... or what feels like every single product I own to heal a sunburn. Woe the hidden curse of great, warm weather. (Before you admonish, yes I was wearing sunscreen. No idea how I was only burned on my forehead and not everywhere else.)
I have never been sunburned till one month ago, when the flaky, peeling skin on my forehead gave me the biggest scare of my life. Understandably, I became frantic when something's wrong with my skin, so imagine what I was like when my skin ended up having problems for one whole month. To add fuel to fire, my cheeks suddenly started sprouting little red spots (I suspect it was another reaction to being under the sun).
I could have gone to a dermatologist, but I'm a crazy beauty blogger at heart, and I wanted to test everything in the market before throwing in the towel. Amazingly, my experiment worked. My face is almost completely back to normal now after using only products you can buy in a store. It's still drier than before (my face is no longer an oil slick, shocking!), but I'll take it for now.
Daytime Care
L'Occitane Immortelle Divine Oil (launching September 2014) – This is a new product in the Immortelle range. Made from the fragrant Immortelle flowers (I smelled the actual flower during the PR event and wish I could make tea out of it), this oil absorbs quickly into the skin to provide an instant moisture boost. I had this on my office desk and applied it liberally onto my forehead to combat the peeling.
Korres Yoghurt Cooling Gel – When I asked for help on Twitter, three separate people suggested this to me for sunburn relief. On application, my skin sighed in relief. It's like I placed a cool cucumber on my forehead. Because sunburned skin requires more TLC, I actually brought my bottle wherever I went and applied it every hour or so (layering it over the L'Occitane oil) the first few days to stave off the return of peeling skin.
Aloe Vera Gel – My intern at work was shocked to find that I didn't have any aloe vera gel at home, which considering its superior moisturizing properties should really be the first defense for sunburned skin. This was also one of the things I layered on my forehead.
Nighttime Treatment
Tatcha Indigo Soothing Renewal Treatment – When all my efforts managed to alleviate but not cure the problem, a friend of mine suggested using an anti-inflammatory cream. I was excited to tackle my skin issues from a different angle, and also because it meant finally testing this Tatcha cream. I applied it on my forehead and on the little bumps on my cheeks and the symptoms lessened considerably in a couple of days. Note: you should only use this cream at night as the high concentration of Indigo extract leaves a blue tinge on your skin (don't worry, it'll wash off both your face and your pillowcase).
Tatcha Deep Hydration Revitalizing Eye Mask & Lifting Face Mask (not pictured) – No re-hydration effort would be complete without a mask, and Tatcha's are hands down, the best. I've always wished the effects of the mask could be permanent, because my skin is never better than after 15 minutes with a Tatcha mask.
La Prairie Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Cream (not pictured) – I used the heaviest cream in my arsenal to rebuild my skin's moisture barrier. Normally, this would be saved for winter but it worked fabulously in this case to return my skin to normal. Very, very decadent.
Tatcha Revitalizing Eye Cream (not pictured) – Similar in concept to the La Prairie cream, I used the Tatcha eye cream to soothe the spots on my cheeks, to great results.
What products do you use to combat sunburned skin?
Full disclosure: This entry contains sample products sent by the brand for editorial consideration. This entry also contains affiliate links.
