Sunburn is a huge problem during summertime. It causes annoying sunburn problems and forces people to find ways to cover it. It is very important to cove oneself from ultraviolet rays. The skin is exposed to UV rays that can cause cancerous tumors. Melanin pigmentation is increased, which makes the skin tanned. The abnormal-looking tanned face will make the skin look bad. It is essential to use water to make the skin healthy.

Fluids and water will make the skin remove toxins and make the skin look healthy. There are home remedies to cure sunburn and make the skin look smooth. These remedies are simple and effective.

A cool compress can be placed on sunburned skin. It can be used by taking a cool shower or bath. It will give the skin the much-required coolness and remove heat. It is one of the best home remedies for sunburn.

The use of vinegar is useful for the skin. It helps to balance the skin that is destroyed by sunburn skin. The vinegar can be used by diluting it with water. It should be used to balance the skin. It helps to balance sunburned skin’s pH (acid or alkalinity). It will help to promote the skin and give healing.

It is essential to use oatmeal to make the skin heal. It will be useful in preventing sunburn. It is one of the effective home remedies for sunburn. It is essential to soak the body in an oatmeal bath. It will help to remove itchiness and relieve the skin from sunburn. Apply cool,  not cold, milk with a clean cloth to your skin. The milk will create a protein film that helps ease sunburn discomfort.

Vitamin E oil can be used for the skin. It acts as an antioxidant. It can help decrease inflammation caused by sunburn. Vitamin E oil should be used on the skin regularly before going to bed to let the skin soak in it. It is one of the popular home remedies for sunburn.

With more and more of us understanding the serious consequences of sun tanning, we are looking for alternatives. Remember the first self-tanners that hit the shelves many years ago – well, you became instant carrot orange. The new sunless tanning products are much more natural looking than past generations of sunless tanning products.

Useful Remedies for Sunburn

• Aloe Vera or vinegar may be applied on sunburns to get relief from pain and inflammation.

• Mustard oil may be rubbed on the burnt areas and may be left to dry up. This will take away the heat from the sun burnt areas.

• Rubbing burnt regions with freshly cut cucumber slices can have a soothing effect on the skin.

• One may add baking powder to bath water. This treatment will soothe the skin effectively.

• Washing the sun burnt areas with apple cider vinegar can help a lot.

• The application of lavender oil or peppermint oil on the burnt skin would yield good results.

• Application of sandalwood paste on the burnt areas would relieve the burning sensation.

• One may mix one part of tomato juice with six parts of buttermilk and apply the mixture to burnt areas. It is to be washed away after 30 minutes. This remedy would heal the burns.

• Ice compress is an easy home remedy for sunburns.

• Epsom salt compress can also relieve symptoms of sunburn.

• Placing grated potato slices on the burns can give relief. The starch in potatoes would restore the skin tissues damaged due to sunburns.

• Herbal baths using chamomile or lavender essential oil in bath water can give relief from pain and itching caused due to sunburn.

The use of freshly brewed tea helps to cool the skin. It is one of the perfect home remedies for sunburn. It should be used to clean the skin. Brewed tea should be put on a clean cloth and applied to the skin. The tea has tannic acid to draw heat from sunburned skin. It adds power to restore the skin and maintain the pH balance.

Cucumbers have natural antioxidant and analgesic properties to make the skin healthy. The use of chilled cucumbers is useful for the skin to look soft. It is one of the natural home remedies for sunburn. Cucumbers should be mashed in the blender. It should be used to make a paste and kept in the refrigerator. It should be applied to the face for 20 minutes and washed off with cold water.

Protective clothing should be used before stepping out of the house. It will help the skin breathe and protect it from UV rays. It should be used regularly before stepping out of the house. It will help to cover the skin and protect it.

The use of sunscreen before stepping out of the house is useful for the skin. It is essential to make the skin healthy. It will make the skin soft.

Sweet Potato paste should be used for the skin. It should be used to make the skin soft and healthy. The use of sweet potato paste will remove all the heat and make the skin supple. It is one of the perfect home remedies for sunburn.

Cool milk compress can be used for the skin. It is useful to give the skin much-needed relief. The skin will become soft and supple. It is one of the home remedies for sunburn. It should be applied 20 minutes before going to bed and washed off. It can also be applied overnight for excellent results.

The use of honey for the skin is ideal. It is one of the best home remedies for sunburn. It will relieve the skin from irritations, soothing scratches, bites, and burns, and possibly reduce inflammation.

Corn flour is the best for the skin. It should be applied 20 minutes before going to bed and washed off. It can also be applied overnight for the best results. It can be applied with cold milk to form a paste. It is one of the popular home remedies for sunburn.

One of the important features of Aloe Vera Gel is its anti-aging properties. Formation of fine lines and wrinkles makes you look old sooner than your age; Aloe Vera Gel alleviates this problem by working effectively on the skin surface. It is also the best herbal get to get rid of sunburn. Aloe Vera Gel also stimulates the growth of new cells because of its polysaccharide properties in it. By applying this gel regularly on your skin, you can expect glowing and healthy skin which is free of blemishes and sunburn.

How Do Sunless Tanning Products Work?

Your skin is made up of two main layers: the outer layer called the and the inner layer called the dermis. In both normal sun tanning and sunless sun tanning, the action occurs at the epidermis level. The deepest layer of the epidermis is called the Stratum Basale, and this is the layer that is affected during normal sun tanning. The stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the epidermis, and this is the layer that is affected by most sunless tanning products.

In today’s market, there are several different kinds of sunless-tanning products available. Since the early 1960s, people have been able to get their tan from a bottle. Coppertone was the first to hit the market with its Quick Tanning Lotion. What it is most remembered for is the wonderful carrot-orange hue it produced.

