How to Cover Sunburn the Right Way—And Actually Make It Heal Faster
By Julie Ricevuto. Photos: Courtesy of Instagram.
You can be more on top of your sunscreen game than a Kardashian is with contouring, and yet somehow, some way, the sun will find you—always at the most inconvenient time and in a way that's so brutal, you swear you're never going to step outside again. Mother Nature is cruel like that.
So even though we've already armed you with our best sunscreen recommendations and warned you that (like these poor souls) you're probably putting your sunscreen on wrong, accidents obviously happen. It's a long summer ahead. Prepare yourself for the worst by knowing how to treat—and cover up—the damage. And please, for the love of your skin, if you haven't read up on the latest ways to protect yourself from the sun, get on that.
Treat the burn:
Stepping into the shower after a sun-filled day can feel like setting fire to your skin, but this is actually the perfect time to fast track the healing process. Before doing anything else, CLEAR dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D., recommends popping an aspirin or Tylenol to immediately reduce inflammation and help with pain management (yup, you're probably going to need it). Then, take a cool shower and wash the burn with an aloe-vera-based cleanser like True Botanicals Pacific Cleanser ($48, truebotanicals.com) to remove grime and any sunscreen residue on your skin.
Once the area has been cleaned, apply a cold compress soaked in a mixture of milk and ice cubes to topically ease sore skin. "The cold temperature, the protein in milk, and the pH level will have a soothing and drawing-out-the-heat effect on skin," Dr. Fusco explains. Try to do this immediately after a shower to combat pain before it really gets bad.
Peel prevention:
Now that you've treated the area, your skin needs moisture—stat. To stop skin from flaking and peeling, slather on lotions that contain ceramides and antioxidants like vitamins C and E. For burns that need deep moisture, celebrity makeup artist Pati Dubroff, who works with beach-babe Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, recommends applying a thick moisturizer like Weleda Skin Food Cream ($19, usa.weleda.com) before putting any makeup on your skin. If this feels too rich for those of you with an oily skin type, try Excipial 10% Urea Hydrating Healing Lotion ($16, cvs.com) instead to soothe and soften the damage before it gets a chance to peel.
Color-correct the redness:
If you’re not about that tomato look, it is possible to keep a sunburn under wraps—you just need the right products. But perhaps to your surprise, foundation isn't one of them. As hard as it is, fight the urge to slather it on, and instead, begin with a light application of green-tinted color-correcting primer. Because green neutralizes redness on your skin, dab it onto the places that burnt the most (most likely the bridge of your nose and under your eyes). Just don't layer it on too thick—sheer is the way to go, otherwise, it'll look caked-on.
Conceal with care:
First, step back and take a look at where your burn is the most noticeable—that's where you'll be applying a light layer of tinted moisturizer to further help tone down redness. Dubroff says to stick to cream-based makeup instead of powders, since powders are mattifying and could draw more attention to the areas you're hoping to hide. "A sheer, tinted moisturizer with luminosity properties that's one shade darker than your original skin color (pre-sunburn) would work much better than any full-coverage foundations," she says.
If your sunburn is less of an allover situation and more of a spot-treatment job, dab concealer onto only the reddest parts of your face. "Use a concealer with a yellow undertone on parts that are super-burnt to help blend it in," Dubroff says. Translation: If you fell asleep with sunglasses on at the beach, dab concealer around the red ring surrounding your eyes to blend it into the rest of your skin color.
This story was originally published June 13, 2016.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
More from Glamour:
What's That Salad the Kardashians Are Always Eating on Their Show?
A Look at the Emmy It Girls of the Past 20 Years: Taraji P. Henson, Tina Fey, and More
Major Skin Mistakes You're Making in Your 20s, 30s, and 40s
