Summer is a lot of people's favourite time of the year. After all, sun, sand, sea, sangria (more sangria), what's not to love? Well, I'll tell you what's not to love: the sunburn.
There's honestly nothing worse than trying to live your best summer life while sporting scarlet red, inflamed skin. Planning on wearing that tight new pair of blue skinny jeans later? Too painful, not going to happen. Going on a big night out, are you? Might want to stick to water to rehydrate yourself. Trying to impress that foxy girl on the beach? Good luck, I hear ruby-red skin is a massive turn on.
However, a mother-of-two from Texas may have the magic cure to solve all of our problems. Cindie Allen-Stewart, from Mount Calm, recently took to Facebook to share her decades-old family secret about how to cure sunburn. Initially expecting to only share her wisdom with her friends, she was shocked when her post went viral, collecting more than 43,000 likes, 50,000 comments and 230,000 shares. It seems a lot of people thought that decades-old family secret came in handy.
Writing about a cure that came from her mother-in-law, Cindie detailed how you use menthol foam shaving cream to solve your worries. In her own words:
"First, buy you some Menthol foam shaving cream. 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 cans to friends.) Next, apply the shaving cream on the burn. 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."
She continued:
"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! Next, rinse it off in a lukewarm or cool shower or bath. It's just to get the residue off. Finally, if you still need it, do it again the next day. Usually after that second treatment, the sunburn disappears."
In her post, the mother-of-two added that the shaving form could be any menthol foam shaving cream and didn't have to be the Gillette brand. Incredibly, her little-known method has been largely approved by many dermatologists, who confirm that menthol-containing products can help ease pain associated with sunburns.
"If you look at the ingredients of shaving cream, it’s really a great moisturizer," Dr. Ross Radusky told Inside Edition. "It has a lot of coconut oil, coconut butter or derivatives of it. That’s actually what gives it some of its thickness and why you sort of lather it on."
Nonetheless, professionals have warned those trying the technique that this hack is not under any circumstances to be seen as a "magical cure" and other after sun products, like Vaseline intensive care aloe sooth with lotion with triple purified petrolatum, are just as effective. Dermatologist Lauren Eckert Ploch, who works at the Georgia Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, also told Fox News: "Menthol should not be applied to a blistering and/or peeling sunburns, as it can irritate the skin."
In addition, experts have pointed out the most fool-proof and effective way of not getting sunburnt: Use sunscreen and stay out of the sun when you can. You'd think they wouldn't have to remind us of that, but with all the raw red skin flying about this summer, you'd probably be wrong.
