Windburn is a skin burn condition where wind removes the top layer of oil from the skin. The lack of oil causes excessive dryness of the skin, leading to redness and a burning feeling. Redness and burning are also common symptoms of a sunburn, so the two conditions are often mistaken for each other. Pure windburn is usually not protected against by sunscreen effectively, since wind exposure will chap the skin even without the sun exposure. However, the moisturization agent in sunscreens does help windburns, and windburn does not seem to have the long term damage effect of the sun.