A woman’s relaxing day at the pool soon turned into a nightmare when she woke up from a nap and realized she had made a huge mistake.
Sharing her experience as a warning to others in a now-viral TikTok video, Samantha Marks warned viewers: “Please listen to me when I tell you that when you go to the pool or the beach or get a tan this summer, put SPF (sun protection factor) on your lips, and I’ll show you why.”
Explaining what happened, she shared, “Because I fell asleep in the pool, in a pool, floating in Mexico for 45 minutes, and this has been my blistered lip for a week since I got back,” uncovering her mouth with her hand to reveal a large blister on her bottom lip.
You’d think living in Orlando, Florida, would mean Marks was on top of her sun protection game, but the marketing pro was caught out on a recent vacation. News week, “I’ve never had sunburn on my lips before. I’m from Florida, so I grew up in the sun and I handle the heat and sun protection pretty well.”
It was an accidental nap that put Marks’ lips at risk while celebrating her 30th birthday in Cancun with her boyfriend. She explained: “I fell asleep on a pool float for about 40 minutes. I had a hat on and sunscreen all over my body, but the shade didn’t cover my lips. Rookie mistake!”
The video of her gaffe served as a warning to more than 1.2 million viewers to protect their lips while sitting in the sun.
The burn was a parting gift from the Mexican heat, as she continued, “This happened on the last day of our trip. I first noticed it the next day when we got home: my lip was sore and looked like I had a blister underneath, but I didn’t think much of it until the next day when it hurt like hell. The blister formed, the scab grew, and it started to hurt to even talk.”
Thankfully, the pain was only temporary, as Marks confirmed: “It has since healed completely. I made sure to keep the blister moisturised with various lip balms and lip treatments, but what helped the most was a medicated lip balm, which sped up the recovery a lot. It took about two weeks to heal completely.”
This ordeal has taught Marks a valuable lesson: lips should not be neglected when it comes to sun protection. She said: “I now have lip balm with sunscreen in every bag I own.”
Uncommon knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.