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Written by OSEA Staff | Published on July 24, 2025
How to Refresh Your Skin After a Day in the Sun
It’s no mystery that too much sun exposure damages your skin. It can leave it dry, irritated, or sunburned, even if you slather on SPF beforehand. It’s easy to get carried away and spend more time outside when the weather turns warm, so use this guide to give your complexion a little extra TLC.
How Does Sun Exposure Affect Your Skin?
A sunburn is the most noticeable effect of too much sun, but even if your skin is more tan than red and inflamed, it still needs some extra care.
Any time UV rays penetrate the skin’s surface (which can happen on cool or overcast days), they damage DNA cells¹. This damage shows up as a red, hot, and painful burn. However, even a tan indicates skin damage. Exposure to UV radiation increases melanin, or pigment, production in your skin, giving you a darker skin tone indicative of DNA damage².
Too much sun exposure also contributes to premature aging, known as photoaging³. UV rays break down collagen and elastin fibers, which accelerates the aging process.
Finally, spending too much time in the sun and heat without adequate protection depletes moisture, which impedes cell regeneration and leaves your complexion looking dull⁴.
How Can You Refresh Your Skin After a Day in the Sun?
If you had too much fun in the sun, adding some of our skincare products for sun damage to your aftercare routine can nourish your skin and reduce discomfort.
Take a Cool Shower
Is there anything better than a refreshing shower after a long day spent outdoors? A cool shower washes away sweat and impurities while rehydrating parched skin. Avoid scrubs and use a gentle cleanser like our new Undaria Algae™ Body Wash, enriched with seaweed, aloe, and glycerin to cleanse and nourish the skin.
Hydrate
Hanging out in the sunshine causes your skin to lose more water than usual. Dehydrated skin can feel tight and uncomfortable, have a dull or lackluster appearance, and have less elasticity.
Try Sea Minerals Mist, our supercharged toning mist, to give your complexion a cooling boost of seaweed and mineral-infused hydration that nourishes sun-drenched skin.
Further restore optimal moisture levels with Hyaluronic Sea Serum, a fast-absorbing serum with hyaluronic acid, seaweed, and snow mushroom that restores moisture and keeps your skin hydrated.
For extra hydration around your eyes, dab on some Ocean Eyes Serum, a cooling formula of hyaluronic acid and caffeine that helps smooth the appearance of fine lines.
Your face isn’t the only place that needs extra attention after a day in the sun. Hydrate your whole body with our clinically proven Hyaluronic Body Serum, a lightweight treatment that instantly boosts skin hydration by 161%*.
* Based on a third-party clinical study after 1 use.
Lock in Hydration
Applying moisturizer after too much sun exposure is a great start; then, you need to lock in the hydration to minimize the sun’s drying effects.
As your skin starts to recover, incorporate additional skincare products for sun damage into your routine. Nutrient-rich Seabiotic® Water Cream is clinically proven to increase skin hydration by 173%* and visibly promote skin radiance.
Our Dayglow Face Oil®, which contains Omegas 6 and 9 to support a strong moisture barrier, can restore moisture to the sensitive skin on your face.
For your body, restore the skin’s hydration using our Undaria Algae™ Body Lotion, an ultra-hydrating formula that visibly firms the skin. Undaria Algae™ Body Oil is a seaweed-infused, antioxidant-rich, non-greasy body oil that delivers deep moisturization.
* Based on a third-party consumer perception and clinical study conducted over 4 weeks on 31 women ages 27-65.
Protect Against Further Damage
The last thing you want to do after sun exposure is damage the skin further. Follow this advice from Johns Hopkins Medicine5:
- Apply a broad-spectrum sunblock, SPF 30 or higher, to all exposed skin. Reapply every two hours or after swimming or sweating.
- When you’re outdoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., cover up. Wear lightweight, UV-resistant clothing, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses.
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Seek shade to avoid direct sun exposure.
Treat Trouble Zones
Since spending time in the sun can make wrinkles and fine lines appear more pronounced, give your skin some extra defense. Our award-winning Ocean Eyes® Age-Defying Eye Serum helps smooth the signs of aging around the eye area, while our Hyaluronic Sea Serum provides an instant increase in hydration.
Don’t forget to treat the delicate skin on your lips; swipe on Hyaluronic Lip Booster, a nutrient-rich lip oil that gives your pout a plumper look.
Whether you’re outside for work or play, knowing what to do after being in the sun all day and using skincare products for sun damage will have you feeling refreshed and restored.
Citations
- Cirino, E. (13 July 2022). Yes, You Can Get a Sunburn Even on a Cloudy Day. Healthline. Retrieved on February 26, 2025, from https://www.healthline.com/health/can-you-get-a-sunburn-on-a-cloudy-day
- The Risks of Tanning. U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Retrieved on February 26, 2025, from https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/tanning/risks-tanning
- Photoaging (Sun Damage) Fact Sheet. Yale Medicine. Retrieved on February 26, 2025, from https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/sun-damage
- Sun-damaged skin. Drugs.com. Retrieved on February 26, 2025, from https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/sun-damaged-skin.html
- Sun Safety. Johns Hopkins Medicine. Received on February 26, 2025, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/sun-safety