Really, people?

I have a sunburn, and it's bad. I'm probably complaining so much because I haven't had a bad sunburn in years, but it hurts. This is probably due to the fact that I try to avoid sun exposure as much as possible so that I don't tan, but then when I visited my boyfriend on the farm he worked at I got a good five hours of exposure with only a white tank top to cover my back. Needless to say, moving my arms makes me feel like my skin is ripping.

So in order to combat the pain I'm applying generous amounts of aloe vera gel and moisturizer. Today, out of curiosity, I took a peek at the ingredients on my lotion. I probably didn't even need to look that far for the problem, because it said right in the name "oatmeal". Ah, yes oatmeal. The comfort of our chicken pox days. Normally it would be no problem and I would get some small satisfaction from using a "natural" product. However, oatmeal also has potential for gluten contamination. Oatmeal itself contains no gluten, however sometimes it contains traces of other grains from processing or even harvesting. The oatmeal listed on the label said "oatmeal flour", so there's a chance that bits of wheat got in there. I was very surprised, not so much by the ingredients but by the fact that I would need to find another product if I want to moisturize near my boyfriend.

Along with the oatmeal revelation, I also saw that the lotion contained some alcohol in it. Why? Doesn't alcohol dry out the skin? Forgive my ignorance, but it's like bringing a box of matches when you're trying to stop a fire. I checked my sister's lotion too and it also contained alcohol. So did the aloe vera gel. I also saw a paraben listed on my sis' lotion and propylene glycol in the aloe, both of which I am trying to avoid. So what's a girl to do?

For now I think I am going to keep using the aloe and my lotion, which doesn't cause a daily issue because I don't see my boyfriend very much during the summer. This, and I don't feel like going out to the pharmacy to look for alternatives right now. However, I did pick up a book a few days ago that has recipes for everyday household products from body butter to silver polish. Most look fairly easy to make and store, so in the future I'll be moisturizing with my own homemade products!