13 best aftersun lotions and creams to soothe and hydrate sun-damaged skin

Sunburn on sensitive skin is a double-whammy, and you’ve got to be extra careful what products you put on top of your already irritated body. While aftersun is meant to be soothing and hydrating, many include ingredients that could lead to even drier skin when used on sensitive folks. Alcohol denat is a key example, found in a huge number of skin care products – including some in this round-up. While tolerable for most people, it is not advisable for anyone on the sensitive side, and is not included in this particular aftersun.

With a milky formula – as the name suggests – this lightweight aftersun instantly absorbs into the skin with minimal rubbing, for an immediate cooling effect. Allantoin and ginkgo biloba gel soothe overheated skin, while patented cellular bioprotection technology works to protect your skin against cell damage from UV rays and other stressors. Our skin felt healthy and hydrated for the whole night, and we really couldn’t find a fault with this one.

We’ve already reviewed this aftersun when testing the impressive and cheap Aldi suncare range, but we needed no persuading to test it again. Coming in at less than £2, it’s an absolute bargain that should feature in anyone’s bathroom cabinet. It’s basic without the frills of some of the other options but does its job to a tee. Instantly cooling and hydrating sore skin, the lightweight formula needs little rubbing in – a huge plus for burnt patches – is not greasy, and instantly absorbs. While we can’t claim to have felt the moisturising effects for the full 24 hours as the product claims, it did certainly give relief when it was most needed.

This aftersun is certainly cooling, in an immediate hit that lasts for hours, much like a muscle repair gel. It’s incredibly easy to scoop from the tub and slather on, but treat it more like a luxurious moisturiser rather than a slap and dash aftersun, as a little really does go a long way. With a sharp, minty-fresh fragrance and green shade, it indicates its impressive ingredient list just by looks alone.

Aloe vera, chlorella vulgaris and melia azadirachta extract are all key ingredients, rich in anti-oxidants that help nourish and hydrate the skin along with a whole host of other fancy-sounding skin saviours, such as aubergine extract, turmeric leaf and amber powder. Arbonne is also a certified B corp, so you can be sure the best business practices are carried out too. All of this explains why the price is so high – if it was a little more affordable, we would have easily named this one our best buy. If you’re happy to splurge, you won’t be disappointed.

Little did we know how much we truly needed an aftersun for our hair, until we were left with scorched strands after the UK heatwave. If dry, brittle, breaking locks sound familiar, you too may benefit from this mask. With sunflower-seed oil, passion fruit and organic baobab extract, it deeply nourishes strands with fatty acids, while marigold extract reduces UV damage, and that’s just the start of the cocktail of ingredients.

At first, we left it on damp hair for 15 minutes after our regular wash routine and were left with stronger, shinier strands. But leaving it on overnight and not rinsing out was when we saw the real difference – bouncy curls were back with little breakage in sight, and it was as if the heatwave never happened. Since then, we’ve used it once a week as a leave-in conditioner, and we haven’t looked back. A definite must-have for hot holidays and days spent outside in the sun.

This product is not technically marketed as an aftersun, so, we were sceptical of this face mask when it came to sun soothing, but were incredibly impressed with what we found. With a whole host of skin-benefiting ingredients, from brown seaweed osmolyte for hydration; red seaweed and blue micro algae to fight against ageing, and shea butter, avocado oil, wheatgerm oil and vitamin E giving a flood of nourishment, it was like a nutrient bath for our sun-soaked skin. Calming redness and tender patches from sun and wind burn, our skin soaked this up formula within seconds, meaning we had no choice but to use it as a moisturising treatment rather than a wash-off mask. Sure to soothe even sensitive skin, including our tester’s nasty rash, this is a product that definitely deserves a spot on your bathroom shelf.

Combining a classic aftersun with a gradual tan, this product is one remedy for moisturising, preventing peeling and getting bronzed and beach-ready. But don’t throw away your favourite fake tan just yet, unless you’re quite the pro with gradual tans. While the lightly scented cream contains cocoa and shea butter to keep your skin supple, it’s white in colour and absorbs instantly, so you can’t see where it’s going, resulting in some mis-matched streaky hues, if done in a rush.

For tanning pros or those who can trust themselves to really rub it in all over, you should have nothing to worry about, though. While it wasn’t cooling, it was moisturising and, at less than £10 per bottle, Boots really gives some bang for your buck. Do note, though, it does have alcohol denat as an ingredient, which can be rather drying, so we’d recommend doing a patch test if you have sensitive skin.

