Somehow or other someone in our family always manages to get a sunburn at least once per summer. This year, it just happened to be me.

I spent the day on the coast catching a cooler full of blue crabs to share with friends and family and although I applied sunscreen to my face first thing in the morning, I somehow managed to get sidetracked.

This, my friends, is what you’ll look like if you too get sidetracked . . . but don’t worry, there is an easy fix that offers INSTANT pain relief that lasts . . .

The Instant Sunburn Relief Treatment

You’ll Need:

a Large Bowl

Earl Grey Tea Bags

Place 5-7 earl grey tea bags in your coffee pot filter holder and then run a pot of water through your coffeepot. Once it’s done brewing, transfer the tea into a large bowl and add the teabags that you used to brew the pot of tea.

Let it cool to room temperature. Soak a clean towel in the bowl of room temperature Earl Grey tea. Wring it out gently and apply it to directly to the burned area for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Remove the towel, but do not rinse or wash off the tea. Repeat as often as necessary to alleviate pain and discomfort. Personally, I found the treatment to last about 6 hours for pain relief.

Do not use sprays, aloe or any other “treatment”. This tea MUST be applied within 6-8 hours of the initial burn to be most effective. It will immediately relieve pain. By the next morning, it will look like my back does here in the 2nd photo.

Pain is gone, tan remains. This does not work with plain tea, it only seems to work well with Earl Grey tea, although others have reported that ANY black tea will work just fine.

I absolutely do NOT recommend burning and I highly recommend sunscreen, like this simple No Sweat Sunscreen (which really does work if you don’t forget to put it on!!)

Why it Works

Tea contains tannic acid which has been confirmed by dermatologists to relieve sunburn and gently speed up the skin’s healing process when applied to minor burns.

Earl grey tea contains Bergamot oil which is rich in antioxidants, which speed healing effects. Also, according to the Journal of Applied Microbiology’s April 2009 issue, bergamot oil gives positive effects in fighting against Enterococcus faecium and enterococcus faecalis bacteria that were found resistant to other antibiotics such as vancomycin.

Disclaimer, as with all recipes on this site, we’re not doctors, this is just what we personally use, use it or don’t, but it’s your choice and responsibility regardless.