We are heading into beach season, longer days outside, and family vacations. But along with the wonderful weather comes a lot of time in the sun. Sometimes even with careful application of sunscreen and the right clothing, sunburns still happen. Don’t worry, if you happen to find yourself or one of your kiddos looking like a lobster, here are a few safe sunburn soothers that you probably have sitting in your pantry or fridge. Bonus? These natural and DIY sunburn remedies are safe enough for the whole family.
Aloe: The ultimate natural sunburn care
This one you have probably heard of and you may have even used it from time to time and for good reason: its perfect for a natural sunburn care. It’s super hydrating and also contains anti-inflammatory properties that help soother and heal the skin. If you have an aloe plant {which are really easy to keep alive!}, pick a few of the leaves and place them in the fridge. Once the leaves are chilled, slice it and apply the aloe gel right onto skin.
Of course if you don’t have an aloe plant at home you can still reap the benefits of aloe! Try using store bought aloe vera gel. Keep it in the fridge so its nice and cool when you need it. It can be hard to find high quality aloe gel so here are some of my favorites.
- S.W. Basics has a Aloe Vera powder that you just mix with water to make a gel.
- Sky Organics has a aloe vera gel that contains 99.5% aloe.
- Fruit of The Earth {I have a midwife friend who swears by this brand} makes a 100% aloe vera gel. Find it at Walmart, Walgreens, and Amazon.
Oatmeal: Your pantry’s DIY sunburn remedy
Oatmeal is something that most of us have on hand. It works great to sooth a lot of skin conditions, like sunburns, rashes and eczema to name a few. Oatmeal is great at protecting the skin barrier, has anti-inflammatory properties, and also moisturizes the skin. For a sunburn you can add it right to a cool or luke warm bath, hop right in and relax. If adding it to a bath, I suggest putting it into a muslin bag to make clean up a bit easier. If you don’t want to mess with making your own oatmeal bath then Aveeno has a great option.
You can also make a paste by mixing oatmeal and water and apply it directly onto skin for a few minutes. This is perfect if you only have a small area that has gotten a little too much sun. Make sure to rinse it off when you’re done – no one wants to head to Target with oatmeal on their face!
Milk: Naturally soothing for sunburns
This can be applied right to the skin. Easy and simple! Soak a cloth in cold milk and apply it directly on the skin. The soothing anti-inflammatory properties comes from the fat and protein in the milk.Plus, the cool temp helps to take the heat out of the skin. Keep this milk compress on your skin for at least 5 minutes. Repeat a few times day.
