Kayla's Guide: Hair & Skin Stuff

Sunburns

Hi readers!  It's summer, which means sunburns.  I don't get sunburns that often because I'm brown af and like to admit that I can burn, but I can.  To start summer, I drove to Las Vegas with my friends and it was amazing, but I came back with a sunburn.  I tried a few different ways to soothe it, which I'll share with you guys now.

Basically, a sunburn develops from a suntan.  The tan is the melanin in your body defending itself against the sun's ultraviolet rays.  Once the melanin can no longer defend your skin, you get a sunburn.

Aloe Vera Sunburn Treatment

I kind of made up this recipe because the ingredients are really soothing, but I wasn't sure if it was going to work.  It actually cleared up my sunburn in two days.  It'll help with any rashes or hives you get from being in the sun, as well.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of aloe vera gel

2 tablespoons of almond oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil

completely optional (but I did use): 1 teaspoon of witch hazel

Directions:

Stir the ingredients together and refrigerate it.  You could freeze it if you want a more cooling result, but I just stuck it in the fridge because my sunburn hurt really badly.  Hope you guys try this one!

Tea Sunburn Remedy

Ingredients:

3-4 tea bags of black tea

Directions:

This recipe is really simple.  I tried it on my friend when we got home and it worked for her.

Steep the tea for a long time, until the water is dark black.  Let the tea cool and apply it to where you have a sunburn.  I poured it into a spray bottle but you could probably use a towel to apply it.  Don't wash it off, because you want your body to absorb it and soothe your sunburn. 

Some other ways to use the black tea remedy is to steep the tea bags in a bath and soak in it, or apply the bags after steeping them for a long time directly to your skin.

One Ingredient Sunburn Relievers:

Cucumber--just apply cucumber slices directly to your sunburn

Yogurt--apply plain yogurt to the affected areas

Baby Wipes--pat the sunburn gently with a few sheets of baby wipes

Milk--soak a towel in cold milk and apply it to the sunburn

Well, that's about it for this 'chapter'.  I hope you guys go off into summer with bottles of sunscreen in your hand, but let's be real...that's not happening.  And again, if you have any requests or questions, message them or comment them!