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Every summer, I love to spend as much time as humanly possible outside. With gardening, evening walks and the occasional trip to the beach, my skin can soak up a lot of sun. For those days when I’ve had a little too much sun though, then I turn to this soothing sunburn spray to help relieve damaged skin.
I’m a big advocate for getting some safe sun exposure and soaking up all those lovely rays to boost my natural Vitamin D levels. And for the times where I know I’ll be in the sun all day, like at the beach, I like to take along some natural sunscreen with me. Sometimes though, I don’t always think ahead and my skin ends up a touch too red and I know I’ve overdone it. And while sun is good for you up to a point, burning is definitely not good and can do some serious damage to your skin.
What I used to use for sunburn
We used to use the bright blue aloe vera gel from the drug store every time we had a sunburn. I hated the slimy, sticky feel of the goop on my skin. A few years ago I actually took a look at the ingredients list, and it wasn’t something that I felt good about using anymore, now that we’re using non-toxic and all natural products. I like the first 2 ingredients, but then it goes downhill from there.
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice , SD Alcohol 40-B (12.2% v/v) , Propylene Glycol , Glycerin , Polysorbate 20 , Carbomer , Triethanolamine , Diazolidinyl Urea , Disodium EDTA , Tocopherol , Blue 1 (source)
Yikes! So what’s a safe and healthy option instead of the blue goop?
An all natural solution
You know how much I love all things herbal, and a soothing after sun spray is no different. Herbs like calendula and lavender have skin regenerating properties, while chamomile is deeply soothing.
- Calendula – antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, demulcent
- Lavender – anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, analgesic (relieves pain)
- Chamomile – antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic (relieves pain)
- Peppermint essential oil – contains soothing menthol to cool skin down
I usually use an herb infused salve when my skin needs some extra care, but in this case, a salve can make the skin feel too hot. A cooling mist is the perfect option since you don’t have to touch the damaged skin, further irritating it. I like keeping this in the fridge so it feels extra cooling and soothing.
Soothing after sun spray
- 1 tsp lavender flowers – get it here
- 1 T. chamomile flowers – get it here
- 1 T. calendula flowers – get it here
- 4 drops peppermint essential oil
- 2 T. pure aloe vera gel – get it here
- 1 T glycerin –get it here
- ¼ tsp non-gmo vitamin E (helps extend the shelf life and protects skin) – get it here
- 7 oz Distilled water
- 8 oz spray bottle or mister – get some here
- In a clean saucepan with a lid, heat the water until it starts to boil. Turn the heat off and then add the herbs. Let the mixture steep for 5 minutes before carefully straining the herbs out.
- Pour the herb infused water into your spray bottle and allow it to cool to room temperature. You can place the bottle in the fridge to speed up the process.
- Next, add the aloe vera gel, vitamin E oil, glycerin and the peppermint essential oil. Shake well to combine.
Store any extra in the fridge and use liberally on skin that’s had too much sun.