Can You Wear Lipstick With A Cold Sore?

Oh boy. It's winter, and you're going full throttle at the gym, work, school, and what seems like endless extracurricular activities. Slowly but surely, you feel the tingling itch of a cold sore coming on. You may be wondering can you wear lipstick with a cold sore? I'm here to tell you how to nail your makeup look until that sucker is gone.

A cold sore outbreak happens thanks to contributing factors like stress, a weakened immune system, cold weather, hormonal changes, or sunlight. In the winter, these annoying lip blisters are likely to happen after, say, a week-long ski trip in the sun or other extreme periods of activity where you don't get a lot of rest. From the initial tingle to it being damn-near-gone, it can take 10 days. Yikes. Luckily, you can apply makeup and lipstick on these bad boys (or around, at the very least).

According to cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Kenneth Beer, you can apply foundation and lipstick on top of the blister. But there's a catch: You want to avoid putting anything on during the open blister stage of the cold sore (around days 2-4 of the blister). Outside of that time frame, you can apply your typical foundation, but it's important to not use a doe foot applicator or anything similar. Instead, use a disposable sponge or Q-tip to avoid spreading the sore's bacteria.

I've had to deal with these annoying sores before, and here's exactly how I wear my makeup with them. I prefer to apply my foundation with a Q-tip and dab it onto a sore. I let it rest as I do the rest of my makeup, allowing the foundation to become a bit tackier and oxidized before taking my very clean ring finger and blending it out (of course washing my hands again before touching anything else!). Then, I'll take my foundation brush and run it over my entire pout to create a neutral base for my lipstick of choice.

If that isn't working for you, there's a heavy-duty alternative you can apply underneath your makeup.

Abreva Conceal Invisible Cold Sore Patch, $13, Amazon

These non-medicated cold sore patches cover really well and work underneath foundation, concealer, and lipstick.

These patches are plastic and shiny, but overall excellent camouflage for the cold sore. And unlike foundation, you can use the concealing patch during the worst part of the blister, and apply foundation on top. No one will ever know.

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