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And probably for the next week or so.

The Joy's of being so fair skinned. I'm either white as a ghost or as red as a lobster. There is no in between!

And that's with using a sunscreen with SPF of 60 and applying it thickly many times through out the day. Also while wearing a hat.

Alas I did forget that the shirt I was wearing has this decorative hole in the back to be all sexy like and show back....I have a perfect circle burn that feels like I've been punched. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

No amount of Aloe after sun gel can ease the burning. And wearing a shirt now is torture. Bra? Ha! So not happening.

My arms are like cherry twizzlers and my face looks like I gutted a pig and stuck my whole face inside.

At least my ears arent burnt. The hat did something.

I need a shower badly but I'm honestly fearful of the pain even a cool shower will give.

I'm hiding in the house today. No sun for me even with the clouds.

Maybe I should invest in a bee keepers suit so I'm completely covered outside.

I've never had a sunburn in my life. I'm so sorry. If I could give you a smidgen of my melanin, I would in a heartbeat. I'm just curious, why didn't you cover up?

Even in above 100 degree weather I usually wear clothes that cover me up. I find that I'm actually cooler when my skin isn't be attacked by the sun. I've been bike riding and wearing loose, breathable long sleeves. I also get it soaking wet to stay cool.

I was working to build the new goat house. I had on a large sun hat and pants but a short sleeve shirt (with that decorative hole in the back). I had covered everything in sunscreen so thick I was lathered but I missed that spot. Didn't even occur to me I had an exposed area on my back. The pain is horrible. It makes laying on my back excruciating.

I also figured with the amount of sunscreen applied often I wouldn't burn this badly...and I was working in the shade as much as I could.

I've always burned like this. Being a red head and such fair skin is just a pain. My boys are olive skin and dont burn. Dd is tanned. Little m is burnt like me (burnt but not as bad) and I had totally covered her in sunscreen. Shes no longer allowed outside without a full shirt. She can swim with clothes on top of her bathing suit. The boys wear swim shirts too.

My youngest brother is like me. Fair skin and burns. Our other brother is darker skin like our mother and tans.

The kids dont go outside without sunscreen. And its applied every time they get out of the pool.

All of my long sleeve shirts are heavy and way to hot to work in.

I am covered in freckles. Though my face isn't as noticable anymore. My arms, hands and fingers are very freckled. It's the only parts that arent white as a ghost lol

. If I could give you a smidgen of my melanin

Is it the lack of melanin that causes me to burn so easily?

My brother and my sons can burn. Just not as easily. Or quickly? And they tan. I do not tan. I am white with freckles and if I get sun I turn red. Theres no tan. Especially my face. I just always look burnt. My legs are the same. White, red from sun back to white. No tan.

I recall a friend in school told me to use tanning oils....ya second degree sunburn baby! I blistered from head to foot.

It sucks either being an lobster or a vampire lol

I have the same complexion, DragnHeart. And I have a pool

Learn to love the t-shirts with an SPF rating...

(And Advil... takeS some of the sting out)

That's me and BH, too. And the kids. The whole lot of us are so pale, we're practically transparent.

My burns do fade into tans, but there's no way to get brown without burning. I was an idiot in high school who burned deliberately to get that eventual golden glow. By my early 20s, I had learned my lesson. I was manic about sunscreen when the kids were little, and BH thought I was overreacting until our middle kid burned after 4:00 PM in a Pennsylvania April. After that, he conceded the point.

The one silver lining is that after 30 years of uninterrupted paleness, I'm starting to reap the benefits. My friends my age, who haven't spent three decades hiding from the sun like a vampire, are getting wrinkles and crow's feet. My skin is still almost perfectly smooth. Alas, though, there is no way to avoid the effects of gravity.

Learn to love the t-shirts with an SPF rating.

.

Oh I'll have to keep my eyes open for one of those. I know the swim shirts for the kids, mainly boys, are available.

I haven't even been in the pool yet. This is just from working in the garden and trying to get this damn house up for the goats so I can take down the old one. Working hard to clean up that side of the property to make it look nice since it's all visible from the road.

My face is weathered. I think more from stress than being exposed. But gravity is cruel. The more weight I lose the more everything sags. Jowls suck! And the under eye sagging is so awful.

I had little red dots appear years ago. Doc said they were nothing to worry about blah blah blah. Ya now I have them all over. Some tiny, others not so much. So I'm a pale vampire with red polka dots all over any areas that arent burnt red by the sun... lol.

Professional burner here...

Try putting vinegar on your burns. It tends to draw out the sting.

Also, as odd as it may seem, a gentle warm shower can take away some of the pain. Just make sure that the force of the shower lands on your head and runs down on your skin rather than beating down on the burns.

Hope that helps!

Vinegar eh? Ok I'll try that.

