10 Natural Remedies to Soothe a Sunburn

Posted by allnaturalme in Wednesday, July 2nd 2008 under: All Natural MeZine, Natural Beauty Tags: baking soda, natural remedies, sunscreen, vitamin D

Hello Friend!

Summer fun is officially happening for us. I’m happy to report that I’ve done a great job with my Mama duty of keeping our little family sunburn free. There’s way more fun things for you to do than sliming on the Aloe Vera such as, nailing yourself an awesome prize pack as the Top Commentator at the All Natural Me Blog.

Amazing how I worked that in!

Sam continues to take no prisoners as she land herself a second winning for June’s Top Commentator on the All Natural Me Blog.

I’m off to ship out her prize pack with fabulous goodies like:

* An Earthy All Natural Me Tee Shirt
* A Handmade Business Card Holder from allnaturalme.etsy.com
* Support Braclet from CD Recycling Center.org “Every Disc Counts”
* “Soul Stream” Music for Healing Meditations by Joy Katzen-Guthrie

And of course some Free Karma Kards, Info cards from Environmental Working Group & other All Natural Me Lit to share with her circle of friends. Enjoy!

10 Natural Remedies to Soothe a Sunburn

Sunburns can happen even if you *try* to follow all the rules:

Minimizing your sun exposure between the times of 10am and 3pm;
Applying sunscreen of 15 SPF or higher (and reapplying); and
Wearing protective clothing and sunglasses.

Perhaps you missed a spot with the sunscreen or just forgot all the rules for the afternoon and now YOUR SKIN IS ON FIRE!!

Try these soothing remedies:

1. To help cool down your skin; try using a compress saturated with cold water or soak in a cool bath.

2. Add a cup of white vinegar to your cool bath.

3. Take a baking soda bath.
Then air dry so the baking soda can dry on your skin.

4. Apply fresh Aloe Vera. Break open a leaf and squeeze the gel out or slice open and rub on skin. Be sure to remove any sharp edges.

5. Make a paste with corn starch and water and apply to sunburn.

6. Apply veggie slices. Raw cucumber or potato will bring relief.

7. Cover your sunburn with plain yogurt. Then take a cool shower.

8. Boil lettuce leaves in water. Strain, then let the liquid cool several hours in the refrigerator. Dip cotton balls into the liquid and gently press or stroke onto irritated skin.

9. Supplement with Vitamins C, E and Selenium.

10. Drink water and lots of it!

Have fun in the sun but remember skin cancer is the most prevalent of all cancers. (So protect yourself!) The damage starts young as most people experience 80% of their lifetime sun exposure by the age of 18!

A Note on Vitamin D

Is sunlight good for us? Yes, it helps us create Vitamin D!

How? Expose your hands, face & arms to direct sunlight for
10-20 minutes, 3 times a week.

Why do we need vitamin D?

* Essential for bone health
* May prevent & inhibit the growth of cancer cells
* Prevents osteoporosis & bone fractures
* Prevents tuberculosis
* Aids in autoimmune disorders (like Rheumatoid arthritis)
* Prevents central nervous system lesions (in Multiple Sclerosis)
* Helps heal psoriasis
* Enhances immune cell function
* Prevents seasonal depression

What foods contain Vitamin D?
Animal products: cod liver oil, cold water fatty fish, fortified milk & fortified soy milk, butter, egg yolks and lard. (yuck!)

Want to know more about safe sunscreens?

Find out which ones actually provide protection at cosmeticdatabase.com

Popularity: 42% [?]

13 Comments Already

Marie Said,

July 2nd, 2008 @3:48 pm

Hey Sadie,
Way to go on an important topic-sunscreen to prevent skin cancer.
Nice touch, the link to the healthy skin products site-Skin Deep.
BUT, did you know that Vitamin C, even natually high Vitamin C products like lemonade, can increase your burn? And so can some supplements, like my favorite-St. John’s Wort.
Thanks for the good info, Sadie. Keep up the good work.
Marie

[reply to this comment]

Sam Said,

July 3rd, 2008 @12:19 am

Damn straight, no prisoners! haha. Thanks for everything!!! I’m actually wearing my tshirt right now!

And thanks for the soothing remedies, I’m definitely going to tell my sister. She burns up so easily, and looks like a tomato all summer. But that’s her fault, she always “forgets” to wear sunscreen.

