I Sunburned My Scalp!

I am an island girl. No, I wasn't born on one, but I've been living on tropical islands for the past 3 years, and do not see that changing anytime soon. Currently I live in a beautiful place called Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Think palm trees, sea breeze, and beautiful beaches. My love affair with sun and surf is beginning to change, however. I always felt I had a special relationship with the sun, and didn't do much to protect myself from it. As I've aged, however (hit the big 3-0) this year, that has had to change. So, I use a fairly strong sun screen, don't go out midday if I don't have to, and carry an umbrella in my bag for those extra sunny days when I need some personal shade. That said, I have no idea what came over me this Monday when I went out for my morning walk, but here's the deal. I got up, worked out, did my usual wash and go, and hit pavement around 9 am. I'll admit, my wash and go was lookin' extra fly that day, so I had my hair out. About midway through the walk, I start to feel like my scalp was burning. Somehow, however, I managed to convince myself that nothing was wrong, and didn't even bother to bust out my "sun"brella. Well, long story short, I got a major sunburn on my scalp.

I'm trying to get this hair to grow, so a sunburn is a major setback. Being the proactive person that I am, I jumped into gear to solve the problem. My first step was to find a protective style for my twa. My options were fairly limited: braids, kinky twists, a hat, a scarf. Well, I figured I would just braid up my hair and let it be for a minute. I've been doing my own braids for years. Little did I anticipate how hard it would be to find hair in my part of Mexico. I feel for the Mexican women who are dealing with thinning hair or want extensions. The only places I found even the possibility of getting hair extensions were expensive spas. The only place that sells wigs/hair: the costume shop (there is only one). So, with that option off the table, I am rocking a scarf. This is cool, but just a little hot in all this sun. If anyone has any other solutions, I'm all ears.

The story doesn't stop here, however. I sunburned my scalp! My head is in pain! So step 2, after covering up the situation, was to find something to soothe and heal. My first instinct was to get some aloe vera gel. Now, as I said before, I live in the tropics. It's hot. People get sunburned all the time. I'm thinking, I'll just hit up the local pharmacy and will have my pick of aloe products. WRONG! There were three brands, all of which listed alcohol as the second ingredient, and aloe vera somewhere towards the bottom of this list. There was no way that stuff was going on my hair. I went to three different pharmacies and they grocery store with no success. I even went to the islands so-called "specialty" market, only to discover that they had even less options than the pharmacy. Not being one to give up to easily, I paused a moment in the shade to think through my options. Then I remembered, all the beautiful aloe plants growing on my friend C's balcony. I gave here a ring immediately. She was more than happy to help me out, and cut a nice big piece for me. In the end, I was able to make my own little happy hair concoction. I'm happy to report that it is working. My scalp is no longer burning. I'll be using this stuff all week, and hopefully by Sunday my scalp will be completely healed. The ingredients for the concoction are list below for anyone who wants to try it. I don't ever measure anything, so you will have to come up with your own recipe. Also, if anyone has any other remedies for scalp sunburn, I am all ears.

*Peace*

Ray's Aloe Remedy ingredients:

One medium to large piece of aloe plant (I cut the green outer shell off, and just used the clear gel)

Olive oil

Castor oil

Dollop of unrefined Shea Butter

African Pride Herbal oil

5 drops of Peppermint EO

5 drops of Rosemary EO

3 drops of Clary Sage EO

Vegetable Glycerine

A splash of lemon juice (I use this as a preservative)

Put all this in the blender, except the EO's. Blend until mixed. Add EO's. Store in the fridge.