Took the boys to the beach and was sitting under an umbrella that claimed to be SPF30. Call me naive, however, I thought SPF30 would mean I could sit in the shade of that umbrella safely and not get burnt. How wrong was I. The top half of me was fine because I had a cardigan and hat on, yet the left side of my legs was red raw and very painful.

The next few days were spent feeling miserable and uncomfortable as I struggled to deal with anything touching the skin on my legs. Sleeping was almost impossible because the cotton sheets felt like sandpaper against my skin. Thankfully I had my Blanky4me blanket with it’s soft fabric and was able to lie on top of that to get some sleep.

As soon as I realised I was burnt the first thing I did was apply JOLI’s Soothing Salve which soothes the burn without stinging. The salve also helps to heal the burn more quickly. From then on Soothing Salve was applied three times a day, morning, noon and night, for the next 7 days and once during the night (around 3am) for three nights.

Day 1.
The immediate burn was red hot and painful – you can see part of the leg that wasn’t burnt at the bottom of the photo (pic taken at night time under internal light)

Day 2.
Waking the next morning the burn was less read, more soothed. Still saw to touch and still uncomfortable to sleep. At one point during the day I applied a different moisturiser (another brand) that contained alcohol and had to immediately follow with Salve because the lotion stung my burn! (pic taken during the day under natural light)

Day 3.
The burn was considerably less red and less sore. I still had to use my soft blanky to sleep on (for three nights) and by day five my legs became itchy as the healing begin to fully set in. My skin did not blister or peal and slowly became a light tanned colour. Keeping the skin hydrated and moisturised was crucial in it’s healing, and the ingredients in the Salve were essential for soothing without irritation or stinging. (pic taken during the day under internal light – you can see a significant different in reduced redness)

Lesson one: SPF30 umbrellas do not protect from the sun.

Lesson two: always have Soothing Salve on hand to deal with burns.