Shedding a scorched scalp

  the belly of the snake 
  Originally uploaded by Dirty Bunny.

A few weeks ago, I got my first sunburn in years. It was worst on my shoulders and upper arms, but my scalp wasn't spared either. This left me with two questions:

1) Is the only sunburnt scalp prevention to wear a hat?
2) In the event that one's scalp does get burned, what can be done about the truly disgusting peeling stage?

It's all over now, thankfully, and I hope never to suffer it again. But I can't be the only one this has ever happened to.

Comments

[Jenny]

Hi there,

I last got burnt on my scalp more than 15 years ago, when I was only about 10. It was horrible, and really quite severe, and my scalp has never really recovered.

Recently, I've seen several sun-creams and gels and things designed for the scalp - mostly aimed at balding men, I think, but still, presumably, suitable for us, too.

The solution I used for years was to get my mother to french-plait my hair any time I was going to be in the sun much. That way my hair got the sun and my scalp didn't - my hair likes the sun as much as my skin loathes it! What I do mostly these days is just make sure to keep moving my hair so there's no single parting for long - though for Greece next week, my first summer trip somewhere really sunny in a very long time, I'll probably get some of the hair-sun-gel-stuff.

[Lucia]

Hi
Personally I use Frederick Fekkai's sun bandana, and it works well, and also prevents my hair from getting fried and smells delicious.
You can also use any sunscreen that comes as a spray, just pull your hair back, and be prepared to be left with really stiff hair, but it works. The upside is that your hair will stay put for hours.

[Jen]

Sorry to hear you got a burn so late in the season! Short of wearing a hat, I have to highly HIGHLY recommend Peter Thomas Roth's Instant Mineral SPF 30 to help prevent this situation in the future. It's a mineral based powder sunscreen, but it melts into the skin with a translucent finish. I use it over makeup, and in tough-to-cover places like the part of my hair! Follow the link below for my full review on this product.

PTR Review