Sunburns are red, water is blue, my skin hurts, how about you?
We all know that feeling we have when we are going outside like “I won’t get burnt, so I don’t need sunscreen, I’ll be okay.” Everybody hates the sunburn, especially the first sunburn of the season. The red, the pain, the awkward lines, the fact that you still have to wear a bra and a shirt, the money spent on Aloe Vera and the fact that you can put it into the refrigerator and make it even cooler. The hassle of it all. Not being able to sleep in the normal position you like to sleep in. Even after all of the pain we find ourselves repeating the process. But for the time being there are five stages of the sunburn process.
Denial
I won’t burn, I never burn, it’ll just be tan later. I'm already too dark for sunscreen, it won't be bad. I never use sunscreen. Don't use baby oil though.
Anger
Yelling at everybody for you not putting sunscreen on. "Why did you not help me?" Well honey you did not want the help at the time, so now you suffer. Plus we all find ourselves saying that whatever the SPF was that it wouldn't have helped anyways.
Bargaining
I promise I’ll wear sunscreen every time from now on if I don’t peel, but only if i don't peel. If I don't wear it, I can't go out. If I wear it, I can go out. I guess I'd rather use and buy small amounts of sunscreen than use and buy large amounts of Aloe Vera.
Depression
Crying because you can’t put a bra, t-shirt or even sleep at night. "Why must I suffer for this pain I do not deserve?" Not being able to get any sleep because you can't lay on your side because your arms are burnt to a crisp. Having to use all of your broke college fund to buy 5+ bottles of Aloe at DG down the road.
Acceptance
Finally applying so much Aloe Vera and accepting that you will peel and it’s okay. In all reality, you'll peel like a snake. And almost never let your friends help you apply because they will enjoy torturing you. Then along with the peel some people actually like the peeling process. It is like they want to get burnt because of the peel.
Moral of the story, wear sunscreen at least for the first time you spend more than 20 minutes outside. Even if there are clouds, you better put that sunscreen on your body, and make sure to reapply because you are going to get extremely burnt through those clouds. Cloud burns are the worst because you do not know that the overcast is burning you. You actually don't even know that you are burnt until you get home and try to take your clothes off. So just wear sunscreen in all cases when you go outside because you never know what could happen to you.
