Summertime has always brought with it a complicated relationship — one that started long before I understood what my body was actually trying to tell me.
Diagnosed "allergic to the sun" around six or seven years old, I grew up near Buffalo, NY and a small town in Connecticut. In the early days, I was covered head to toe in the summer heat — long sleeves, long pants, a hat — while other kids ran free. The itchy rashes were what everyone could see. What no one caught back then was the deeper story: a body that struggled to regulate its own temperature, whether in the bite of a Buffalo winter or the moderate warmth of a Connecticut summer, how physically uncomfortable I was and how somehow it affected my moods. That was the puzzling part all these years.
Around me there were older sisters using baby oil and iodine to intensify the sun's tanning rays. I loved swimming and struggled to enjoy summers while feeling uncomfortable. Today, with the benefits of hindsight, my own research and better medicine, I understand it as something autoimmune, tied to the nervous system. But at the time, it had no name. I was left to figure it out on my own as the years went by — armed with nothing but lotion to soothe what I couldn't explain nor could anybody else.
Leaving Connecticut for California at age 18 (1975), the very day after I arrived, I spent too many hours on a beach in Hermosa Beach and burned myself beyond description. I couldn't walk, couldn't sleep, was in terrible pain and struggled to understand why I didn't protect myself from that inevitability. In my defense, I had never used a sun protection product before, obviously the sun in Connecticut was nowhere near as intense as the sun in Southern California, I would search out shade wherever I could. There was very little on the market that wasn't simply meant to enhance the tanning process, not much in the way of protection.
As I got older, this compromised relationship with the sun didn't ease — it deepened and became more embodied. The symptoms multiplied and sharpened. Whether it was excessive sun, excessive heat, or both together, my exposure had to shrink to almost nothing direct or for any length of time, or my whole system would start to over-activate. And by "system," I don't just mean skin anymore — it seemed to live in my nervous system. Anxiety and discomfort would show up first, followed by anger, then fatigue, all within a brief window. It almost always started the same way: my eyes uncomfortable from the glare, and from there the rest would fire off, one discomfort triggering the next.
These days, I'm careful — genuinely cautious about sun exposure in a way my younger self never had the tools to understand. But I've also come to believe in the other side of this equation: the real biological benefits of early morning sunlight, taken in without sunglasses or filters, even for just a few minutes. I write more about why this matters — morning and evening light specifically — over on AmayesingYou.com (Sunshine AM/PM - Amayesing You). Having lived in two extreme environments in relation to the sun, Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, it has taken me decades to find that sweet spot: enough sun to support the body, without tipping into it the "too much" that undoes it.
That early relationship with the sun shaped something in me. It's part of why sun care isn't a footnote in my PUR Botanicals Skin Care product line — it's foundational. And it's why this July, I want to walk you through the products in my line that speak directly to summer skin: protecting it, calming it, restoring it, and — when needed — helping it recover.
Protection First: Mineral Tinted SPF 30
If there's one lesson my childhood taught me, it's that sun protection isn't optional — it's non-negotiable. My Mineral Tinted SPF 30 uses physical, mineral-based protection rather than chemical filters, which means it sits on top of the skin and reflects UV rays rather than absorbing them under the skin and defending from there. Those of us who have sensitive skin don't do that well with the chemical actives that are absorbed under the skin – they're more irritating for us and heat up the skin from the inside. Our universal tint gives you a natural, lit-from-within finish, so protection never has to look like a chalky finish. This is one of the products I wish was available to me in those early years among others.
When Skin Needs Calm: Aloe and Azulene Gel
Azulene is one of those quiet powerhouses in skincare — derived from chamomile, it carries deep anti-inflammatory and soothing properties, and paired with aloe, it becomes a cooling balm for skin that's overheated, irritated, or reactive. I offer this gel masque thinking about every summer evening I spent trying to calm my own skin down. It's become one of our most-loved products for exactly that purpose and any others that involve reactive skin.
On Serious Sunburn
I want to pause here, because this part matters. A serious sunburn is never just cosmetic, it's a real injury to the skin. Beyond the pain and redness, significant sunburn damages skin cells at a cellular level, breaking down collagen and elastin and accelerating visible signs of aging over time. Repeated serious burns significantly increase the lifetime risk of skin cancer, including melanoma, and severe burns can cause blistering, dehydration, fever, and in extreme cases require medical attention. Sun damage is also cumulative — every burn adds up, even the ones from decades ago. This is why prevention (hello, SPF) will always be step one, and why gentle, restorative care afterward matters so much for the skin's ability to heal.
Gentle Beginnings: Chamomile Cleansing Lotion
When skin has spent a day in the sun — even a protected one — the last thing it needs is a cleanser that strips or stings. My Chamomile Cleansing Lotion was formulated with exactly that in mind. Chamomile carries the same gentle, anti-inflammatory quality as azulene, and here it does its work at the very first step of the routine, lifting away sunscreen, salt, and the day's residue without disturbing skin that may already be tender or over-exposed. I think of it as the soft landing before the soothing — the place where care begins, not where it's forced. For skin that's flushed or sensitive from too much sun, this is where I always tell people to start.
When Skin Needs More: Intensive Rescue Creme
Some days call for more than comfort — they call for repair. My Intensive Rescue Creme was formulated for exactly those moments: skin that's been overexposed, over-dried, or simply struggling to bounce back. It's a deeply nourishing, barrier-focused formula, built to work below the surface where real recovery happens — replenishing what the sun (or wind, or a long, depleting season) has stripped away.
I think about this creme as an extension of everything my skin taught me early on: that discomfort deserves a real response, not just a quick fix.
Comfort and Restoration: Almond and Avocado Body Lotion
Every time I use my Almond and Avocado Body Lotion, the scent takes me right back to those childhood summers — because lotion was the one thing I was given to help make my discomfort more bearable, and that almond scent reminds me of a popular lotion of those early days.
Almond oil is rich in vitamin E and fatty acids that nourish and soften, while avocado oil penetrates deeply to restore moisture and support the skin's natural barrier. It's become, for me, less about routine and more about ritual — a small act of care that echoes something I needed as a child and still need now.
The Deeper Invitation
Here's what I've come to believe as someone doing my own inner healing work: the things our bodies couldn't name when we were young often become the very things we're called to understand — and care for — as adults. My sun sensitivity had no diagnosis for years. But it taught me to listen to my skin, to protect it fiercely, and to treat discomfort not as something to push through, but information worth honoring. It just took me a while to get there.
That's the true fountain of youth — not just what we put on our skin, but the attention, patience, and self-compassion we bring to the whole process.
Explore the full summer skincare lineup — Mineral Tinted SPF 30, Chamomile Cleansing Lotion, Aloe and Azulene Gel Masque, Intensive Rescue Creme, and Almond and Avocado Body Lotion — at purbotanicals.net and under the Collection called Sun Protection & Over-Exposure.
And if this story stirred something deeper for you, I invite you to visit amayesingyou.com, where we go beyond the skin to the healing underneath it.
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