What Happens When Your Skin Gets Sunburned, And How to Best Protect It

Sunburn is a radiation burn caused when the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays damage DNA in the upper layer of skin cells. The sun emits three kinds of UV radiation - UVA, B, and C. UVC is mainly absorbed by the earth's atmosphere, but UVA and B rays reach the ground and can penetrate unprotected skin. 

UVB penetrates the epidermis, the top layer of the skin, which can induce a suntan and sunburn. It can also cause DNA damage. UVA has low energy and never burns the skin. However, it is the most dangerous type of UV radiation as it can penetrate much more profoundly than any other UV radiation, damaging skin collagen and cell DNA.

Once the cells of the top layer of skin (called keratinocytes) detect DNA damage in themselves, they begin producing molecules to attract immune cells into the skin. This action causes the skin's blood vessels to leak into the spaces between cells and other skin structures. 

This extra fluid and the swelling leads to red skin, a hot sensation, and painful sensitivity of freshly sunburnt skin.

Immune cell invasion begins while you're still sitting in the sun but increases about an hour after you come in from the sun. The process peaks 24 to 48 hours later, which is why the redness and pain of a sunburn can continue developing for a couple of days.

What Happens To Your Skin When Your Skin Gets Sunburned?

Most of us are aware of the dangers of overexposure to the sun, but are we doing enough to protect from it? Too much sun exposure without proper protection is the number one cause of crepey skin, early aging, and skin cancer.

Ultraviolet radiation speeds the natural aging process and is the primary cause of early wrinkling. Sun exposure can also cause an increase in melanin which results in hyperpigmentation of the skin, which typically causes brown and red spots and highly pigmented lesions.

3 Tips to Protect Against Sunburn

1. Choose a mineral sunscreen

It can be overwhelming to select the right sunscreen, as hundreds are on the market. Therefore, you can narrow your choices by only considering mineral sunscreens. Chemical sunscreens use chemicals to prevent UV rays from entering your skin by absorbing the rays with a chemical reaction. Mineral sunscreens use mineral particles to avoid UV rays from entering your skin, with a combination of absorbing, scattering, and reflecting the rays.

There is concern about the safety of chemical sunscreens. According to the EWG's Guide to Sunscreens, in recent FDA testing, all non-mineral sunscreen chemicals absorbed into the body could be measured in blood after just a single-use. In addition, many have been detected in breast milk and urine samples. These findings are troubling because they show sunscreen chemicals circulating in the blood. The FDA has indicated that the agency does not have enough information to determine whether the chemicals are causing harm.

Chemical sunscreens often have more ingredients to provide broad-spectrum coverage from UV rays, including preservatives, dyes, and fragrances, which can cause skin irritations.

So, while chemical sunscreens are more readily available and often don't leave a white cast, it's essential to read the ingredients label. Safe ingredients to look for in sunscreen are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

How to Apply

At what point in your skincare routine should you apply face sunscreen? Generally speaking, sunscreen should go on last—after eye cream, serum, moisturizer, and anything else you apply during your morning skincare routine. However, if you're wearing makeup, you can use it after your sunscreen. But if possible, wait a few minutes for it to absorb completely before reaching for your foundation.

2. Choose a sunscreen with SPF between 15 and 50

In theory, sunscreen with a super-high SPF should give you the best protection against damaging UV radiation. But, according to experts, in practice, it doesn't work that way.

High-SPF sunscreens give you only slightly better protection than sunscreen with SPF 50, according to the Annual Sunscreen Report by the Environmental Working Group (EWP). At worst, they could give you a false sense of security and make you spend more time in the sun, upping your chance for burns and skin cancer. According to the EWG and the Skin Cancer Foundation, SPF 30 blocks nearly 97% of UVB radiation, SPF 50 blocks about 98%, and SPF blocks about 99%.

The EWG recommends choosing sunscreens within the SPF 15-50 range, applying a liberal coating, and reapplying every two hours and any time after swimming, toweling off, or excessive sweating.

3. Protect from UVA Damage with Copper Peptides

Two main types of sun ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause DNA damage in your skin, even from brief exposures. The shorter UVB rays are the ones that cause sunburn, while the longer UVA rays cause tanning as well as skin aging and wrinkles. Over time, the damage from either or both rays can lead to skin cancer.

Even with a good sunscreen, too much sun can overwhelm the system's protective system. As the dose of UV radiation increases, the skin's antioxidant defenses get overwhelmed. As a result, free radicals form and cause cellular damage, such as oxidation modification of proteins and cellular DNA.

While free radicals and the sun's UV rays damage the skin's ability to regenerate, copper peptides can positively impact skin fibroblasts (cells that generate connective tissue), potentially combating UV damage to the skin

How To Heal Sunburned Skin with Vitali Skin Care

Copper Peptides demonstrate remarkable anti-inflammatory and antioxidant power that can speed up sunburn healing and help treat the redness caused by sunburn inflammation.

The presence of Copper Peptides initiates the DNA repair process. When fibroblasts, the repair cells of the skin, are exposed to radiation, they're then able to replicate themselves, as well as fibroblasts not exposed to radiation.

In addition to the sunburn and DNA healing that GHK-Cu offers, Vitali's skincare products are formulated with multiple ingredients that heal sun-damaged skin. The Skin Cell Restorative Serum (available in 2% and 3% GHK-Cu strength) is formulated with other natural skin-healing ingredients that help you recover from too much sun. Some of these ingredients include:

• Macrocystis Pyrifera (Giant Sea Kelp): replenishes proteins and minerals lost in the sun, firms the appearance of skin and protects against photo-aging, 
• Allantoin: a botanical extract found in the comfrey root. It moisturizes and can also cause the keratin in the skin to soften, making it ideal for dry skin, wound healing, burns, and scars.
• Silk Amino Acids: from the silkworm's cocoon, they have a chemical composition close to protein in human skin and has been shown to inhibit the formation of excess melanin in the skin, helping prevent dark spots and freckles.

Undoubtedly, it is better not to be overexposed to the sun. Use Vitali serum with Copper Peptides followed by mineral sunscreen BEFORE sun exposure. However, if and when sunburn happens, you can speed up the recovery with Vitali Copper Peptide products.