Ouch! Somebody didn't follow their beauty editors' advice--or their doctor's...

It's like clockwork--during May and June, every beauty mag will have the same directives: "avoid the sun!" and "wear your sunscreen!" But come July and August, you start to see little mentions about what to do if you shamefully did get a bit of sun. So the conversation shifts from protection (which should be a year-round topic) to soothing and restoration. So no surprise that Red UK's July '08 issue mentions Thornton & Ross AfterBurn Sunburn Rescue Gel.

Thornton & Ross is a UK-based healthcare company that's been around for years--and its AfterBurn Sunburn Rescue Gel is a glycerin-based formula that moisturizes and also claims to reduce redness. It sounds like same old, same old--but a recent Cosmetics Design-Europe article (4/9/08) had outlined what Thornton & Ross claims makes this after burn gel different:

AfterBurn Sunburn Rescue Gel by UK pharmaceutical manufacturer Thornton & Ross has been developed as a clinically proven treatment to 'repair sun damaged skin, unlike traditional aftersun products that simply moisturise'. The gel works through an osmotic effect that draws the moisture out from deep in the skin's dermal layer, back up to the surface to replace moisture that has been lost during exposure to the sun.

This is achieved through the incorporation of a patented ingredient called Osmo, which helps to target the inner dermal layer of the skin to tap into the hidden moisture and redistribute it to where it has been depleted.

Hmm. Sounds like a whole lot of moisturization going on and not a whole lot of restoration--as in the kind that undoes the damage: discolorations, premature aging, fine lines. It also contains sodium hydroxide, which pops up on cosmetic ingredient taboo lists as it can be a skin irritant if used in higher quantities. I haven't tried Thornton & Ross AfterBurn Sunburn Rescue Gel--and as I'm sun-shy I guess I don't really have a need for it. But I can see where it might be worth a try for soothing extra-dry skin apres soleil.

Have you tried Thornton & Ross AfterBurn Sunburn Rescue Gel? WiWi: Was it Worth it?

posted by skintoxicated / joyceline