To Burn or not to Burn

I am a Malaysian. We don't burn. We have sun shining on our backs just about everyday in a year. Sure, there are cloudy and rainy days but just about 90% of the time, we have the sun. That makes majority of us dislike the sun. But I love it.

I love the warmth, I love how happy people are when the sun is out. I am a sun convert, any opportunity that calls out to me, I will be there, armed with my trusty H&M bikini and my sunglasses. YES, you heard it right, I don't do sunscreen.

Before throwing the nagging and advices regarding how bad sun is for the skin, I know it, I know it all. But because I am in favour of the tan look, I tried to skip sunscreen as much as I can. Irrational and illogical thinking because sunscreen doesn't actually prevent you from being tan.

So, I went on an adventure that basically consist of eating, drinking and lying under the sun for hours on end WITHOUT sunscreen. Day 1 doesn't do much harm on me, then comes Day 2. I fell asleep on the beach after being up the entire night. It took me 5 hours sleep under the sun around noon. I left the beach completely burnt and in slight pain.

I am almost 90% done here. 

The worse has yet to come. I went back to the hotel for a shower. The shower stings. It stings so bad that putting on clothes seems like a torture and I look like a lobster. I learnt my lesson there and then. I just officially wrecked my largest organ. I had to make do with the only lotion I have with me and endure the pain all the way back home before I could steal some Aloe Vera from the garden to slather on my well-done body.  

I want to avoid using store bought Aloe Vera for the first few time, so I googled and came up with a few home remedies to treat sunburn. Most of the ingredients are readily available in the kitchen, except probably an Aloe plant.

Treatment 1:
Ingredients:
1. Few stalks of the fattest Aloe leaves
2. Honey

What to do?
1. Carefully wash the Aloe leaves and sliced them into half
2. Scoop or scrap the gooey center into a bowl
3. Add Honey
4. Slather it all over burnt area

Tips: Store the Aloe in the fridge, the cooling touch will feel great on your burnt skin.

Aloe is meant to calm the sensitive area down and honey acts as a soothing anti-inflammatory.

Treatment 2:
Ingredients:
1. Milk
2. Oats

What to do?
1. Run a room temperature water (about 20c)
2. Pour milk into water (I don't have an exact measurement, as long as the water isn't clear)
3. Add in some oats (Also just eyeballing the amount)

Tips: You might want to put the oats in a muslin cloth and tie it up to avoid messy cleanup after.

Milk contribute to the soothing element and oats are great for providing some moisture into sensitive skin.

I soaked myself in the bath for about 30 minutes and slathered myself with the Aloe mixture every now and then. My proper "spa" treatment in years. My skin stings much less after the bath but I made sure I slather on Aloe every hour or so. Not only the Aloe help lessen the warm pulsating sensation the skin felt, it did wonder on the skin, the pain went away after a day. Lesson learned? I will always always always have sunblock on AND I am staying away from the beach for a while now.

ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SLATHER ON SUNBLOCK WITH THE PROPER SPF. DO NOT OVERESTIMATE HOW MUCH YOUR SKIN CAN TAKE ON.  *Jokes on me, I used to laugh at friends for burning and I don't* 

Bonus: I now have a great golden tan and a pre-6 packs.