There have been many advancements in self-tanning since the early years. Nowadays, you can purchase tanning pills,  self-tanners, sunless tanners, bronzers, and a host of other similar types of products. You can smooth, swipe or spray on a light bronze glow or a deep, dark tan. Most of these products take 45 to 60 minutes to work and then another couple of hours to dry properly.

The most effective sunless or self-tanning products contain the active ingredient DHA [dihydroxyacetone]. DHA is a colorless sugar that interacts with the dead cells located in the stratum corneum of the epidermis. As the sugar interacts with the dead skin cells, the skin changes color. These changes last from 3 to 7 days, and then you’ll need to reapply.

Gels, lotions, or sprays that contain DHA are said to be the most reliable. There are other very good products on the market as well, such as tan accelerators that contain the amino acid tyrosine. Tyrosine stimulates and increases the formation of melanin, thereby accelerating the tanning process. Currently, there is no scientific data available to support these claims. 

Tanning pills contain canthaxanthin, a color additive used in some foods. Canthaxanthin is approved by the FDA for food use, but it is not approved for the use of it in tanning agents. This is because when it is used as a color additive, very small amounts are needed, but when used as a tanning agent, much larger quantities are needed.

After canthaxanthin is eaten, it is deposited all over your body, including in your skin, which turns an orange-brown color. These types of tanning pills have been linked to side effects such as hepatitis and canthaxanthin retinopathy. Canthaxanthin retinopathy is a condition in which yellow deposits form in the retina of the eye.

Bronzers are also very popular. Bronzers come in the form of powders or moisturizers. They create an instant tan that can be removed with soap and water. Bronzers are a line of make-up because they only tint the surface of your skin.

If you’re going outdoors, make certain to still use your regular sunscreen protection. Sunless tanning agents do not protect you from the damaging rays of the sun unless they have UVA and UVB protection. 

Your sunless tan will only last as long as the colored skin layer remains intact on your body, so moisturize, moisturize, and moisturize some more, because this will slow down the shedding process and extend the life of your sunless tan.

Tanning Mother Nature’s Way

When you tan, your melanocytes produce melanin pigment in reaction to ultraviolet light in sunlight, which stimulates melanin production. The pigment can absorb UV radiation in sunlight, so it can protect the cells from UV damage.

Melanin production is slow and takes a fair bit of time, which is why people cannot get a suntan in one day [although a small percentage of the population can]. What you need to do is expose yourself to the sun’s UV rays for a short period between 4 to 7 days. By doing this, your cells will build up a level of protection.

For many races, melanin production is continuous, so the skin is always pigmented to some degree, so they have constant protection from UV radiation. Very low cancer rates are seen in these races. Melanocytes produce two different pigments: brown eumelanin and phaeomelanin which are yellow and red. Redheads produce more phaeomelanin and less eumelanin, which is why they don’t tan well.

Sunlight arrives on Earth in three forms: infrared (heat), visible light, and ultraviolet. Ultraviolet light is classified into three categories: UVA, which causes tanning, UVB which damages the skin and causes sunburn; and UVC, which is filtered out by the atmosphere and never reaches Earth, 99% of the sun’s UV radiation at sea level is UVA. UVB is the one that wreaks havoc on our skin, causing premature aging, deep wrinkles, and in the worst cases, cancer.

UV radiation is reflected by different surfaces, so you can amplify your exposure depending on the reflective surface. Snow reflects up to 90% of UV light and has been known to cause snow blindness and severe sunburn from skiing on a sunny day. Sand reflects up to 20% of the UVB that hits it, so you get extra UV exposure at the beach or when camping.

The flip to this is that some things absorb almost all the UV radiation. Glass is a perfect example – that’s why you don’t burn in your car on a hot day. Sunscreens use chemicals that have UV-absorbing properties.

Sunburn

Dark-skinned people do not have natural built-in protection, as do many races. So, if you are a Caucasian with no tan, then your skin is not protected from UV rays, making you susceptible to sunburn if you spend too much time in the sun. Sunburn leaves your skin red and extremely painful; in severe cases, blisters will appear.

Over several hours, exposed skin turns bright red and becomes extremely painful when touched. Most times, you can feel the heat radiating from the skin. When you get a sunburn, you have killed skin cells. The outer epidermis is already dead skin cells, but just below these cells is a continuous supply of new cells being created to replenish the top layer of dead cells.

When you sit in the sun, you expose yourself to ultraviolet light, which kills cells. Ultraviolet light can reach the layer of living cells in the epidermis and begins to damage and kill them.

Your body knows that cells are being killed, so your immune system is activated to clean things up. Blood flow to the area is increased, opening capillary walls so white blood cells can come in and remove the damaged cells. The increased blood flow makes your skin warm and red. The nerve endings for pain begin sending signals to your brain. The damaged cells release chemicals that activate pain receptors, and this is the result where your sunburn hurts or is very sensitive.

You can avoid sunburn by using a proper strength sunscreen or pace yourself getting a tan which then acts as a natural sunscreen created with its special pigment cells in the epidermis. When you have a nice tan and go out in the sun, you don’t get burnt unless you are so fair you never tan, in which case you need to use sunscreen all the time.

Evidence is now showing that the massive increase in skin cancer is a result of sun exposure that occurred, in many cases, over 20 years ago. So, take care of your skin by using sunscreen; it’s the only skin you’ve got for your lifetime.

We all seem to strive for the rich golden color of summer. It lifts our spirits and makes us feel better all over. Whichever method you decide to use to get that golden brown skin, use common sense to achieve your goals, and always wear sunscreen when outside.

Your skin will thank you 20 or 30 years from now when you’re not all wrinkled like a prune and not undergoing skin cancer treatments.

Take care of your skin; it’s got to last you a lifetime!