What to do when you get sunburned and how to protect your skin

What should you do if you get sunburned?

First of all, skip your active products until your sunburn has started to ease, and use very mild products to restore, calm and hydrate your skin. It is important to keep up with mild products throughout the day and not only apply them to your morning and evening routine. By carrying around a facial mist in your bag wherever you go, you are always ready for a moisture boost when needed. It also feels amazing and cooling on hot sunburned skin. Our favourite is the Soothing Facial Mist, which calms, hydrates, and strengthens the skin barrier. It contains a mix of Aloe Vera, Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Coconut Extract, and Niacinamide. In our Sensitive series, you will also find other mild and moisturising products that work well on sunburned skin. A perfect addition to your routine is a soothing serum. Our perfume-free Calming Serum contains Allantoin, Bisabolol, and Centella Asiatica Leaf Extract, known for reducing facial redness, restoring, and balancing irritated skin while also leaving the skin feeling nice and soft. To give your skin the chance to repair itself it is important to stay out of the sun until the redness and irritation is gone. Remember always to wear plenty of sunscreen so you don’t get burned again.

How dangerous is it to get sunburned?

It depends on how severe your burn is. Sun damage can range anywhere from red skin to sun rash and skin changes. First-degree burns only affect the surface of the skin and passes fairly quickly. Signs of a more serious burn is blisters, swelling, stinging sensation, hot red skin, and tenderness. If it cools down within a day or two you do not need to seek medical attention. But remember getting sunburned too many times can cause skin changes, which is something you really want to avoid. Our skin has a great memory, every sunburn it is exposed to is memorized. That is one of the main reasons why hyperpigmentation is hard to get rid of and why they recur. This is also why it is so extremely important to protect your skin with sunscreen.

Is it possible to get tan even when you are burned?

It depends on what skin type you have. It won’t usually get tan if your skin is pale and sensitive. More so the complete opposite, your skin will become more sensitive, red and might even develop sun allergy. If you on the other hand have a stronger pigment that easily tans while out in the sun, your sunburned skin will most likely become tanned skin. That is however something we do not recommend. It is always important to avoid getting sunburned in any case.

How do you reduce the risk of getting sunburned?

There are plenty of ways to avoid sunburn. Apply lots of sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 before you go outside and reapply throughout the day. Many people don’t apply enough product when it comes to sunscreen. To be on the safe side, use at least half a teaspoon of sunscreen in order to protect your face and décolletage. You can also go by the finger trick which is when you push out a string of sunscreen alongside three of your fingers. Then you are covered. You obviously need more product when it comes to protecting your body, our advice is to use a handful. The best kind of sunscreen is the one you use, that is why it is smart to buy products you enjoy and like. Nice consistency, great ingredients, and a full load of sunscreen is what you get with our entire sunscreen series. Our pleasantly rich and fast absorbent Hydrating Sun Protection SPF 50+ Body or the soothingly light Hydrating Sun Protection SPF 50 Face that can be used as a regular day cream thanks to its skin-nourishing ingredients. Another great tip for reducing your chances of getting burned is hanging out in the shade under a parasol when the sun is at its strongest during the day. Keep an eye on the UV index so you know how strong the sun's rays are at the moment. The higher the index, the higher the chances are of getting burned.

What causes a sun rash?

We don’t actually know for sure why some get sun rashes and sun allergies, but a strong theory is that you are probably allergic to the UVA rays. The body's immune system reacts and creates inflammation in the skin. It is not dangerous but certainly not fun since it burns and itches. One way to avoid a sun rash is to always acclimatize the skin slowly when it has not been exposed to the sun in a long time, for instance, during spring or if you go on vacation to a warm and sunny country in the middle of winter. It is extra important with very high SPF during these types of circumstances. Try choosing one with calming ingredients, which all of ours in our sun protection series do.