Sunscreens are a must at our house, for lots of reasons. My very German & British Isles porcelain genes are obvious and the hubs only appears to have color because of his dark hair and a few freckles, a nod to his small bit of Viking ancestry. It’s hard to find an effective one when you’re this pale. Then you have to weed out the ones with suspected carcinogens or endocrine disruptors. And finally, then I weed out the ones with PEG. (I settled on this one – it’s chalky, but I don’t care. It works and doesn’t sweat off. Hubs uses this one which doesn’t leave the white cast as badly and holds up to water well, too.)
In the last 5 years, my tendency to get sunburned had gotten quite a bit out of control. I think my most disturbing accidental sunburn was from standing in a parking lot, chatting with my mom after lunch, for less than 15 minutes. I’m not exaggerating – my dad and hubs were in their respective cars, waiting for the air to cool down completely. And my dad doesn’t waste gas letting the car run for nothing. In the time it took to wrap up our convo, I had burned so much that my skin was radiating heat almost immediately and that area couldn’t be touched for several days.
This spring has been an anomaly, however. I spent small chunks of time in filtered sun and didn’t fry like bacon. Then I spent a few longer chunks in partly sunny/partly cloudy conditions and didn’t even get pink. I had gotten some color (there’s a pale spot under my watch), but no burning, itching or peeling – nothing even close. I suspect this has something to do with my continued avoidance of PEG and the lessening constant allergic reactions that exposure was causing, but I have nothing but my own experiences to substantiate that. Because this spring hadn’t been awful yet, I temporarily forgot who I was. A small bit of sun related amnesia, if you will.
I was still wearing hats and such and staying out of direct sun as much as possible. This plan had served me well enough, I continued with it when the weekend of the 4th brought an outdoor project that was due to take all day. We were replacing a small, plastic storage shed with a larger metal one. It came flat packed, just like furniture from IKEA which we have successfully assembled several times and without any threats of divorce. This particular kit made it clear two people were needed for assembly at points, and I was there to assist and help M with tools, hardware, keeping track of directions, and the like. I stayed in the shade of our maple trees and all was well.
Until it came time for me to hold the panels up while Matt attached the upper framing. Less than 20 minutes in, I said, ‘we have to stop for a minute, my shoulder feels really hot, like something’s wrong.’ It was a 100-degree F heat index day, so I thought it was just the heat in the sun. He looked around the wall panel and said, ‘oh, we should go in.’
Less than 20 minutes, and I was radiating so much heat I WAS my own sun. (sobs quietly, with occasional gasps in ‘I should have known better’)
We finished the job, after we had applied copious amounts of sunblock AND more protective clothing. I had a cool bath. Post-bath, my shoulders were still steaming, so I went to the box of essential oils for my stand-by sunburn remedy: peppermint and lavender, diluted with cool, filtered water in a spray bottle.
I mix a fresh batch every spring, but had to start from scratch since this was my first over-exposure of the year. I went looking for something with anti-inflammatory properties, because that skin was tightening up already. Frankincense to the rescue.
Use EOs at your own discretion.
Always follow manufacturer’s guidelines for dilution and use.
This post is not intended to be taken as medical advice.
I have a bottle that holds roughly 5 oz., so in went 8 drops of lavender, 8 drops of peppermint, 4 drops of frankincense, then filled with cool water. I sprayed my radiating shoulder and arm (yes, only the one?) every time it felt dry or hot for the rest of the evening, and the next day. I made 3 bottles in 3 days.
I have to think it was the addition of the frankincense – I’ve never had a sunburn resolve this quickly and with such low levels of pain. It was visibly improved in the 2-3 hours I applied this mix before we went to bed for the night. I’ve had some minor peeling, but it also resolved with much less pain or itchiness than I would have expected based on how red I was initially.
Even though I’m hoping I won’t need this again soon, I definitely want to keep frankincense in the mix in the future, so I had to write it down. Maybe it will help someone else, too!
About carrier oils for sunburn treatment: in reading articles on how to treat sunburn, I found very conflicting advice about using coconut, almond, or other skin-softening oils like Vitamin E oil. Some sources indicated applying an oil can hold the heat in the skin, worsening the damage; others indicated that the skin needs moisture, so use oils freely. I have found oils make my sunburn worse, and they need to be rubbed in, which can be painful. I omitted oils from my mix a few years ago and found I prefer it this way. As always, your mileage may vary.
Donita Westman 