Mom's Very Unusual Sunburn Hack Goes Viral After Transforming Her Skin In Just Three Days
Sunburn is an ailment which can quickly turn a dreamlike vacation into a nightmare. Even with the best will in the world, if you have sensitive skin and miss a patch while applying suncream, you could be left with red and sore skin for weeks to come. According to Cancer Research, just one bout of sunburn every two years can increase your risk of skin cancer.
Because the symptoms are bothersome, regardless of their severity, one Texan mom has gone viral for her rather unconventional sunburn hack. It transformed her back from red and blistered to cool and tanned in just three days.
Credit: Facebook / Cindie Allen-Stewart
Taking to Facebook, Cindie Allen-Stewart, 34, of Mount Calm, explained the hack which she claims has been in her family for decades.
"If you're like me, you hate getting sunburned. No matter how much sunscreen you put on, some people just burn anyway. I recently told a friend about a sunburn treatment that works wonders! She told me she had never heard about it, so I figured I'd make a post because I was sunburned recently. Usually, it takes just a couple days from start to finish, but this takes the heat out of it fast and makes it more comfortable on you," she wrote.
"I found out about this from my husband. His mom used to do this to him when he ended up with a sunburn."
"First, buy you some Menthol foam shaving cream," she explained. "It has to be the foam and it has to have menthol in it. We found Gillette shaving cream on Amazon since we had problems finding menthol foam in stores. We ended up buying 6 cans of it, but it works out because we live in Texas and sunburns happen a lot. (Plus, we have given a couple [of] cans to friends.)"
Credit: Facebook / Cindie Allen-Stewart
"Next, apply the shaving cream on the burn," Cindie wrote on the post which has been shared 230K times. "It may seem like it's a strange shaving ritual, but trust me! Don't rub it in, just let it sit on your skin. It will start bringing all that heat out (you'll be able to feel it). You may feel like you are itchy too, but that's a good thing! Itching means healing."
"Then, after about 30 minutes, the shaving cream will seem like it has dissolved in spots. It will seem like it's not as moist and a little dried out. You will feel as if you're becoming a little cold, at least on the sunburned part of your body. THAT IS A GOOD SIGN!" the 34-year-old stressed.
"Next, rinse it off in a lukewarm or cool shower or bath. It's just to get the residue off," she continued. "Finally, if you still need it, do it again the next day. Usually after that second treatment, the sunburn disappears."
"The pictures show my treatment. The final picture was taken the third day after my sunburn. I slept great after the first treatment and when my shoulders still felt hot from the burn the next day, I had another coating of shaving cream on just my shoulders. I have not had any peeling either. I use this on my kids too!"
Now, while this looks like a potential holiday and summer saver, what do the experts have to say about it?
Credit: Facebook / Cindie Allen-Stewart
Fox News interviewed dermatologist Lauren Eckert Ploch of the Georgia Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center. While she concurred that menthol products can have a soothing effect on sunburn, she had a warning too.
"[These] products cause a cooling sensation on the skin and can also numb the skin to pain," she told Fox News. "However, this hack isn't a 'magical cure'."
"Menthol should not be applied to a blistering and/or peeling sunburns, as it can irritate the skin," Ploch revealed.
The director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, Joshua Zeichner, also weighed in on Cindie's hack. He explained that the reason many shaving creams contain menthol is because it acts as an anti-inflammatory which prepares the skin to be abrased.
"Because of these properties, it may also be useful in treating the skin after a minor sunburn," he told Fox News,
However, he then said, "Traditional, after sun products are more effective, for example, Vaseline intensive care aloe sooth with lotion with triple purified petrolatum to protect the skin along with the calming benefits of aloe."
So, perhaps if you find yourself at a loose end with sunburn, you should try Cindie's hack out, but always keep the expert's advice in mind.