Okay so on my recent beach trip, I got distracted midway through putting on my sunblock and missed most of one shin. And here I'm someone who prides myself on never getting a sunburn! I'm very fair-skinned so that the part I burned looks pretty bad, ugly and red -- one long stupid-looking stripe on one leg. I've been putting moisturizers on it and just bought some Solarcaine because it was really itching. But it mostly bugs me because it looks so ugly and I want to wear skirts and stuff (which I'm doing but feel really self-conscious about it).

How long do you guys think it will take to go away? And would it be safe to use makeup to cover it? I'm wondering if I can use some of that spray-stocking stuff to even out the color of my legs.

I swore I would never get another sunburn. I use so much sunblock that I barely even tan. So I'm terribly angry with myself about this mistake. Incidentally this led to a discussion of my own perfectionism and unrealistic self-standards in therapy yesterday: I'd feel bad for anyone else who got a sunburn, but for me I think I'm disgusting and impossibly stupid for having done so. And I get all that about myself and maybe I can get better about it. But I still want to fix my leg.

Sidony