I have to shower today no matter what. I'm going out tomorrow. Our shower doesnt have good pressure. Always hated that. Now I am thankful for it.

It's weird that I didn't feel the burn on my back until later that evening.

Yes vinegar - It does pull some of the heat out.

Maybe I should invest in a bee keepers suit so I'm completely covered outside.

You don't want to do that, even the breathable ones are hot as hell.

Is your sunscreen old? Buy fresh every year. This is one thing that the expiration date matters on.

Those dryfit/breathable shirts are awesome. I invested in one for fishing and it has saved me from burning. Plus if you wet it, it cools you off.

No I just bought this sunscreen. And it wasnt like I put it on lightly. I had it on thick so that I couldn't see skin after rubbing in the first bit. (Applied twice thinking that I'd be protected. Then I kept putting more on as I worked. Which point in fact makes ones hands slippery and not good for using power tools lol

dryfit/breathable shirts

Wheres the best place to find one of these?

Wheres the best place to find one of these?

Columbia makes them (check out amazon).

Also, LL Bean, REI, BassPro, any outdoor store.

As to fair skin...I feel you. I burn, peel, and turn white.:

Putting an Irishman(woman) in the sun is like putting a fork in a microwave...Don't do it.

Waaay back in time after my senior prom (mid-may, NJ) we went to the beach the next day (Sat). I didn't put on sunscreen in the morning (9-12) we were on the beach.

I was so burnt, I didn't go to school until Thursday. I sat in our basement (it was cool) with dishtowels soaked in vinegar on my shoulders/arms/legs.

I learned my lesson - I grease up good now.

[This message edited by WornDown at 9:17 AM, June 11th (Thursday)]

I'll check Amazon.

Ya the English, Irish and Welsh really came out in me. The Romanian and Ukrainian not so much. My mother is so dark as is my brother and both tan.

Wh and I early in our relationship went with his family to a water park. All day in the sun. Sure we put on sunscreen but not enough lol. Both of us and his entire family were all so badly burnt.

Of course I dont have to be outside for more than five minutes to start burning. I was out a week or so ago, long sleeve shirt but only enough time to feed my mare and I got sun on the exposed part of my chest below my neck. That area is still covered in little blisters.

Fair skin here - and have a child even more fair. We SPF if we are outside longer than 5min. I'm THAT mom others laugh at because in my beach bag are lotions and sprays that range from 15-70. But those laughing moms always come up to me sooner or later and say "Chaos...would you mind if I use a spray of..."

Have you taken Benadryl? That will take the sting out. Keep up with the aloe. That will be your BFF. Also - forget the bra. If you can forget clothes for that matter.

That being said - post hysterectomy my complexion did darken a bit [yup - I went from FAIR to LIGHT"] and I do get a nice golden color now - even with my SPF.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Many of us have BTDT.

No I haven't tried Benadryl. I will.

It's a bit larger than a soft ball size in the middle of my back between my shoulder blades and even taking a deep breath hurts.

I haven't worn a bra all week. Man its freeing. Lol. Somewhere I have summer shirts that are totally backless and go around my neck. If I can dig them out, and they still fit, they will be perfect.

I wouldn't say that I've been that mom. I tell the kids to lather themselves and eachother up and remind them and help. I also have sunscreen and big sprays everywhere. My SIL was on her kid every five minutes and I thought that was a bit much. But if we burn this badly now this quickly it's worth the mom nag lol

How funny. This just popped up on my Facebook memories lol

And so true.lol

One of my best friend's is a redhead. It's the same for her. I feel so bad when she loses track of time running errands without being completely covered because she ends up with some pretty severe burns. Whenever we plan to hang out, I always remind her to cover up. It was pretty bad when we were both military and in uniform on our military exercises. The commander finally just lut her on night shifts.

I recall being in middle school and the constant teasing.

"Carrot top"

"Freckle face"

Seems dumb now when I think of it but back them I hated that so much. I had heard that lemons rubbed on your skin made freckles disappear. So I raided my moms kitchen and cut a bunch in half and rubbed and rubbed....it didn't work!

My mom was not impressed. Of course she was more upset when I cut my hair...

Oh the things we do to try to fit in. Then again at least I didn't try to dye it. Some of the girls in high school tried that, wanted to go red...of all things right. Lol. They all came out PURPLE!!!

Tea bags in a bath will take the sting out. Also for little M, get her a rash guard to swim. It will cover her arms.

Wh has been putting aloe on every day for me but I've hit the peeling stage.

We were outside most of yesterday and were putting on the sunscreen constantly and yet my face is more burnt AND wh shoulders got it bad! Spf of 50 good through 2022, applied often and he still got burnt.

I went looking for swim shirts saturday but didn't find any. I might have to order online. Little M is wearing a t shirt in the pool as is everyone else. As little bare skin as possible.