# "hiding" a cold sore?



## jerseygirl005 (Oct 18, 2007)

HELP!

a cold sore appeared on my lip on tuesday, and i rushed to the store to get abreeve to speed the process up so it disappears faster.

i am in a wedding on saturday!

if it's not fully gone by then, is there anything i can do to hide it or cover it up? i am seriously stressing out over it.


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## gigglegirl (Oct 18, 2007)

For me, I've really been able to keep cold sores at bay (when I'm not stressed) is to religiously apply abreva, sometimes it doesn't get to the point from [warning this is gross] soft hot to hard crusty. Hopefully you're at the earlier stage and Abreva helps get rid of it. 

Looking forward to hearing how MAC addicts attempt to cover it up. I've 
only recently gotten into MAC (June) so haven't had one yet to try and cover up. Good luck! I've found stress in my life makes them really pop up often--I've really got to handle stress!!!


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## eileen42588 (Oct 18, 2007)

I don't have any tips on hiding them...but a quick way to get rid of them: put a piece of real aloe vera (big enough to cover it) on it and cover it with a band aid overnight. I used to use abreva but it would still take up to a week to get them completely gone. Once i started using aloe vera religiously, it would clear up in 3 days max. Try it!


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## tara_hearts (Nov 3, 2007)

Ugh. Cold sores. The antichrist.

When you FIRST feel the tingly sensation in your lip, and you know one is coming, hold ice cubes on it for as long as you can stand it. While you are watching tv, hold an ice cube to your lip. It can freeze the virus and completely stop it from growing and even coming out on your lip. Also, there is a vitamin/supplement at walmart you can called Lysine. It is an ammino acid that helps with skin and lip health. Pop some of those if you feel one coming on. I take one every other day to keep them away! Also take a tea bag, hold it  under some hot water, then hold it on the cold sore for 30 minutes. It is supposed to dry it out and make it heal in relatively 5 days. And abreva. Hope this helps for any future suffering. I'd definately invest in lysine to ward them off in the first place. It's like 5 bucks for a huge bottle of 250 pills.


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## Dreamergirl3 (Nov 3, 2007)

Ok. I know this sounds really, really gross, but I've been in the same boat as you and was desperate to try and conceal it better...

basically the cold sore was half on the right lower corner of my lip, and half on the skin below it. It was already at the hard and crusty stage, so on top of Abreva-ing it to death, I had to wear a lot of chapstick. I noticed this made the hard, dead skin flakes of the sore soft. Since it was the flakes themselves that made it nearly impossible to use concealer on it, I removed them...with tweezers.

You have to be very careful and make sure you're only removing the dead skin that is ready to come off, and remember to do it gently. If you have to tug it off, it's attached to healthy skin and it will HURT. I've done that other times and have ripped off a super thin layer of healthy skin on my lip and let me tell you it's the 2nd worst stinging pain besides a paper cut IMO. You don't want to make it worse! Having a cold sore is bad enough lol!

Anyhow, after I did that it was way easier to try and cover now that it wasn't all flaky. In my case I wanted to wear lipstick, so I but a light layer of lip balm on, followed with a light layer of lip primer/neutralizer (I used Benefit Lip Plump). Then, I used concealer to cover the part of the sore that was on my skin below my lip. Lined my lips and applied lipstick, and it wasn't noticeable at all.

If you don't plan on wearing lipstick, try and play up another feature to distract from it and use concealer where you can (ideal if your coldsore is somewhat on the skin, like mine)

and if you get them often, I agree 100% with Tara_Hearts. I take L-Lysine and it has helped reduce the number of sores I get.


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