Cold sores are a pain in the butt — there is no way around it! Not only do they hurt, are annoying, and insist on ruining a perfectly good makeup look 😛 but they also don’t look that attractive on your lips. If you didn’t know, I’ve dealt with cold sores for years and have learned a thing or two about them — which is where Herpecin L and today’s post come in! Not only am I going to be sharing about this awesome, affordable defense against cold sores that can be found right in your local Walmart, but I’ll also share other tips I’ve learned that helps to prevent an active cold sore break out.
5 Tips for Cold Sore Sufferers | Herpecin Lip Balm
First off, before we get into the tips, I want to clarify….’cold sores’ are NOT the typical STD that you think of when you hear the word ‘herpes’. I get this question all the time! No! Just because I get cold sores multiple times a year does not mean I have herpes elsewhere or suffer with an STD. There are two kinds of herpes virus — HSV-1 and HSV-2. The HSV-2 is usually the typical STD when you think of the word “herpes”. HSV-1 is the oral herpes commonly known as ‘cold sores’.
I just wanted to clear that up before we dive into the tips and tricks. Every time I do a post like this, I always get someone in the comments asking if I have an STD. :-/ Cold sores — HSV-1 — really is not that uncommon to have, honestly! According to the National Institutes of Health, about 90% of adults have been exposed to the virus by age 50 and once you get the virus…you have it for life! Anywhere from 50%-80% of people in the world have the oral herpes virus. So, yeah, cold sores really aren’t that uncommon.
With all that said, let’s get into the tips! If you are someone who suffers from cold sores, take heart! There are things/habits/routines that you can get into doing that will help prevent or shorten the life of an active cold sore breakout!
1. Avoid Touching your Mouth When Stressed
I’m not sure if it was just a weird habit or something I started doing because I would get cold sores, but I had a really bad habit of either touching or picking at my lips when they were dry or if I was stressed. This seems like a pretty simple tip, but this is honestly something I am still working on, and reminding myself of, when I find myself picking, or touching, my lips. Aggravating your lips this way can bring on a cold sore, especially when you’re already dealing with stress. Stress, either emotional or physical, can trigger the virus in your body and it’s more likely for an active cold sore to break out. This tip has really helped prevent cold sores so much for me — I don’t get an active sore anywhere near as often as I used to a few years ago!
2. Exfoliate Your Lips Routinely
I try to gently exfoliate my lips every day, but in reality probably exfoliate them closer to every other day. Even if you are only exfoliating your lips two or three times a week — get into the habit! Getting into a routine with exfoliating your lips helps to constantly get that dead skin off your lips, keeps them feeling smoother, and in turn I pick at and touch them a lot less! You don’t have to buy any fancy lip scrub — in fact, they’re really easy to DIY on your own!
3. Wear a good lip balm
3. Wear a good lip balmI know this might be a given, but I wanted to include it because not all lip balms are created equal. Especially if you suffer from dry lips or cold sores. Some lip balms contain — and do — absolutely nothing to nourish or protect your lips from cold sores.
That’s where my new-favorite lip balm — Herpecin L — comes in!
Herpecin L is a unique, pharmacist-recommended product that not only helps to treat and protect against cold sores, but it also gives you relief from dry lips and even sun blisters! And it’s not a lip balm you only use when you have an issue — Herpecin L is safe to use every day and includes SPF. Because your lips can get sunburned and get sun damage just as much as any other part of your body!
The best part about Herpecin L is that you can find it at your local Walmart for only $4.56! Truly good quality products that make a difference in your skin do not have to cost you an arm and a leg!! Especially since, if you’re applying lip balm to your lips multiple times a day (like you should), lip balm is something you run through very quickly!
Check Availability at Your Local Walmart!
4. Avoid Licking Your Lips
4. Avoid Licking Your LipsAnother weird tip, but it works! The saliva in your mouth will only dry out your lips. I know it seems like you’re wetting them — so giving your dry lips some relief — but you’re really not! While it gives a very temporary feeling of releif, once your saliva dries on your lips, it dehydrates your lips and makes them more dry than before you licked them. So it’s a vicious cycle and in the end, your lips are worse off then ever. Dry lips are like a bugle call to the cold sore virus that basically says “come and get it!”
5. Mix Lip Balm with your Lipsticks
Okay, so all the preventative tips are all well and good to practice…but what about when you HAVE an active cold sore breakout on your lips? Are you just doomed to a few weeks of pain and no makeup? Absolutely not! Not only would I recommend using a heavy-duty cold sore medication to clear it up, but also continue to apply your Herpecin L multiple times throughout the day. It not only gives you relief from the pain, but it also helps to treat the cold sore and moisturize your lips.
My biggest advice — as a makeup addict — is NOT to use your regular lipstick bullets or lipgloss wands while you have a cold sore. This could pass the virus into your makeup , contaminate it, and then you would be continuing to spread the virus to yourself or anyone else who used that product! 😮 But that doesn’t mean you can’t wear any color on your lips while you have a cold sore. I totally get it — you have this unsightly, enlarged, crusty blister on your lip and all you want to do is cover it up! And you still can! In the photo above I was dealing with an active cold sore blister on my bottom lip…but you can hardly tell, right?!
First start off by applying a generous layer of Herpecin L to your lips. This will not only act as a barrier to your lips, but it’ll work to heal up your cold sore while wearing makeup for the day. Then take whatever lip color you want to wear — lipstick, liquid lipstick, lip gloss — and apply it to the back of your clean hand. Using a lip brush (that you can wash directly afterwards) or your finger, apply it to your lips. Wash any access off your hands and that’s it — this keeps you from contaminating or spreading the virus back to yourself or anyone else! And you can still rock a big, bold lip color if you’re feeling like it! 🙂
What Are Your Tips for Dealing with Cold Sores?
What Are Your Tips for Dealing with Cold Sores?As I said in the beginning, I’ve been dealing with cold sores for YEARS! Since before I was a teenager — so I’ve learned a thing or two about prevention and ways to make the process of having a cold sore easier. But I am always eager to learn new tips and tricks! Please let me know what your go-to tips are in the comments below! Either to prevent a cold sore breakout or to help deal with the active blister!
Do you use Herpecin L Lip Balm in your daily routine?
This post is sponsored by Herpecin L and PRIMP Network. The product was sent to me to use for this post. The way I presented the product was left entirely up to my choosing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Some of the links above are tracking links, meaning I do not earn a commission off the links if you click, it just let’s the advertiser know how much traffic comes from my blog. It does not cost you anything, but it does help support this website. Any questions about my disclosure, read HERE. 
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