If your Sim spends a lot of time sunbathing, don’t forget to put on some sunscreen. If you don’t do that, they’ll get sunburned.
How to put on sunscreen in Sims 4
To put sunscreen on in The Sims 4, have your Sim start sunbathing on a lounge chair or beach towel, click on them again and select the option Apply sunscreen.
You can also buy sunscreen from the beach supplies machine.
Unfortunately, the sunscreen bottle in Build & Buy mode is just decoration. You can’t use it to put sunscreen on your Sim’s skin.
How to prevent sunburn in Sims 4
You should stop sunbathing when your Sim gets the Sunkissed buff. If you let them sunbathe after getting this moodlet, they’ll get the Starting to Burn buff.
If you don’t get them to shade, they’ll get sunburned. They’ll also get the Uncomfortable moodlet.
Sunscreen won’t prevent sunburn. It only delays the burning effect.
If your Sim gets sunburned, have them take a mud bath to soothe that annoying burning sensation.
They should start feeling better the next day. Sims may need two to three Sim days to fully recover from severe sunburn.
As you can see, prevention is better than cure.
Well, I suppose you could let Sims get sunburned just to see them suffer, especially if you don’t like them that much.
Keep in mind that sunbathing may sometimes result in strange tan lines depending on what your Sim is wearing when sunbathing.
Why can’t I apply sunscreen in Sims 4?
You can’t use the sunscreen bottle from Build & Buy to apply sunscreen in The Sims 4. Additionally, you can’t put on sun protection if your Sim already got sunburned.
If you think this is a glitch, move the mods folder to the desktop, delete the localthumbcache.package file, and repair the game in Origin.