Sunburn on Your Face: What to Do in the First 48 Hours

If you have a sunburn on your face, get out of the sun, cool the skin with a cool, damp cloth or a cool shower (not ice), and apply a fragrance-free moisturizer or aloe gel. Take ibuprofen or acetaminophen for pain, drink extra water, and pause retinoids, acids and scrubs until the skin stops stinging. Blisters, fever, chills or dizziness mean you should get medical advice.

Below is an hour-by-hour plan for the first two days, what to put on a burned face and what to leave in the cabinet, what aloe can and can't do, how to handle blisters, and the signs that a sunburn needs a doctor rather than a moisturizer.

What should I do right after I notice a sunburn on my face?

Get out of the sun first, preferably indoors. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) puts this at the top of its sunburn advice, because every extra minute of UV adds to the damage. Then cool the skin. The NHS recommends a cool shower, bath or damp towel and specifically says not to put ice or ice packs on the skin, which can hurt already-injured tissue.

On the face, a soft washcloth soaked in cool tap water and held on the cheeks, nose and forehead for a few minutes at a time is the easiest option. Re-wet it as it warms. If you wear contacts and your eyes feel gritty or sore, take the lenses out: MedlinePlus lists eye pain or sensitivity to light as a reason to contact a health care provider.

What happens to a sunburn in the first 48 hours?

A sunburn keeps developing for a day or more after you come inside, so the face you see at dinner is not the face you'll wake up with. MedlinePlus notes that the full effect may not appear for 24 hours or longer and that pain is usually worst 6 to 48 hours after exposure. Cleveland Clinic says pain typically peaks at about 24 hours, which is also when a second-degree burn starts to blister.

A mild, first-degree sunburn usually heals on its own in a few days to a week, according to Cleveland Clinic, while a blistering second-degree burn can take weeks. The NHS also says sunburn usually gets better within 7 days.

What should I put on a sunburned face?

Put a gentle, fragrance-free moisturizer on the burn while the skin is still slightly damp from a cool rinse or compress. The AAD suggests a moisturizer containing aloe vera or soy, and the NHS recommends aftersun or an unperfumed moisturizer. Apply a thin layer and repeat whenever the skin feels tight. A light lotion or gel-cream usually feels better on hot skin than a thick balm in the first day.

• Hydrocortisone cream: Cleveland Clinic lists hydrocortisone cream or aloe vera gel among home treatments for mild and moderate sunburn. Use an over-the-counter cream as the label directs and keep it away from your eyes.
• Calamine or colloidal oatmeal: the AAD mentions both, along with a cool damp washcloth, as options for discomfort.
• Petroleum jelly, with care: the advice here is mixed. The NHS says not to use petroleum jelly on sunburn, and MedlinePlus warns that oil-based products can trap heat and sweat. Cleveland Clinic suggests it only after the skin has cooled, and the AAD recommends it on blisters while they heal. The practical middle ground: skip it on a hot, fresh burn and save it for later, for dry patches or blisters.

What to avoid on a burned face

• Numbing creams with benzocaine or lidocaine. MedlinePlus says these may cause allergies and make the burn worse.
• Ice, butter and home remedies. Ice can damage skin, and MedlinePlus lists butter among the oil-based products that hold in heat.
• Fragranced lotions and perfumed aftersun. Burned skin has a weakened barrier and reacts more easily. Our guide to a damaged skin barrier explains why.

Does aloe vera actually help sunburn?

Aloe probably helps a little with comfort, though the evidence for sunburn specifically is thin. The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says clinical research suggests topical aloe gel may speed burn healing and reduce burn-related pain, and that topical aloe is generally well tolerated, with occasional burning, itching, rash or eczema. Most of that research looks at burns in general, not sunburned faces.

Three practical points follow. Pick a plain gel without added fragrance or alcohol, since a cooling gel that stings defeats the point. Keeping it in the fridge adds a cooling effect without the risks of ice. And if your skin itches or reddens more after aloe, stop using it: you may be reacting to the plant or to something else in the formula.

Can I use my regular skincare on a sunburn?

You can keep a gentle cleanser and a plain moisturizer, but pause your active ingredients until the burn has stopped stinging and peeling. Burned skin is inflamed, and actives that your skin normally tolerates can sting, peel it further or prolong the redness.

• Retinoids (retinol, retinal, adapalene, tretinoin): the AAD notes that retinoids can make skin more sensitive to sunlight and that very red or inflamed skin may not be a good fit for them. Restart slowly once your skin feels normal, as you would at the beginning; see retinol for beginners for a ramp-up plan.
• AHAs and BHAs (glycolic, lactic, salicylic acid): the FDA reports that four weeks of AHA use raised sensitivity to UV-induced reddening by 18 percent in volunteers, and it advises extra sun protection during use and for a week afterward. Put exfoliating acids, peels and scrubs aside.
• Vitamin C: MedlinePlus says creams with vitamins C and E may help limit skin cell damage. If your usual vitamin C serum stings on the burn, though, wait a few days.
• Cleanser: use lukewarm or cool water and a mild, non-foaming cleanser, and pat dry. Skip cleansing brushes and washcloth scrubbing.
• Makeup: it's best to go bare for the first day or two. If you must wear some, choose products you already know your skin tolerates and remove them gently.

