Kiss cold sores goodbye

I suffer in the winter from dry lips plus I get the occasional cold sore. I wish I had those sort of luscious lips that look perfect with nothing applied but my lips just disappear into my face as they have no natural pink colour and are rather pale and insipid. Grace says I have a wonderful smile but not when I am sporting a cold sore as smiling causes my lips to crack and bleed.

So when SkinShop sent me some Liquorice Balm to try with the tag line ‘Kiss cold sores goodbye this Valentines’ I thought I have to be a perfect tester. I get cold sores from extreme hot or cold weather and also when I am run down and as I have not had an uninterrupted night’s sleep for 13 weeks due to my shoulder fracture I am a teeny bit tired and run-down. As the parcel appeared in my letter box the first sign of a cold sore was appearing on my lip. Of course if I had been using this balm for the previous weeks I may not have even got a cold sore but now the balm was up against in as the cold sore was taking hold.

I happen to like the smell and taste of liquorice but even if I didn’t it would not have deterred me as the threat of a cold sore was enough to overcome any dislikes I may have had. I applied the balm regularly and I can report that my cold sore did not develop as it normally would and was rather a poor example of a cold sore. I have to credit the liquorice balm as nothing before has reduced my cold sore – once I feel the tingle the cold sore has won.

A trial by the Herpes Virus Association found that Liquorice Balm helped reduce the frequency and intensity of cold sore outbreaks if used regularly. It reduced the severity and duration of outbreaks for over 73% of subjects tested and, furthermore, 83% of subjects using the liquorice balm reported experiencing less severe outbreaks than when using their conventional treatments. Recent research published in the US Journal of Clinical investigation in March 2016 has shown that liquorice actually has the ability in some cases, to eradicate the cold sore virus which lies dormant in between outbreaks. 

The balm also managed to keep my lips moist and crack free which normally after a cold sore is not the case as the medical ointments dry my lips out.

Having now recovered my lips to their full blemish free glory I am off to road-test a nice coloured lipstick/balm which is 100% natural – more about that next week in my post which will be called Luscious Lips!

Liquorice Balm costs £7.95 for 30g from Skinshop – click here.