RED ALERT - How to treat sunburnt skin
Top Beauty Editor Olivia Falcon gets the lowdown on SOS sunburn situations from A-list, New York based dermatologist Dr Doris Day.
The sun can be fierce, craft and catch out even the most careful shady ladies (and guys). Ouch, just thinking about burnt shoulders, knees, feet and noses makes me wince. So if you’ve got back from the beach or that rooftop terrace in the city looking frazzled or fried, please read on for some excellent professional advice from Dr Doris Day, whom Newsweek recently named one of America’s top three dermatologists.
I caught up with Dr Day recently on a blazingly blue sky day in New York City where she was practising safe sun and looking immaculate with wraparound sunglasses, UV hair spray and a decent covering of her favourite La Roche Posay Anthelios Mineral One SPF50. Here’s what she said:
“Phase one - if you get burnt, get straight out of the sun and cool down in a lukewarm bath laced with a pint or two of whole milk (the proteins and fats in the milk are very helpful at soothing and repairing skin and might stop skin from peeling in the days to come).”I’ll add here a pair of sheer stockings or tights packed with some oats also makes a great soothing poultice that you can run under the tap or dab directly on the skin as oat proteins are very anti-inflammatory and should help take the heat out of the skin. You should also take an aspirin to help regulate your body temperature.
Dr Day continues, “If you have any Topical steroid cream to hand – applying a thin layer would be a good idea but if not reach for a pot of honey (caveat here please do this inside as you don’t want to be a bug magnet). Honey is super healing and acts a great antibacterial barrier on broken and compromised skin.
In serve sunburn cases, if you have a fever you need to head straight to the emergency room as this may mean your skin has been so damaged it can’t regulate body temp properly, so you will need medical attention and probably an IV drip.”
Skin is an essential organ, and you can die from a sunburn, so it shouldn’t be taken lightly that being said we all love being outdoors – we just need to be smart about it. Avoid midday sun, wear sunglasses, a hat and apply your sunscreen liberally in an upward motion from the bottom of the neck and as a far skinned beauty editor who has tried every product under the sun when the sun goes down break open a tube of Spectacle Performance Crème – it contains Gallic Acid (a plant based polyphenol that is incredibly anti-inflammatory) and for less severe sunburn cases will really help mitigate the UV damage, protect skin cells and take down any redness while deeply hydrating the skin without leaving it greasy.
