After a rainy, downright crappy June weatherwise, the sun finally came out this 4th of July weekend. Thousands of people poured into Ocean City jamming Rt. 90 and Rt. 50 for days from early morning until late in the day. My drive into Ocean City usually only takes ten minutes; this weekend it took an hour. Good for Ocean City tourism but not good for us locals and those of us trying to get to our jobs. It was crazy - by Sunday afternoon, we got our town back.
    We had some great fireworks and hopefully, no one got hurt. I chose to stick close to home and lay by my pool. I have a confession to make - I did not listen to my own “Beauty Tips” advice. I was craving the sunshine and a little more color, so I went out early in the morning to weed my flower beds. I did not put any suntan lotion on; then I laid out by my pool for the rest of the day and only applied a small amount of sunscreen. I kept telling myself, a little is enough. I was not thinking about how intense the sun was and how I could really already feel the burn. I just thought it was because it was a really hot day.
    That was not the case. I ended up with my face, neck and shoulders really burned. Panic set in when I realized what I had done; so my beauty tips took hold of my thoughts. First thing, I ran upstairs to take a cool shower to lower my body temperature and to stop the burning feeling. Then I applied a combination of Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage Moisture Lotion, Aloe Vera gel and a little bit of Neosporin to counteract the damage that I had done to my skin. I generously applied this all over, not just where I really got burned. Because I had been out in the sun all day, my whole body needed a little moisturizing. I took a couple Advil and laid down for a nap.
    When I awoke I could really see a difference already in the shade of red I was, so I layered it on again Thursday night and twice on Friday. By Saturday I was looking tanned and the red was completely gone.
    I am so sorry I did that to myself and I won’t do it again. For the sake of a little tan, I damaged a layer of my skin really bad. At my age I can’t afford to do that anymore. It ages you; really at any age getting a sunburn is not good. So take it from me and my experience, and put the suntan lotion on before you go out in the sun. Even if you’re just going out to weed your garden or wash your car. time slips away and before you know it, you are burnt. Even protect your head. Wear a hat or use the scalp and hair spray sun protection. Wear sunglasses whenever you are out in the sun - period. You can totally damage the retina of your eye from the glare of the sun.
    I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Thank God the sun finally came out; let’s hope it’s here to stay. If anyone has any ideas for future articles or tips to share, please feel free to get in touch with me, friend me on facebook or email me at lindasears53@aol.com