Thanks again for being awesome!

[reply to this comment]

jessbrown Said,

July 3rd, 2008 @3:46 pm

Hey Everyone, even though my family rarely burns, it’s our genes, my sister tends to be a little more fair, Vitamin E and Aloe Vera Plant work lovely!

[reply to this comment]

Sam reply on July 4, 2008:

Thanks for the tips! Sometimes I get a little red, so Aloe vera and vitamin E will probably be perfect for me. But my sister gets so bad, she had blisters and peeling skin so many times. lol. I don’t know how she can forget to wear sunscreen.

[reply to this comment]

MamaTaney Said,

July 15th, 2008 @8:23 pm

We’re fair-skinned (both my kids even have red hair!), but we rarely wear sunscreen. We put it on the kids only when they’re going to be out in the pool or at the beach, where it is an ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVE for all of us! Last summer though I was doing some online research about sunscreen brands and how unhealthy they are for you. Now we’re eco-only sunscreens. We’ll be at the beach next week, so I’ll have to let you know how that works.
Kiss My Face makes a nice eco-after-sun-soother though. I like it a lot. We also have the aloe plants, but they tend to “bite” me with their little pokers (wow, that was a very scientific term there, wasn’t it??).
Of course, my favorite remedy for sunburn is my all-time standy rememdy: get drunk, start having a good time, and I’ll forget my worries! ha ha ha (and, NO, I DON’T give the kids that remedy!).

[reply to this comment]

Green Maureen Organics Said,

July 30th, 2008 @11:29 pm

Hey, Mama, I also carry an organic sunscreen! (http://greenmaureenorganics.mionegroup.com/en/product/13430). Not certified, though since the percentage of non-agricultural ingredients (in this case, the zinc oxide) exceeds 30% (click here for more information on certification criteria: http://greenmaureenorganics.mionegroup.com/en/certifications).

And as I mentioned in the Burt’s Bees thread, the Protect B5 Hair Repair is also a great soothing spray for sunburned skin!

[reply to this comment]

MamaTaney reply on July 31, 2008:

Oohh, I will definitely have to check those out. We bought all natural sunscreens this year, but since we actually ended up going to the beach we used more than I had anticipated us using. What SPFs do you carry? The Kiss My Face SPF 18 caused my husband to break out. Poor thing.

[reply to this comment]

Green Maureen Organics reply on July 31, 2008:

The SPF is labelled as 15, but in reality it’s 29.5—close to 30 SPF, but not close enough to legally label it as such. It’s got a lovely texture and the scent is really light, a faint aroma of coconut—not overpowering like alot of other suncreens.

Your husband may have been reacting to the Methyl- and Propylparabens in KMF sunscreen. He shouldn’t have this problem with The Protect Outdoor Balm, but if he does, you can return it within 15 days of purchase for a refund.

[reply to this comment]

Sam reply on August 1, 2008:

Ohh, I’ll have to buy some of your sunscreen for my upcoming trip to Florida! Do you also sell a lip balm with SPF?

MamaTaney reply on August 1, 2008:

We’ll maybe have to try it. And I’ll have to double check the ingredients in the KMF sunscreen to see what they have in it. Love it when you can’t trust even natural companies.

Green Maureen Organics reply on August 1, 2008:

I do have lip balm, but there’s no SPF. An SPF balm is in the works though.

Try http://www.ecolips.com.

Green Maureen Organics reply on August 2, 2008:

This guy (http://www.truthinskincare.com/search/label/KISS%20MY%20FACE) does an interesting breakdown of the KMF ingredients label—and it’s not pretty >:(

The only objection that I have with his article is his claim that there are no natural preservatives. There ARE, it’s just that A) very few companies know what they are,B) chemical preservatives are cheaper; using better quality ingredients will make the products more expensive (thus, less competitive), and C) they don’t really want to use them because it will mean putting a “use by” date on their products. Without chemical preservatives, products have a considerably shorter shelf life.

He is also of the mind that parabens are not harmful, but IMHO, if I can avoid them, I will—and I do.

Sam Said,

August 1st, 2008 @2:48 pm

Cool, thanks Green Maureen! Let me know when you finally start selling lip balm with SPF!