Emergency ONE Ingredient Home Sunburn Remedy With Photo Evidence
UPDATE 5/25/17: Â I used this remedy again during my latest trip to Florida (used SPF 10 on the first day, shame on me) and it was the only thing to give me relief and healing so I could enjoy the rest of my vaca!
Oooh boy, did I get the worst sunburn that I have had in years. Shame on me. I assure you, Bean was not prompted to pose in this photo. She was as appalled by my sunburn as I was. Luckily, I stumbled upon a home sunburn remedy that required just one common ingredient. I was in enough pain that I was ready to try just about anything.
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Let me give a little back story to how this sunburn came to be. The last couple months have been the roughest, busiest months I think I have ever experienced in my mommy/professional life ever. And it didn’t help that I was on the worst medication I have ever tried to manage Hashimoto’s. In other words, any extra energy I may have had during the survival of about a month and a half of solid, CRAZY busy dance teacher time was spent towards maintaining my marriage, my child’s livelihood, and keeping an ounce of sanity for myself.
So you can about imagine how ecstatic I was to head up north to the cabin for Memorial Day weekend. I swear I looked forward to it more than a kid looking forward to Christmas morning. You bet your behind I planned on soaking up as much sunshine and fresh air as my Minnesotan body would let me.
We played in the froggie sprinkler, we bravely took a few trips out on the jet ski (despite the 55° water temperature), we bonfired (that’s a verb, right?)…
… we napped in the hammock, we sat around in our new, swanky chairs-in-a-bag, we took a trip to the gravel pits for some target shooting…
Then it started to hit me. The hot sun was beating down on my bare shoulders and I could definitely feel it. Once we returned home I quickly hopped on my computer to Google “home sunburn remedies”. I couldn’t believe what I found. It made no sense to me, but I took a shot in the dark.
Ta-dah! Apple cider vinegar. The exact kind that I used was Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
. I did read that white vinegar works as well, but this bottle was easily accessible so I decided to give it a go. How did it work? The photos can speak for themselves.
In spite of smelling like a foot, I went to bed covered in apple cider vinegar. I’m pretty repulsed by the smell so I didn’t apply generously, just enough to cover the burned areas.
This is what it looked like the next evening about 24 hours later. The redness had decreased, not shockingly but a bit. The thing that stood out to me was how quickly the sensitivity went away, practically from the moment I gently patted the vinegar into my skin.
This is what it looks like today. I gave it enough time to see if I would peel or not, which usually happens about 3-4 days after the burn, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed because there’s still nothing! Sure, the redness didn’t magically disappear the next day. But the fact that I don’t look like a molting snake right now is enough to keep this home remedy in mind for the next sunburn. Which, hopefully, will never come.
Have you ever tried any crazy-sounding home remedies that actually worked?
Who woulda known?!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Coconut oil! It is my sunburn go-to for sure! If the burn is pretty bad I will also add some lavender essential oil to the coconut oil- this worked a minor miracle for me last year! Both smell much better than the vinegar 😉
Okay, wow! 🙂 I'm definitely going to have to try this remedy this summer…because I always get burnt. I think it has to do with being Irish. 😛 Anyhow, bonfired is definitely a verb. Bean is adorbs, and I'm glad that y'all had a good time at the cabin.
Amazing result!
Awesome! I have heard of this, but not used it before. Thanks! I tend to burn in the summer!
Wow! I should have used this when I got home from the amusement park. haha! My shoulders were RED! lol I don't know if I'll be able to handle the smell of vinegar tho.
I have got to try this! My shoulders are REALLY burned.
Oh Breanna Burley, you slay me
If I would have had coconut oil on hand I would have for SURE tried that. Must buy some for the next time, that vinegar smell is strong.
haha thanks Jessica 🙂 You have to let me know if and when you try it!
I knew you would just LOVE this Greta 😉 Hey, I was all out of my SWSunshine gel.
Oh my goodness I never thought to use vinegar! What an awesome idea 🙂
When I was very young, one of the first memories I have is of falling out of a chair and face first into an open fireplace. We were poor so there was no such thing as a screen back then. I can vividly remember, under my neck being very very raw and painful. The very first thing my Mama did was snatch me into the kitchen and brek out the jar of mayo from the fridge. I can look back on it today and laugh because I didn't have not one little scar from it. Fast forward 40 something years and I got a call from my brother at the ER, telling me that my dear Mama had been burned when a pressure cooker blew up in her face. About the time I got to the ER, the Dr was just getting to her. He was looking at her face and asking her what all that “white stuff” was on her face and neck. She told him that it was what she had always used on a bad burn, “Mayonnaise!” I thought that Dr would burst laughing at Mama for using mayo on her face. They got it all cleaned off and he was amazed that it wasn't any more burned than it was. She swore to him that it was from the mayo. He wouldn't believe her though. He gave her a prescription for Silvadine or something and cut her loose. My brother went and got the script filled but she NEVER did use it. She just kept right on putting her mayo on it. Some times you just gotta go with what you know. I wish Mama was still here to dispense those old home remedies like that. I sure do miss that old woman.