With the Fourth of July Holiday approaching I thought I would post on my all natural preservative free sunburn relief remedy

Ben Franklin said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, and in the case of sunburns his words still ring true. Of course in his time, there was no sunscreen like we have today. Still with the large selection of sunscreens available to us today we still get sunburned. Whether we forget to put it on in the first place, it gives no protection when it is still in the container in our bag, or forget to reapply it after being in the water we have all felt the burn. Now I am talking about simple sunburn here, if you are blistered or are feeling the effects of heat stroke you need to seek medical attention immediately.
There are plenty of remedies you can buy in the stores, but most of them contain preservatives and drugs that might cause unwanted side effects. You should always read the label on every product you use. One of the popular sunburn relief spray & creams has Lidocane as an active ingredient. Lidocane is a powerful topical , applied to the skin, pain reliever. Now sunburn products normally only contain 0.5 % Lidocan where prescription doses are about 5%, but depending on how much and how often you apply it you can get a higher than recommended dose. These products will stop the pain, but may not help heal the skin.
A remedy I have used with great success is simply Aloe Vera gel and Lavender essential oil. You can usually find a store brand bottle of Aloe Vera gel at any grocery or drug store and Lavender Essential Oil can be found in herb shops or organic grocery stores with a supplement section. Start by finding a small glass jar, the size depends on how much you want to make. You need a glass jar because while Lavender is one of the very few essential oils that is safe to apply to your skin without dilution, it will still eat through a plastic container. For every 2 oz of Aloe Vera gel add 1 teaspoon of Lavender Essential Oil, there is 3 teaspoons in ½ ounce of the oil so if you have a 6 oz of Aloe Vera gel you can use a ½ ounce bottle of Lavender Essential Oil. Mix the Lavender into the Aloe Vera gel and if you are making this up ahead of time, place it in the refrigerator or cooler. Spread the cool or room temperature mixture over the sunburn and gently massage it into the skin. The Aloe Vera gel will restore moisture and help soothe the skin and the Lavender Essential Oil has been found to be beneficial in relieving pain and treating burns including sunburn.

Lavender Essential Oil should not be used in the first trimester of pregnancy and should be avoided if your blood pressure is extremely low.