Lipstick gives me coldsores!

[smoothieooo]

Does this happen to anyone else? I've tried a fair few different brands and the only thing I can wear without breaking out is Burt's Bees tinted lip balm which is fine for during the day but I feel a bit half-dressed if I go out of an evening with bare lips.

Any suggestions?

Not had this myself but made me think of the Victoria health website which I think has some new treatments and preventative stuff for cold sores. Might be useful?

So... just me then?

I'll get my coat

Oops. Thanks Pick - I'll take a look!

A consultant virologist DH worked with swore by neat vodka as a cold sore treatment. It's a thought... purely for medicinal purposes though.

Cold sore are a virus. When you use lipstick, is it a new lipstick or one you have used before. It's possible you are constantly reinfecting yourself from contaminated lippys.

Slug as soon as I feel the beginnings of a cold sore I chuck the lippie away so I'm pretty sure I'm not reinfecting myself.

I'm liking the neat vodka approach... I'm thinking dab, swig

If anything looks good and your going to buy wait until Thursday. They do a free gift for first 50 orders at 11.30 and I think 2pm. Usually something lovely like a neom candle worth £20. Makes paying a bit of postage worthwhile. And no min spend for qualifying for free gift. Good luck

Cheers Pick - not sure if I can wait until Thursday, I want a lipstick now ! I might just set myself a reminder for 11.30 on Thursday though so I can get something else!

Boots do a UV light treatment for cold sores, it's about 20 quid iirc .

Some lipsticks make my lips itch!

L Lysine - an amino acid - works very well for many people in preventing cold sores. It's in a tablet form that is taken daily.

You can buy it from Holland and Barratts .

I don't wear make up so cannot say that lipstick causes mine. What I do know is that strong sunshine is my trigger, so I take the lysine and use a sunscreen in a lip balm format.

This works very well, and I've gone from having coldsores almost monthly, to having one maybe once every 2-3 years.

I get perioral dermatitis from lipstick (google pics, it can resemble cold sores and I sometimes get just one lesion). Pretty sad because lippy is my favorite makeup item.

Try coloring your lips with lip pencil. If you react to a pigment it won't eork but if it's one of the waxes it might help. If that doesn't help, focus on your eye makeup. I'm a gloss girl these days...

Cheers all! I'll try the L Lysine (someone at work also recommended).

Sorry to hear about your perioral dermatitis Frugal - I just googled and it doesn't look fun at all.

I get this too! I hate the aftermath of "posh" events as I always break out.

I think I'm allergic to one of the ingredients in the wax; I don't seem to get them if I use a tint or gloss rather than a proper lipstick, but that doesn't work sometimes for certain events.

I know that I get the same from some lip balms too; I think the only one I can yse is the Palmers

I may try the lip pencil idea with a slick of one of the lip balms over it to get the gloss look. Thanks for the tip Frugal

If you are allergic to lipstick, it's really hard to track what exactly is triggering the reaction. In my case, I suspect brown pigment because I also react to quite a few brown eye pencils and eye shadows.

Here is a really difficult article that gives a long list of potential culprits. Someone else here suspected beeswax allergy. Pencils can have waxes too but it's worth a try anyway. Start with a really cheap pencil...

I react to quaternium but over the years it has improved and now I can tolerate some polyquaternium . It was found in a variety of lipsticks and makeup and some shampoo/ conditioner. I used to get sore cracked lips if I used it without trying and often small cold sores would develop...before I had allergy tests.

I ve tried cheap lipsticks, I ve tried expensive ones, I ve tried organic ones - they all leave me red and sore next day, and even one I ve never used before can bring me out in something akin to a cold sore. Lip balms are the same too. I feel sad I cant treat myself to a nice new lipstick like other people. Cant wear eye make up either

Lip balms don't like me either. I find my cold sores respond to the cold pea treatment, where I place a pea on the cold sore to cool it down and it is easier to control than an ice cube. I now use a lip pencil to colour my lips and vaseline, which they prefer to lipstick and it is cheaper to chuck the pencil away than a lipstick!

Pencils and eyeshadow are fine for me, so I think I'm fine with pigment. Definitely a wax/petroleum thing as (if I actually stop and think!) I'm not great with E45 cream etc.

Never really linked the two things before.

This happens to me too!!!!!

Not with lipbalms though.

I have given up wearing a colour on my lips.

I am also allergic to hair dye

Cant use all the Vaseline lip products either.

Aha ggirl - I'm also allergic to hair dye so I wonder if there is a link?

Victoria health freebie is today Tuesday 11.30 and 2.30 sorry got my days Wrong!

hmm I wonder if there is a link?? sounds like it

I have the same problem. I can't use anything on my lips. I haven't tried burts bees yet.
My sores get so bad I have to get anti virals from my dr it sucks.....:(

I have noticed the same thing. Lotions, chapsticks and lipsticks causing cold sores. Mac lipstick and estelauder are ok. Lancome made me get 4 cold sores. I am trying to figure out what ingredient is causing this to avoid breakouts. I know this post is old but hope since then some of you have found out more information.

Yes! It's been happening to me for years and its very real. I think its because it blocks the air from my pores or something but i've tried a million different kinds (I'm 53) The only thing I can wear is Clinique almost lipstick-its a very light gloss-try it-it works and its pretty.