After-Sun Skin Care: How to Soothe and Restore After a Day Outside

After-sun skin care is what you do for skin that's spent a long day in the heat and wind and come home warm, tight, and a little worse for wear: cool it down, flood it with moisture, then seal that moisture in so it actually stays. Do that much and a gorgeous day outside doesn't have to end in flaky, papery skin a few days later.

Summers up here are short, and we tend to spend all of them outdoors, so this is a ritual I lean on from June straight through September. It takes about three minutes in the evening, and your skin in the morning will feel fresh and renewed.

Truth about time in the sun

The honest bit. The best after-sun care is good sun care in the first place: shade in the worst of the afternoon, a hat and a long sleeve, and sunscreen that actually gets reapplied instead of going on once at nine in the morning and then forgotten. The steps below are for soothing and restoring healthy skin that's been out in the elements. They are not a treatment for a sunburn. A real burn is an injury, and a bad one, blistering, or one that comes with chills or feeling unwell, needs a doctor, not a jar of balm. Even a mild burn wants cooling and a light touch rather than a whole routine layered on top. With that said, here's the everyday version.

Cool the skin down

Start by taking the heat out. Skin that's been in the sun is flushed and warm, and the first thing it wants is to come back down to temperature, not to be slathered with anything yet. A cool shower, lukewarm rather than icy, or simply a cool damp cloth laid over the warm spots, does the job. Be gentle about it. No scrubbing, no loofah, and pat yourself dry instead of dragging a towel across skin that's already had enough friction for one day.

Replenish the moisture sun pulls out

Sun and wind quietly pull a surprising amount of water out of your skin, which is why it feels so tight by evening. Once you've cooled off, the next move is to put that water back while the skin is still slightly damp, and then trap it there. Start with a humectant like raw honey, which draws moisture in and holds it, and let something soothing such as wildcrafted calendula take the edge off skin that feels raw and overdone. Then lock all of it in under a rich, nourishing layer before it can evaporate into a dry summer night. That sealing step is what a good body butter does, and our Apiary Essence is what I reach for after a long day in the garden, by the water or hiking in the mountains. It's filled with whipped plant butters plus calendula, and raw honey & bee propolis to help restore. It's dense enough to hold moisture against skin that's seen too much sun, but feels light as a summer breeze on the skin. 

Seal it, and mind the dry spots

Finish with a richer layer wherever your skin runs driest, which after a day outside usually means the shoulders, the tops of the feet, the shins, and the backs of the hands. Those are the same stubborn places that go rough and crack come winter, and the same thinking behind our cold-weather dry skin remedies works here in July too. Then leave it be. Skin does most of its repair work overnight while you sleep, so honestly the kindest last step is just to go to bed.

A simple after-sun ritual

Cool, hydrate on damp skin, seal, sleep. That's the whole thing. Run it for two or three evenings after a big day outdoors, not only the one, and your skin stays soft instead of turning tight and papery by the weekend. After-sun skin care really is that simple, as long as you actually keep it up.

Soothe sun-stressed skin with Apiary Essence. ✧

Frequently asked questions

How do you soothe skin after a day in the sun? Cool it down gently first, then hydrate on slightly damp skin with humectants and soothing botanicals, seal it with a richer layer over the dry spots, and let it rest overnight.

Is after-sun care the same as treating a sunburn? No. After-sun care soothes and restores healthy skin that's been outdoors. An actual sunburn is an injury that needs cooling and, if it's severe or blistering, medical care, not a moisturizer.

What ingredients are best for after-sun skin care? Humectant raw honey to draw water in, calendula to calm, and a rich butter or balm to seal so the moisture you add stays put.

How long should I keep up an after-sun routine? Give it two or three evenings after a long day outside rather than a single night, since sun-stressed skin keeps shedding moisture for a few days afterward.