I'm naturally platinum blonde with very fair skin (I blend into my wedding dress) and blue eyes. I can burn in the middle of winter, simply by walking through a snow covered field on a semi-sunny day. I burned so badly one year that I blistered and now has white dots on my shoulders from skin cells I permanently damaged. What I found worked better than anything was slathering on aloe vera gel that I kept in the fridge (so it was cold!) and hanging out in front of a fan. When the aloe had soaked in, I ran myself a nice cool bath with a bit of oatmeal in it (similar to the whole oatmeal-in-a-sock trick that people use for chicken pox). I soaked in there for a good hour, patted myself dry and layered on the aloe again.
One week later, the red was completely gone, I didn't peel too horribly and my skin was a nice golden shade. I think I got pretty lucky, but I have a theory that the chilled aloe really helped.
Also, drink lots of water.
To even yourself up after the burn fades a bit, check out Mystic Tan or an airbrush tanning salon. The can touch up the pale areas that didn't get burned and avoid the areas that might be tanned from the burn fading. Go the day before and don't wear white clothing. It has a habit of rubbing off the day of.
