Sunburns don't only occur to fair-skinned people; apparently tanned-skinned people also get horrible sunburns (much to my disbelief after I got sunburnt terribly while in Colombia).
These are the annoying stages you go through while getting and after getting a sunburn.
1. Being unconcerned
You know you're going to be in the pool, beach, etc. You're either planning to tan or not, but either way, you're not worried. You apply little sunscreen, or if you're like me, you don't apply sunscreen at all because "you don't tan." You don't think the sun will be an issue.
2. Being in denial
You start feeling your shoulders, cheeks, arms and just about any part of your body begin to get hotter and hotter as the minutes pass, but you think nothing's wrong and it's just the sun's warmth on your skin.
3. Experiencing Pain
While you're out, you don't feel anything, but as soon as you step a foot into your house, you realize what you did to yourself. Your skin feels like it's burning and you touch it with your hand to see what's wrong (or if you get sunburns easily, you want to see how horrible the burn is) and you practically pass out from the amount of pain because you didn't realize you touched your skin too hard.
4. Feeling Anger
You can't help but feel anger. You blame yourself for not applying too much sunscreen and if you're like me, you'll feel anger for not wearing any sunscreen at all. All you want to do is beat yourself up, but since your body is on fire, it would just be more painful -- which really, if you think about it, it's the perfect punishment for yourself.
5. Experiencing more pain
While you take a shower, your body hurts; you go to bed, your body hurts even more; you wake up the following morning and it still hurts. The pain doesn't go away until days after the sunburn -- depending on the sensitivity of your skin.
6. The feeling of sadness as you see your skin peeling
It's been a few days after your sunburn and all you do is apply lotion. You did get a burn, but at least you're bronzer/tanner... until you realize that that nice color is only temporary and so the sadness kicks in. Even after the pain you experienced, you still don't get the nice color.
7. Realizing and accepting how things are
This is where you realize that you f***** up and that it's no one's fault, but your own. You're more reasonable and you realize that this is a learning experience aka next time you'll wear sunscreen -- a lot of sunscreen, actually -- no matter what.
People go through this and even when you think you can't get a sunburn, you'll be surprised just as I was...
So you better watch out, you better not pout and you better wear and apply sun screen before it's too late and you end up like me.