Some medications also make burns more likely or worse. Cleveland Clinic lists antibiotics such as doxycycline, NSAIDs, retinoids and some diuretics as drugs that raise sunburn risk. If you take one and burned unusually easily, mention it to your doctor or pharmacist rather than stopping it on your own.

What helps sunburn pain on the face?

Over-the-counter pain relievers plus regular cooling help most. MedlinePlus suggests ibuprofen or acetaminophen and warns not to give aspirin to children. The AAD mentions aspirin or ibuprofen to reduce swelling and discomfort. Follow the dosing on the package, and check with a pharmacist if you take other medicines or have stomach, kidney or bleeding problems.

Drink more water than usual. The AAD explains that sunburn draws fluid to the skin's surface and away from the rest of the body, which can leave you dehydrated, and the NHS adds that you should avoid alcohol while you recover. The NHS also advises against tight clothing over the burn, which matters if it reaches your neck and chest.

What should I do about sunburn blisters on my face?

Leave them alone. Blisters mean the burn has reached deeper skin, which the AAD calls a second-degree sunburn, and popping them opens the door to infection and slows healing. Every major source agrees on this point, including the NHS and Cleveland Clinic.

1. Rinse the area gently with cool water and pat dry.
2. Apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly over the blisters once the skin has cooled, as the AAD suggests, or a dry, non-stick dressing if they could rub, as MedlinePlus suggests.
3. If a blister breaks on its own, don't peel off the loose skin. Keep it clean and covered.
4. Watch for pus, spreading redness or increasing pain, which can mean infection.

Blisters on the face deserve a lower threshold for help than blisters on a shoulder. The NHS says to get urgent advice for blistered or swollen skin.

When should I see a doctor for a sunburned face?

See a doctor or call your local urgent-care line if a sunburn comes with blisters, swelling, fever or signs of heat illness. Here are the warning signs the sources list:

• Blistering or swelling, especially on the face (NHS).
• Any fever with sunburn (MedlinePlus); Cleveland Clinic gives above 102°F (39°C) as a threshold for care.
• Chills, feeling hot and shivery, extreme pain, headache or muscle cramps.
• Dizziness, faintness, nausea, a rapid pulse or breathing, extreme thirst or very little urine, which can point to dehydration or heat exhaustion.
• Eye pain or sensitivity to light.
• Pus or streaks around blisters.
• Any sunburn on a baby or young child. Cleveland Clinic says to seek care for a sunburned baby under 1, and the NHS advises calling 111 for any child under 5.

The NHS also warns that severe sunburn can lead to heat exhaustion or heatstroke. If someone is confused, can't keep fluids down or faints, treat it as an emergency.

What happens when my face starts peeling?

Peeling usually starts a few days after the burn and is part of normal healing. The NHS says not to scratch or pull off peeling skin. Keep moisturizing, resist exfoliating it away, and wait until the flaking stops before bringing back acids or retinoids. For more on the flaky phase, including when peeling has other causes, see why your face is peeling.

How do I protect my face while it heals and after?

Keep the burned skin out of direct sun until it has healed, as the NHS advises. That means shade, a wide-brimmed hat and staying in during the middle of the day. Once the skin no longer stings, go back to daily sunscreen: the AAD recommends a broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF 30 or higher. For sensitive skin, the AAD suggests a physical sunscreen with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, a sensible pick for recovering skin too. Most people use too little, so check how much sunscreen to use on your face.

The reason to take one burn seriously is that the damage adds up. The AAD notes that five or more blistering sunburns between ages 15 and 20 raise melanoma risk by 80%. If you burned while trying to tan, our piece on whether tanning is bad for your skin covers why a tan doesn't prevent the next burn.

Can a selfie scan help after a sunburn?

Not in the first 48 hours. Redness, swelling and peeling will skew any photo-based reading, and a burn needs cooling and care rather than a score. Where a scan helps is later, once your skin has settled. Pori takes a selfie and returns an overall skin score with a breakdown that includes Pigmentation & Tone and Hydration & Moisture, and its before/after comparison lets you check whether your tone has evened out in the weeks after a burn. When you're ready to restart your routine, Pori's ingredient scanner (part of Pro) flags each ingredient in a product as beneficial, use with caution or avoid for your skin type, which is a quick way to spot fragrance or strong acids in an aftersun or a new sunscreen.

An app is not a diagnosis. It can't judge how deep a burn is or whether a blister is infected, and it doesn't check moles. For any of the warning signs above, see a doctor.