Get Sun Protection with these Natural Sunscreen Options

(Page 2 of 2)

July/August 1980
By Nancy Norton Matilla 
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Natural Sunburn Remedies

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When all precautions fail and you get a whale of a sunburn, there are many effective home remedies that can bring you relief. Some folks find that if they break open vitamin E capsules and apply the oil to the skin, the burn will often disappear overnight (the vitamin packaged in ointment form offers similar results). Or you might try applying sunflower, safflower or cottonseed oil, all of which are rich in the healing nutrient.

Herbalists and natural beauty experts also recommend compresses made with either black tea, comfrey leaf or root tea — or the juice of a grated raw potato — for the treatment of painful sunburns. You can dilute apple cider vinegar with water and pat it on the burned area or use it in a compress, too. A cloth or bandage that's kept saturated with witch hazel, or with equal parts of vinegar and olive oil, can also be beneficial.

Some additional homemade sunburn remedies include sesame, peanut, corn or some other vegetable or nut oil mixed with vinegar; a solution of equal parts of witch hazel, olive oil and glycerin; aloe vera leaves (just break them open and apply the gel directly) ... a paste made of baking soda or laundry starch and water (spread it on gently) ... a tub bath in water to which 1 cup of baking soda has been added . . . lemon juice and yogurt combined to a spreadable consistency . . . witch hazel mixed with a beaten egg white and honey . . . plain cucumber slices (lay them directly on the burn) . . . or mashed cucumber pulp or juice (strain it through cheesecloth), used either alone or with witch hazel for a compress.

Finally, old-fashioned barley paste is recommended to soothe sunburn discomfort. To make such a paste, grind or blend 3 ounces of barley and mix the powdered substance with 1 ounce of raw honey. Blend the ingredients into a smooth paste and add 1 unbeaten egg white, then rub the concoction gently into the reddened skin and leave it on for several hourspreferably overnight-for slow but sure relief.

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