If you live in the UK, you'll know that at any given moment, the sun can rear its head (I’m talking, one minute rain and the next, a scorching heatwave). Thanks to the unpredictability of said British weather, there’s a high chance of sunburnt shoulders and chests come the warmer months and as a result, agony when it comes to putting on a bra (IYKYK).
Sunburn might seem like a minor inconvenience – I mean, no one wants to look like a human Squashie – but it's also incredibly dangerous. Sun damage is the number one cause of skin ageing, and if you're burning your skin, surprise, you're damaging it. Worse still, one bout of sunburn can double your chances of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Yep, it's really that serious.
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How to heal sunburn
We've all had sunburn at some point in our lives, and know it to be a hot, tender and sometimes even painful red area, but what is actually happening to our skin? "Sunburn causes direct damage to DNA, resulting in inflammation and death of skin's cells," explains Dr Mahato. "The skin can become hot, red, tender, swollen and blistered. This normally develops two or six hours after sun exposure and peaks at 12 to 24 hours." Sounds terrifying, right?
Your immediate course of action
"Sunburn can develop over a number of hours, so it's important to act quickly at the first signs of redness," explains Dr Sturnham. To remove the heat coming from the burn, you should cool your skin immediately. Dr Sturnham suggests wrapping ice in a flannel and applying this to affected areas to subside the uncomfortable feeling. Follow with a cool shower or bath and stay far away from hot, or even warm, water.
You should keep up your burn aftercare for as long as possible, Dr Mahto stresses. "You may need to continue the process of moisturising the skin for at least several weeks in order to prevent the skin from peeling." Once the burn has healed, you need to lather yourself in nourishing skincare, to fight the free radical damage produced by exposure to the sun's radiation.
Ingredients to use when healing sunburn
Look for ingredients with a high water content, and also those that have soothing and calming properties. "My go-to ingredients for treating sunburn are aloe vera and cucumber, shea butter, rose water, calamine and lanolin balm," explains Dr Mahto. "All of these ingredients contain excellent skin-calming properties which help to treat sunburn," Dr Anita agrees. "Try fresh mint and cucumber as they are packed with antioxidants. With 95% water content, cucumber is very hydrating and it has natural cooling properties to take the sting out of a burn" – this is particularly good for sunburn on the face that you can't 'bathe'.
There are two ways we recommend applying these ingredients. You can either apply slices of refrigerated cucumber and mint leaves to your face and relax for 15-20 minutes (just like in the movies), or you can fill a jug of ice-cold water with the slices and leaves, infuse for an hour or longer and then soak a washcloth in the liquid and dab it on sun burnt areas.
Other than the veg in your fridge, vitamin E has been found to help dramatically with sunburn. "Vitamin E in skincare has been shown in studies to reduce the number of sunburnt cells and limit the potential damage associated with UVB radiation from sunlight," says Dr Mahto. "Creams containing 5-8 per cent vitamin E can also help with signs of ageing due to the sun, such as reducing fine lines. Using it together with vitamin C can increase these results, compared to using them alone."
Ingredients to avoid when healing sunburn
It goes without saying but if your skin is badly burnt, you need to be extra careful about what you're using on it. "Reassess the products you’re using day to day and prior to sun exposure," says Dr Mahto.
"Exfoliants, acids and too many active ingredients will aggravate the area and are likely to send your skin into overdrive, so give it a break for a few days so it has the chance to properly recover. Make sure you avoid products with petroleum, benzocaine, or lidocaine in their ingredients list as these can cause further irritation.” Instead, bland emollients are best.
Your post-sunburn course of action
If you're burnt, we strongly recommend staying in the shade and away from the sun, keeping covered up until redness subsides. Burn-on-burn is not only painful but very dangerous. If you’ve sustained a bad burn in the middle of your holiday, Dr Mahto advises to up your SPF factor. "Make sure you reapply your suncream every two hours and most importantly, keep those sunburnt areas well covered," she says.
It's rare, but sometimes a sunburn can be so bad that it requires medical attention. "If you experience blistering and the skin starts to swell or if you develop a high fever, headache, nausea and chills, you should go to a doctor," says Dr Mahto. "If blistering occurs *do not* pop them, as this can lead to infection and scarring. After a shower gently pat the skin dry, rather than vigorously rubbing with a towel."
Gaby is the Senior Beauty Writer here at Cosmopolitan.com/UK. Her favourite hobbies include sleeping, eating cake till she can't move and uncontrollably hoarding beauty products.
Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
