You know you shouldn’t have, but you did. You went outside without a hat on and no sunscreen.

It happens to the best of us. We tell ourselves, “Hey, I’ll only be outside for 10 minutes, 20 minutes tops.” Let’s skip to 60 minutes later: we’re still outside and we’re red. Lobster-red.

You regret it like a one-night-stand, but unlike a one-night-stand you can’t really hide from it, no matter how hard you try.

And then the pain starts to kick in. You turn out all the lights and shut the curtains. Oh and FYI, you now have heliophobia (fear of the sun, bet you didn’t know that one!).

Luckily, I’m here to save the day as I have some sun burn home remedies for all of us who may experience this horrid adventure.

Black Tea

Apparently, black tea is a miracle worker. The basic process is as follows:

1. Get a pitcher and fill it with warm water and soak the tea bags until the water is almost black.

2. Next, remember to strip down, as you don’t want to ruin your clothes!

3. Dip a rag into the black tea and apply it to your skin without wiping it off. It is recommended that you apply it as soon as possible following your burn. The longer you wait, the worse the burn will get.

Other people directly apply the black tea bags to their skin. Based on the comments in this article, I would say that this process works like a charm. It may have even saved someone’s wedding day!

Aloe Vera Gel

Everyone knows about this one and it’s probably the most widely used sunburn treatment around.

It feels heavenly. It definitely soothes your skin and makes you feel more comfortable. But, does it actually help the skin heal faster? If you look at any bottle of aloe vera it definitely mentions its soothing effects, but they often neglect to say that it helps the healing process.

According to one study, aloe vera is no different from a placebo.

Despite those results, I’m still on board with this. If it makes you feel calm and relaxed, you’re going to be able to sleep much, much better. And, sleep is how we heal our bodies. So go out and stick that green gooey stuff all over yourself!

Vinegar

Full Disclosure: I have never actually tried this one. However, plenty of people on the interwebs have claimed it to be their saving grace.

Several different recipes are floating around out there in cyberspace. Some call for 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water in a spray bottle, others say to just put it straight on.

People claim that its high levels of acidity levels in the healing process, but I’m no doctor, so I have no idea.

All I can say is, attempt at your own risk, or possibly, reward.

All in all, I think we all know the best solution for this epidemic of heliophobia: Sunscreen! (maybe even try out SPF 130, hey?)

By Sean