Caught The Sun? Well This All Natural Sunburn Cure Is Perfect For You
Growing up in California and being as pale as I am is probably one of God’s cruelest jokes. If it were up to me, I would spend 1000% of my days crisping in the sun like the girl in a 70’s tanning oil commercial.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) I am Swedish and my skin color comes in two shades: albino and tomato. This means that the majority of my family vacations growing up required that one full day be set aside because I would be too sunburnt to move.
It also means that I have used my fair share of sunburn cure recipes and the one I am about to share is my favorite.
I bought an aloe plant not too long ago and little did I know that the bright green aloe gel you buy at Walgreens is not as natural as what you can easily extract from this plant - it is amazing how disconnected we are from nature these days.
This recipe is so simple and so much more effective than any other sunburn cure because it doesn’t have all those yucky chemicals! You can substitute the natural aloe for a gel if you don’t have a plant laying around, but I highly recommend using the plant if you do! It is a quicker process than one might imagine!
Step 1: Harvest your Aloe Vera
Pull off a stem of your aloe vera plant that you would like to use, being sure to tug from the base of the plant. Be sure to wash the stem thoroughly to remove any dirt and then cut off any pokey parts on the side (watch out the spikes can be sharp!). Next, cut your stem in half and using a spoon, scrape out your gel in the center of the plant.
Step 2: Add in your extras
Now that you have your aloe vera gel, you can add in some additional ingredients to help your sunburn soothe faster. Here are some of my favorites as well as their benefits.
Peppermint Essential Oil - Cools and soothes your skin
Witch Hazel - I use this as an astringent because it is perfect for naturally tightening and healing your skin (from sunburn or irritated skin in general)
Coconut Oil - Super hydrating and will prevent peely skin
Avocado Oil - This has antioxidants and is a great addition to coconut oil, I also like the way it smells.
Step 3: Store for future use
Remember that post awhile back about how to clean out your old candle containers? Yup, this is where they come into use. Slap that beautiful concoction you just whipped up into this little jar and then seal it and refrigerate it. Not only will refrigerating it make it much more soothing when you apply it (cold feels ah-mazing on sunburns) it will also prevent the fresh aloe from going bad. Hope this helps your lobster-y skin as much as it does mine!
What is your perfect sunburn cure?
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