The sun is the ultimate source of life and vitamin D, a micronutrient essential for optimal human health and well-being. Sunshine is undeniably a source of happiness, induces a positive mood, and is the only natural way of achieving a glam bronze tan!
Sun exposure is healthy and very much needed, but staying under the sun in the middle of a hot summer’s day without proper protection can cause serious harm to the body. Therefore, sun exposure should be limited to short intervals in the morning or late afternoon when the sun’s rays are weak and temperatures are pleasant.
When exposed to direct sunlight, our skin is exposed to invisible UVA and UVB rays. They penetrate deep into the skin layers, either tanning or burning, damaging and killing the skin cells. Depending on the duration of exposure, the sun can induce gentle changes to your skin tone or damage the skin by burning it. Despite the effects of recent sun exposure, coconut oil can help you both enhance and preserve your golden bronze tan or help you soothe your sunburn when you’ve spent too much time having that beach fun.
After-sun skin care is essential for the skin to be adequately nurtured and moisturized after exposure to higher temperatures and direct sunlight. In addition, especially if one is experiencing mild or severe sunburns, supporting the skin’s healing process is required for proper regeneration.
The Benefits of Using Coconut Oil for After-sun Care
Coconut oil is a source of fatty acids beneficial to the skin, providing proper skincare through its deeply moisturizing, healing, nurturing, and rejuvenating properties. All these magnificent properties make coconut oil very beneficial for sun-kissed and sunburned skin that requires extra attention and care. In addition, when used after sun lotion, coconut oil’s beneficial properties help the skin heal, regenerate, and achieve glowing skin.
Deep Hydration
Coconut oil is composed of medium-chain fatty acids with a tiny molecular structure that allows for the oil to penetrate deep into the skin’s connective tissue, delivering beneficial moisturizing effects deep in the skin cells. The moisturizing effects of coconut oil provide thorough hydration and promote healing of the damaged parts of the skin cells. The proper hydration coconut oil provides is essential for keeping the skin healthy after sun exposure and preventing dehydration that can result in permanent skin damage.
Enhanced Tan
When the body is exposed to weak sun rays, it can result in slow but healthy tanning. Applying coconut oil after sun exposure will enhance tanning and help preserve a bronze and dark tan. Changes in skin color occur on the top layer of the skin surface, which quickly becomes a dead skin layer as it is constantly replaced with new skin cells. To help preserve the tanned surface layer for a longer time, the skin requires regular hydrating and deep moisturizing. Regularly applying coconut oil as an after-sun will regenerate and moisturize the top layers of the skin, preventing them from peeling and having your bronze tan replaced by new skin layers in your natural skin color. Using coconut oil as an after-sun will also prevent the varying pigmentation on different body parts and help you achieve an even skin tone when tanning.
Sunburns are both painful and a severe threat to skin health. Despite the level of the burn, the itching, redness, and pain can be equally uncomfortable, and the unpleasant feeling can last for days if not weeks. To help you soothe a sunburn, you first need proper moisture, as the burned area is dehydrated. Additionally, your skin needs an anti-inflammatory remedy to reduce redness and proper support for the healing process to help the damaged skin cells regenerate faster. Thanks to the excellent benefits of coconut oil, coconut oil makes the best sunburn remedy.
Using coconut oil for sunburn will result in effective and fast healing. Cooling down the burned area first with a wet towel or cold shower is advisable. After decreasing the skin’s temperature, apply coconut oil all over the burned area. Raw coconut oil slowly restores the damaged skin cells by penetrating deep into the top skin layer. The data coconut oil’s deep hydrating and moisturizing properties regenerate the skin, support its healing, lower inflammation, and protect the fragile and super-sensitive skin from additional harm from external influences. Thanks to the specific fatty-acid formula, which includes lauric acid and caprylic acid, which provide anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, coconut oil help reduce itching and redness and decreases swelling caused by the burn. Most importantly, coconut oil guards against other infections that can occur on extra sensitive skin that has lost its protective layer and additional damage if it comes into contact with bacteria.
The dense structure of the oil from the saturated fats will create a protective layer over the burned skin, decreasing the unpleasant feelings of clothing. Penetrating deep into the damaged cells, coconut oil’s powerful fatty acid formula induces fast and efficient healing by regenerating the skin cells deep in the skin layers, preventing permanent skin damage to the burned area.
Completely Natural and Chemical-Free After-Sun Care
Raw, unrefined, and organic coconut oil is a safe skincare product for all body parts and facial skin. It will deliver all the needed care and protection the skin requires after exposure to the sun without any harmful side effects. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to choose coconut oil for simple, raw, and organic skincare to ensure it does not contain additives that may compromise the quality of the oil and decrease the expected beneficial effects.
Contrary to artificial after-sun products containing chemicals in their recovery formula, coconut oil is a natural remedy for sunburn and skin hydration. While artificial compounds and chemicals may provide instant relief, they rarely contribute to healing. In addition, artificial compounds may cause additional irritation to the extra sensitive skin damaged by sunburn. When the skin is burned, the top protective layers of skin cells are damaged or eliminated by the force of the UVA and UVB rays. In such cases, what comes in contact with the skin can easily penetrate the body through the thin skin surface. Therefore, when sunburned skin is treated with artificial after-sun products, the chemicals can easily penetrate the blood system and remain inside the body, causing additional harm.
On the other hand, raw, organic coconut oil can be used to heal damaged skin as a topical and food that nurtures the body and helps induce the healing process from the inside and the outside.
It Has a Pleasant Tropical Smell
If none of the benefits above are functional or enticing, coconut oil is still worth using all over your skin for how it smells. For example, suppose you are lucky to be sunbathing on a tropical beach. In that case, you can enhance your experience with the help of the pleasant coconut aroma provided by your excellent coconut oil after-sun. The coconut-aroma-induced memory of a lazy summer’s day is instantaneous. Furthermore, with how coconut oil smells, the natural aroma of raw, organic coconut oil beats all artificial fragrances used in after-sun lotions.
Homemade Coconut Oil After-Sun and Sunburn Remedy
You can use raw coconut oil mixed with another powerful skin remedy and natural ingredient to achieving an even more effective sunburn remedy and moisturizing formula for after-sun care. Aloe Vera gel found in the plant leaf is a miracle full of beneficial moisture for the skin that, when mixed with coconut oil, provides a magnificent cure and hydrating formula for optimal skin health and glow.
To prepare this after-sun care formula, use raw, organic, unrefined coconut oil and the thick gel from a fresh Aloe Vera leaf. Put both substances into a blender to achieve an even mixture. Once done, store it in a container. You can store the after-sun aloe-coconut oil mixture in the fridge so you can enjoy an additional cold splash to soothe your sun-kissed skin, helped by the deeply hydrating, rejuvenating, and tan-protecting formula of your homemade after-sun miracle. When used as a sunburn remedy, the coconut oil and Aloe formula will instantly eliminate skin inflammation and recover the dehydrated skin with a high amount of beneficial moisture that will regenerate the skin cells quickly and efficiently.
