Sun/Windburn Help

[MaryVA]

Hi everyone! Does anyone suffer from frequent sunburn or windburn when skiing and have any tips or strategies for avoiding or mitigating it?

As someone with fair and sensitive skin, I am religious about wearing both moisterizer and sunscreen, and this is enough to prevent serious issues most times and places I ski, even when I'm out all day in full sun. But for some reason (maybe the high altitude and relative lack of tree cover?) I cannot seem to ski even a day or two at Alta/Snowbird without ending up with a goggle burn to rival that of even the most dedicated local ski bum. My skin will turn red, irritated and itchy before it slowly starts to peel off, and it's taken me weeks to recover after some trips. I've tried extra moisterizer to combat wind burn, constant re-application of sunscreen to prevent sunburn, all the buffs/face masks/balaclavas I can find, but none of that seems to help much. While the skiing absolutely makes it all worth it, the experience is neither pretty nor comfortable.

I'm heading out there again for a five day trip at the end of March and I would love to hear about any products, tips, or strategies that others have found helpful.

Thanks!

 

[Verve]

Ugh sorry you’re dealing with that! Have you already tried making your last layer Dermatone or a similarly occlusive formula sunscreen? This kind of “locks in” the moisturizing layers and also helps with windburn (it’s sort of like a tub of chapstick). Looking forward to other tips!

 

[santacruz skier]

Amazon.com

 

[Jenny]

I have this for super cold/windy days but I know there are Divas here who use it for sun, too. I just don't usually get to ski in the sun, lol!

Order Original FaceSaver Mask | Cold Weather Mask

 

[Jilly]

I use 60 spf sunscreen.

 

[Mary Brosnan]

It sounds like you’re doing a good job protecting your skin while you’re out during the day. I had similar struggles and started using Cerave Healing Ointment at night. It’s a petrolatum based moisturizer and it really helped heal my dry chapped facial skin. Between the wind, cold, sun, my buff rubbing on my chin it wasn’t pretty but using this ointment every night really helped. A little goes a long way.

 

[scandium]

I often suffer from a combination of chafing/windburn on my nose and then irritation from my face covering. There is a bit of a tradeoff in terms of preventing sun damage vs blocking pores for me.

Currently my best combo is:
- Apply both physical and chemical sunscreen 30mins before going out, reapply chemical sunscreen at least every 2 hours during the day as it absorbs faster
- Apply lip balm / similarly textured sunscreen to nose liberally + lips (currently flavoured dermatone)
- Airhole mask on face before goggles and helmet, adjusted to sit under goggles slightly/no gap
- LEAVE MASK ON
- Try hard not to pull mask down during the day unless going in to the toilet or for lunch - in which case better to take it off rather than sliding it up and down on my nose - and dry any excess moisture on my mask under the hand dryer

THEN at night
- Double cleanse with oil cleanser and then cetaphil
- Spot treat with Benzac for inevitable acne
- consider sheet mask
- non-occlusive moisturizer (usually a night cream)
- let wet gear dry indoors which keeps relative humidity high (most ski areas are dry)

 

[leia1979]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but are you reapplying frequently? Maybe what you use is wearing off faster than normal. I keep a Coola SPF chapstick in my Camelbak to use on my lips and nose since I managed to burn my lips last year!

My favorite no-budge sunscreen is Australian Gold's tinted mineral sunscreen. I've worn it to Disney World in summer and only reapplied once the entire day.

 

[floatingyardsale]

I bet it's the dryness and the altitude combined that's giving you issues. I use Blue Lizard mineral sunscreen - it's a little whitening but I find it sticks well and works as a wind barrier. I have a CeraVe stick sunscreen for nose/cheek touchups at lunch.

Windburn is another matter but I try to handle that with aftercare - evening moisturizer plus a thin layer of Vaseline to heal the skin barrier.

I also find that I'm sensitive to face creams with niacinamide if I'm at all wind burned.

 

[Christy]

I use Dermatone skin protector.

SKIN PROTECTION

Protect your skin from sun, cold, and wind all year long with Dermatone's products! Dermatone offers an wide range of products in this collection, including the Advance Therapy Skin Protection Balm, an SPF30 Lip & Face Spot Stick, and an Anti-Chafe Body Stick.

www.dermatone.com

 

[Christy]

Have you asked a dermatologist? It sounds like you have an extreme reaction.

 

[TiffAlt]

Have you asked a dermatologist? It sounds like you have an extreme reaction.

@MaryVA if you are getting it after constant re-application and even through physical barriers like balaclavas, it sounds like an extreme reaction to me too - more than just windburn. I second this advice.

I get windburn and even though I try to re-apply my sunscreen every couple of hours (and layer it 4 times as they recommend) I still get windburn unless I cover my face from the wind with a balaclava/mask.

 

[Christy]

I get a kind of sun rash these days, usually just on my back, when I go to sunny destinations, despite diligent sunscreen use. It has a long name (I always forget what it's called) and it's essentially harmless; it just looks blotchy and weird. Anyway, just an example that we can have reactions to the sun despite our best efforts.