Our Top Tips for Sunburn Skincare

As soon as you realise that you've been sunburned, it's important to get out of the sun and start treating it immediately. Most people's first port of call is cold water, and many dermatologists highly recommend this as the first step.

Cold water can help soothe inflammation and stop the sunburn from getting worse. Ideally, you should immerse yourself in a cool bath or take a cool shower, just under room temperature. As soon as you get out, gently pat yourself dry with a soft towel - don't rub too hard, or you'll irritate your raw skin even more! Leave a little bit of moisture on your skin and apply a moisturiser or sunburn cream over it to trap water and prevent dryness.

If you can't get into a cold bath or if your burn is really localised, you can create a cold compress by soaking a cloth in equal parts cold milk and ice water. The pH levels and proteins in the milk will help soothe the burn more than water alone.

Sunburns will dry out your skin and decimate its natural barrier, so the main sunburn treatment recommended by dermatologists is to moisturise the area regularly throughout the healing process. There are a wide variety of products that you can use as a sunburn cream, including:

• Face or body creams that contain antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E - antioxidants can help fight some of the cellular damage from sunburns that has been linked to skin cancer! We love Sun Bum’s After Sun Cool Down Lotion, but any lotion or cream with antioxidant properties should do the trick!

• Moisturisers that contain ceramides - these are great for fighting dehydration and reinforcing your skin’s natural barrier while it heals!

• Aloe vera gels - aloe is a powerful soothing ingredient that’s good for your skin no matter what state it’s in! You can get aloe gel right from the plant in tropical locales, but savvy sun-worshippers always carry aloe treatments like the After Sun Cool Down Gel from Sun Bum.

• Creams that contain soy - soy might seem like something you’re going to find in your pantry before you find it in your medicine cabinet, but it’s actually great for trapping water in your skin after a sunburn!

• Calamine lotion - calamine is another super-soother that’s especially good for the itching and discomfort you might experience as your sunburn heals.

• Colloidal oatmeal - this isn’t a fancy breakfast item; colloidal oatmeal is a common ingredient in topical products designed to treat eczema, and it’s a double-hitter for sunburns with both anti-inflammatory and skin barrier repairing properties!

• Over-the-counter hydrocortisone creams - if you’re experiencing a lot of discomfort, these steroid-based creams are built to treat a wide variety of skin conditions, including sunburns!

This one might seem like common sense, given that you’re spending time in the sun anyway, but hydration is especially important when you’ve got a sunburn. Sunburned skin draws fluids outwards, away from the spots that really need it. Drinking more water than usual can help you avoid getting dehydrated and falling victim to other issues like heat exhaustion.

If you’re extensively sunburnt or just want to speed up your healing process, specific laser treatments can help. LED laser therapy is designed to tone down inflammation in the skin and promote wound healing with pulses of red light. You can also opt for a resurfacing laser treatment to counteract any latent hyperpigmentation or photo damage that might emerge after your sunburn heals.

While this can be a great option, most dermatologists don’t recommend doing any of these treatments until your sunburn has had a chance to heal for at least a week.

While there are many products and DIY ideas that work for sunburn treatment, there are a few things that you should avoid if you want your burn to heal quickly:

• Avoid hot showers and baths for the first week or so after your sunburn - hot water can irritate your skin and strip it of oils that are vital during your healing process.

• Avoid using soap in the affected areas as much as possible - even mild soaps can be very drying, and your skin will already be struggling to retain moisture.

• Stop using anti-ageing creams that contain ingredients like retinol, alpha-hydroxy acids, and beta hydroxy acids - these ingredients can be really harsh on raw skin.

• Products that contain petroleum - they might seem moisturising, but they can actually trap heat in your skin.

• Avoid pain relief products with ingredients ending in -caine (lidocaine, benzocaine) - while they are meant to relieve pain, they can irritate sunburned skin.

Of course, we always recommend protecting your skin as much as possible to avoid the long-term effects of a sunburn. Always apply a sun protection cream or spray every two hours when you’re out in the sun, and wear protective clothing like hats and UV-blocking items over areas you can’t reliably protect with sunscreen.

Here are our favourite sun cream and spray products:

Happy Sun Seeking!