Sunburn on The Face: That Helps Immediately!

A sunburn on the face is just plain mean. It reveals neglected application of the cream and immediately shows how much it has damaged our sensitive facial skin. Bright red and tense? This helps you right now!

Sunburn on the face – What to do if it burns?

The skin of the face is sensitive and thin. If we have forgotten to protect ourselves from the sun with sun cream – or have simply sunbathed too long and excessively, it usually quickly becomes apparent: we become red and glowing. And especially in those areas that are exposed: forehead, nose and cheekbones. Unfortunately, it’s hard to hide a sunburn on your face…

Sunburn – Now comes first aid

Usually we notice it quickly: the skin gets hot, reddens and tightens. What many don’t know: Even in the shade we can get a sunburn. The full extent of a sunburn only becomes apparent hours later. We notice the first symptoms after 4 to 8 hours, the worst symptoms are 12 to 36 hours after sunbathing. We have the best SOS tips for sunburn on the face:

• Get out of the sun! For the next few days!
• Cool! Preferably with cool packs, cold-warm compresses, from the refrigerator. But never put them directly on the skin, always put a thin cotton cloth in between.
• Moisture is now important for the skin. From the inside (drink a lot!) and from the outside. The body needs water because of the heat generated by an inflammatory reaction. The skin is now very tight and has to repair burns. Aloe vera gel is particularly moisturising.

• Home remedies from the kitchen can relieve burns: Cucumber slices cool the skin of the face and moisturize it.
• Quark and yoghurt soothe burns and draw the heat out of the skin.
• Help from the pharmacy: cooling foam sprays and special after-sun gels and lotions with skin-soothing active ingredients such as allantoin, bisabolol and panthenol are now doing good.
• Do not exfoliate now, only when the skin is flaking may you help it to renew itself with gentle enzyme peelings. Never rub mechanical peeling particles on the skin, this would damage the thin, newly formed skin.
• Do not use camomile tea or tincture on the face in case of sunburn. Chamomile helps on the body, but on the face (especially around the eyes) it irritates too much.

If the skin burns are very deep, a doctor should be consulted. If blisters become inflamed and the skin is burnt in deeper layers, scarring may occur on the face. The doctor will then prescribe anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen for severe sunburn.

Sunburn hurts us longer than a few days

Even if the haunting is sometimes over after a few days, sunburn on the face is extremely damaging to the skin. It sets processes in motion that make us age faster: Free radicals are formed, collagen is broken down and the connective tissue is damaged.

Pigment spots can also be a consequence of UV damage. Of course, every sunburn increases the risk of developing skin cancer.

Sunburn on the lips

Many people forget to apply sunscreen to their lips as well, but there are now many lip care sticks with a high sun protection factor, even SPF 50. UV rays do an enormous amount of damage to thin lip skin. When it happens:

• In case of a light sunburn the lips redden and become dry. Now home remedies like a quark mask with honey or pureed cucumbers help. Then a moisturizer relieves tension and dryness.
• When using a lip care stick, make sure that it does not contain any mineral oils.
  If the burn is worse, it is painful. If blisters form on the lips, make sure you see a dermatologist.

When the skin peels

The skin heals itself by forming itself anew: The uppermost layer of skin is so damaged that the skin cells underneath repel the upper ones in order to regenerate. When the skin peels, it can even be peeled off in large layers – especially on the body. If this is done without pain, these areas can be carefully removed. If it hurts: Hands off and wait! If you have the urge to peel away the fluff, you should do this very gently with an enzyme peeling. When cleansing your face, do not use facial or micelle tonic, but rather a milky lotion.

Make up for sunburn on the face

Even if we would like to put make-up on a sunburned face, we have to be cautious when it comes to make-up. Make sure you moisturize your skin before applying a light liquid foundation. Avoid powder, as the fine dry particles absorb the moisture that sunburned skin desperately needs. Avoid strong concealer sticks that are highly pigmented, although we urgently wish that not everyone notices the redness. The skin needs to breathe – after all, it has to do hard work to regenerate.