No Surprises Here: Sunburns are Bad and Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream is a Miracle Worker

I hate being told “I told you so,” but it’s even worse when it comes from myself. I recently spent some time on the beach with my sister, and even though I did apply sunscreen, I did a terrible job of re-applying after I jumped in the water to cool off. I got sunburned. On my face. BAD KATIE. I knew that as awful as the redness was, the peeling would be even worse. However, with the help of a new purchase, I made it through the post-sunburn discomfort fairly easily. Here are my top tips for dealing with a bad sunburn.

1. Advil- Taking ibuprofen or aspirin definitely helped with the pain, especially since I had to deal with carrying luggage on my sunburned shoulders through the airport the day after.

2. Drink water- Sunburns dehydrate you by drawing your fluids toward your skin’s surface, so rehydrating is so important.

3. Aloe. All day. Every day. I actually have an aloe plant on my patio, so it was easy to just break off a piece and spread that goo all over my face for some relief.

4. Moisturizer. Like I mentioned, sunburns are super dehydrating. If you’ve ever had one, you won’t need me to tell you that. I have been loving the London Tulips and Raspberry Tea lotion from Bath and Body Works for replenishing the moisture my skin has lost after being fried. And as a bonus, it’s on sale for $3.00 right now!

5. Speaking of moisture, this product has been my life saver. After noticing my face felt (and looked) like a layer of Elmer’s glue had dried over it, I was in desperate need of a super moisturizer. The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream is a cult classic, but I had never tried it before. Most of my moisturizers are lightweight, since my skin is oily, so I didn’t have anything I thought was powerful enough to stop the impending doom of peeling sunburn face. As soon as I walked into my local Belk and asked where the Elizabeth Arden counter was, the sales lady gave me a knowing look and said, “You must be after the Eight Hour Cream. It does wonders for sunburns!” She was so right.

This is a super thick, orange balm that’s a mixture of petroleum and Vitamin E. It has a pretty strong smell, but I actually don’t mind it. Other than relief for sunburns, this little miracle has a million uses like highlighting, reshaping eyebrows, and even soothing skin after shaving. What I’ve been doing is applying it to my face and lips at night and letting it work its magic overnight. I can’t rave enough about the difference it has made in my skin.

Have you tried the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream? What do you think? Or do you have any other sunburn solutions?

xoxo Katie