Formulated for those with a sun allergy, this aftersun claims to be dermatologically proven as suitable for all skin types. But, with alcohol denat as a core ingredient, be sure to do a patch test first, just in case. Our skin soaked up this cool and refreshing formula, which smells like men’s aftershave, which you may love or hate. Working to help cells repair after UV damage, licochalcone A and glycyrrhetinic acid help support the body’s DNA, while reversing skin pigmentation and other sunburn effects, too, making this quite the powerful potion. While we can’t comment too much on that, working under the skin and most likely not immediately visible to the naked eye, it did hydrate and left skin soothed, soft and supple.

This aftersun is available almost anywhere, from supermarkets to beauty stores, so it’s easy to get your hands on when in desperate need. Enriched with responsibly sourced aloe vera extract from Mexico, shea butter and glycerin, it instantly soothes sore and tight skin, with a boost of hydration that feels cooling on warm patches. It is heavily fragranced with a summery scent, a huge plus for those who love it and a big thumbs down for those who hate it.

One of the things we liked the most was the bottle, with handy finger ridges that meant it never slipped, no matter how product-soaked our hands were. Currently on sale at half the price, it’s not a bad idea to stock up.

For anyone that’s not a fan of cream aftersuns, Superdrug has a non-greasy gel alternative. Hydrating, with the help of aloe vera, cucumber juice and vitamin B5, this aftersun gel cools your skin almost instantly, and can even be popped in the fridge before use, for an extra chilled kick. However, this gel hasn’t quite been perfected to the level of its creamy counterparts, and feels quite sticky, taking a while to really soak in properly. Still, at £5.99, it’s certainly worth giving it a try if you’re not a huge fan of creamy textures that hang around on your hands. It did everything it said it would in terms of soothing, and the added ingredients are a really nice touch. Again, it includes alcohol denat, so sensitive folk should do a patch test.

For bath-lovers, having sunburn can be even more of a struggle, making you forgo your nighttime routine for possibly weeks to come. However, if you can just about handle a cool bath, or are so burnt the thought of sitting in cold water is actually quite tempting, it may be a good idea to get a headstart on your skin soothing. Enriched with oat oil to moisturise and replenish skin, aloe vera to fight sunburn, coconut oil to soothe and smooth and colloidal oatmeal to reduce redness and irritation, there’s a lot packed into this bottle and we really enjoyed it in our bathtime routine.

With an easy-grip bottle and a far-reaching spray nozzle, this aftersun couldn’t be easier to apply. So, those looking to soothe wriggling children, you may want to listen up. Although milky in texture, it did offer instant cooling, which lasted a good few hours before feeling just hydrated like your regular moisturiser. We’re putting that down to ingredients such as aloe vera and hyaluron (a humectant that helps the skin hold water). It is fragranced, but in a rather subtle way, and it left our skin feeling silky soft. In the lower price category, it’s well worth a try if you haven’t already, but it’s another one with alcohol denat – we’ll say it again for the people at the back – please do a patch test first.

UV rays are known to damage the skin, leading to wrinkles and accelerating the ageing process, and that’s one of the less severe side effects. So, it’s not a bad idea to combine a face cream with an aftersun for a quick win on holiday, meaning you have one less thing to pack, slather on and worry about. With a silky smooth, slightly fragranced formula, this aftersun does just that. Combining nourishing ingredients, such as sunflower-seed oil, with key anti-ageing agents, such as alfalfa extract and artemia extract, to help cells regenerate and hold elasticity.

While we did notice very slight signs of added smoothness on our skin, mainly on the forehead, we didn’t use it quite long enough to spot the real benefits. Although, this cream is to be used daily during periods of intense sun, both at home and on holiday, to see real results, and we have very little doubt it will perform fantastically, especially on those with more mature skin. We were big fans of the brand’s tan-prolonging body lotion, too (£52, Escentual.com).

We have to note the only tan considered safe by health professionals and dermatologists is fake tan from a bottle. So, we can’t condone hours of basking in the heat to go bronze, but know many people like to do it anyway. For those who just happen to pick up a bit of a glow while out and about, while using the right sun protection, it can be quite nice to hold onto your real tan for as long as possible.

This aftersun lotion is here to help, with a fruity-scented formula that easily glides onto skin and absorbs instantly. While it isn’t the most cooling, it is hydrating, working like a normal moisturiser, reducing peeling and any itchiness. Boasting an 86.6 per cent natural formula, buriti oil is the key ingredient used to prolong the sun-kissed complexion, intensifying the melanin production in your skin to keep you golden for longer. Although sceptical at first, our very fair-skinned tester did notice a difference, with a visible tan line after one week of being on holiday, something that has never happened before, so, rest assured this will be packed in every suitcase from now on.