The Sunburn Cure!

For the second times in as many weeks, I have a sunburn.

A bad sunburn.

I swear I sunscreened up.

I also swear that breastfeeding hormones make you more susceptible to sunburn.

First thing tomorrow, I'm after buying some new sunscreen.  Because that's the obvious answer, right?

In the meantime, I had to find a way to cure a sunburn immediately - because putting a writhing, scratching 6-month old right up against sunburned skin might be the worst torture known to man.

I've always been an aloe vera girl.  I even keep a tube of it in the fridge at all times.  It feels soooooo great going on.  But then it dries.  And it makes your burned skin tight, which hurts even more unless you're reapplying constantly.

More recently, I'm also a lavender girl - like pure lavender oil (no carrier oil needed) on a sunburn is supposed to take the sting out.  And so it does.  A little bit at a time, but it does.

Today, I needed something faster.  Like oh-em-gee-I-gotta-not-hurt!

So, after a little research, here's what I did.

Bragg vinegar.  Get the one "with the mother".  Because that's the good stuff (PS can I just tell you how fired up I am about Apple cider vinegar? I already use it to wash my hair and to help with my bum gallbladder, so finding another use for it was exciting!)

You can usually find it for less than $3 at any grocery store.

Wet down a wash cloth with cool (not cold) water and then splash some vinegar on it (or, if you'd rather, just put some vinegar on a cotton ball with no water.  Same same).

Warning:  It will stink.  Carolyn gagged.

Wipe the sunburned area with it - gently...you know, because it hurts like hell.

Wait for it to dry completely.

At this point, a lot of the sting from the burn should already be gone.

Then, get out your coconut oil.

This is what I use.  PS If you decide to order from Vitacost, let me know.  I have a coupon for $10 off a $30 purchase.

Rub coconut oil all over the burn.

You're gonna want to do this either without clothes on or with clothes on you don't care about - if you get carried away and put too much coconut oil on yourself (this happens to me every, single time I apply coconut oil...because it just smells soooooo good, that if a little is good, a lot is better.  I mean, that's good logic, right?!), it will stain your clothing...and pretty much anything else you touch.

Give it a few minutes (or like 20....if you are a chronic over-applier such as myself) to soak into your skin.

And now, the heat should be slowly leeching itself out of your burn as well.

And, TA-DA! 

Cured.

It took maybe 20 minutes after I was done to feel completely fine again.

Here I am 5 hours later, and all I have is a little skin tenderness - no stinging, no burning, no heat.

This is the real deal, man.



Oh, keep applying the coconut oil every day to keep your skin hydrated.  Supposedly, it's should also keep your skin from blistering or peeling at all.  We'll see if that's the truth or not in the coming days.

*The morning after...the sting was back, so I reapplied both vinegar and coconut oil (mixed in five drops of lavender because it was sitting right there). Right as rain again. Like I said, it's a pretty bad burn. I'm so lame.