for the types of clothing I use or the rubbing of clothing and anyone touching the areas of my body that were exposed to the sun. Of course I continue to drink plenty of fluids as well! 

So there ya go that's it in a nutshell! Usually by the next day I'm ready for some more sun but the max timeframe that it takes me to heal from a full fledge body exposure is about 2 days...

Sincerely,

A Distinct Woman