Heads Up: This Surprising Ingredient Can Actually Make A Sunburn Worse 

As much as you practice safe sun (right?), you can still wind up with a burn from time to time. Those UV rays are no joke, especially during this sizzler of a summer. 

When you do get sunburned, tons of ingredients can calm down the crispy, itchy, tender, uncomfortable skin: Aloe is perhaps the poster child for aprés-sun care, but you can also turn to colloidal oat, chamomile, green tea, and even plain ol' ice water if you're in need of some quick relief. Some even gather heavy-duty moisturizers, like coconut oil, to slather on once the sunburn starts to peel. 

We should make a distinction: Coconut oil is great for dry, flaking, itchy skin. The fatty-acid-rich oil nourishes and smooths the skin, and research shows it can help increase moisture levels in the skin1, as well as improve skin barrier function2. So if you have a days-old burn that's starting to peel? Go ahead and slather on the thick oil—it should feel sublime. 

However, for fresh burns (i.e., angry, tender skin)—coconut oil can do the opposite of soothe: Because it's quite the heavy occlusive, the oil can actually trap the heat in your skin. "Just as you would not want an occlusive on a stovetop burn, it is not recommended after a sunburn," agrees board-certified dermatologist Ava Shamban, M.D., founder of Ava MD Dermatology, the SkinFive, and The Box by Dr. Ava. "It will, in fact, act as a trap, keep in the heat, and can cause more pain or damage." 

A little science jargon for your Saturday: With sunburns, your skin is quite literally hot for several hours after the fact. As those skin cells are damaged by UV radiation, your blood vessels dilate as the skin tries to heal. "Skin temperatures rise and a severe, acute cutaneous inflammatory reaction occurs," says Shamban. "Skin may take several hours—a half a day or even more—to cool down." During that time, you and your burn would be much better off applying a cooling, anti-inflammatory number, like aloe, colloidal oat, or even a cool water compress.