Weddings the Island Way

When you prepare for your wedding trip, don’t forget the sunblock! Having a sunburn on your wedding day, with bathing suit lines, can clash terribly with your dress–and that image will be preserved in all your wedding photos.

Be sure to apply sunscreen each day, not forgetting the cheeks, nose, ears and around the top of your shirt line. Be sure to apply lotion approx. every hour or after going into the ocean or pool. On St. Thomas, you are much closer to the equator and can burn more quickly than you’re used to.

If you do happen to get burned, there’s a few sunburn tricks to try to reduce the redness:

Buy some bottles of Phillips Milk of Magnesium…the stuff for upset stomach? Pour it over yourself in the shower, leave it on for a minute or two and rinse with cool water.

Take the coolest showers you can stand to take. This keeps the skin from developing broken capillaries and will reduce the redness.

Don’t go outside without suncreen on. It’s tempting to try and “even out” the pigmentation, but it will be more damaging. Skip sunscreens with Avobenzone, Homosalate, Octinoxate, Octisalate, Oxybenzone, Mexoryl, Parsol 1789 –those things are all chemical sunscreens and could be irritating. These chemical sunscreens have to sink into the skin for 15 minutes before they begin to work.

To even out your skin tones, consider a spray tan a day or two before your ceremony.

Moisturizing the burned areas throughout the day can speed along recovery. Lathering with aloe (at the beginnging) or lotion (a day or two later) morning, midday and before you go to bed can keep the areas soothed for quicker healing.