Using Shaving Cream for Sunburn: Does it Work?
Sunburn is serious business, and your first priority should always be prevention. If you’re here, it’s probably too late.
If you’re currently dealing with the unpleasant side effects of sunburn, Google has probably turned up every remedy under the sun. Some are based in science, some won’t hold water, and some are partially true.
Shaving cream is a remedy that exists in a grey area. Shaving cream itself doesn’t do anything to help your skin heal from a sunburn, but some of the ingredients in a high quality shaving cream may contribute to your skin health and soothe irritation. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
You should always be taking proper care of your skin. This includes preventing sunburn, shaving properly, and moisturizing regularly. Every product works differently, and you can’t expect your shaving cream to reverse the damage done by the sun.
What Can Shaving Cream Do For a Sunburn?
High-quality shaving creams often contain plenty of ingredients designed to minimize irritation and address the health of your skin.
LTHR’s shaving cream is chemical free and formulated with moisturizing ingredients and soothing ingredients. It’s perfect for a smooth shave that leaves your skin feeling softer and healthier than it did before you shave.
That’s all well and good for a grooming session. But how does it hold up for a sunburn?
Many shaving creams contain things like aloe or vitamin E, which are both ingredients frequently included in sunburn care products for their known ability to help reduce the appearance of redness and irritation. Shaving creams designed for sensitive skin contain more of these ingredients than run of the mill shaving cream.
That having been said, the other ingredients and proportion of skin healthy ingredients in shaving cream isn’t designed to help heal sunburn. Sunburned skin requires special care, and your shaving cream alone isn’t enough to cut it.
What You Can do For a Sunburn
If you have sunburn, avoid sun exposure at all costs. Your skin is red, irritated, and inflamed. The last thing you want to do is expose it to the source of the damage. Many effective soothing remedies for sunburn are similar to the remedies for razor burn.
You can’t cure sunburn. Once the damage has been done, your body needs to work to slowly heal your damaged skin, and that’s going to take as long as it takes.
In the meantime, you can keep yourself comfortable. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water and eating healthy. Your body heals from the inside out, so supplying it with the things it needs most during the healing process is crucial.
Use mild, fragrance free products when you take care of your skin. Products formulated with alcohol or fragrances can further irritate your skin. It stings enough - don’t make it sting even worse. Avoid shaving while your skin is healing.
The new skin cells your body is generating are very sensitive. Give them time to settle in. Make sure all the pain, redness, and inflammation have subsided before you put a razor to your face.
Raw aloe is perfect for soothing sunburned skin. If you have an aloe plant in your yard, you’re in luck. If you don’t, you can pick up whole aloe leaves in the produce section of most grocery stores. All you need to do is peel the exterior layer off of the leaf to expose the juicy, clear pulp inside. You can scoop the pulp out and apply it liberally to your face.
You might feel like it gets sticky or tight as it dries down. Leave it on for as long as you can. Putting on a thick layer of aloe before you go to bed can help refresh your skin while you sleep. Just keep in mind that you’re probably going to get it on your pillowcase. Use a pillowcase you aren’t particularly fond of, or buy a cheaper pillowcase to use temporarily.
Ingredients like tea and chamomile are naturally soothing to the skin. You can infuse green tea bags and chamomile tea bags in a very shallow dish of warm water. Ditch the water, and rub the tea bags directly on your skin for concentrated benefits.
When To See a Doctor
Most sunburn will heal on its own, but it’s sometimes symptomatic of a larger problem. If you’re experiencing blisters, dizziness, nausea, a fever, muscle weakness, vomiting, or trouble breathing, the problem is more than just sunburn.
You may have sun poisoning, and sun poisoning isn’t something you can treat at home. There is no topical remedy.
Seek medical treatment immediately if you have symptoms that affect more than the sensitivity of your skin. If your skin sensitivity following a sunburn is extreme, you might benefit from a trip to the dermatologist. Although it isn’t as big of an emergency as potential sun poisoning, you’d still be better off booking an appointment sooner rather than later.
Prevent Sunburn at All Costs
As awful as sunburn is, it’s nowhere near the worst thing the sun can do to your skin. Use an SPF on your face every day, even if you don’t plan on spending a lot of time outside. The windows or windshield of your car aren’t capable of protecting you from damaging sun exposure. Only SPF can do that.
Wearing dri fit or moisture wicking long sleeve shirts when you’re outside can minimize your exposure to the sun. Wide brimmed hats keep the sun out of your face by providing enough shade. It may not be the most glamorous look, but neither is sunburn.
The Takeaway
We’re really proud of our shaving cream. LTHR is a team of master barbers that set out to formulate the perfect shaving cream for every man’s face. We wish we could tell you that shaving cream was the panacea for sunburn, but it isn’t. Using a highly nourishing shaving cream is important, but protecting your skin from the sun and allowing it to heal are a completely different matter.
Wear your sunblock every single day, and find a wide brimmed hat that looks good on you. If you see any suspicious spots on your skin, immediately call them to the attention of your doctor.
Your skin is the largest organ on your body, and you can’t afford to take a gamble on its health. It’s better to get checked and find that it’s nothing to be concerned about than to assume things are fine when something is wrong.
Sources:
How to treat sunburn | American Academy of Dermatology
Do You Have Sun Poisoning? 4 Less-Known Facts | Cleveland Clinic