A 34-year-old mother says a £9.95 lip balm has ended her cold sore outbreaks after one appeared on her wedding night and stopped her from kissing her husband. Georgia Ruth told The Mirror that she has not had a single outbreak since October 2025 after using the LipQ Liquorice Lip Balm 30g, which she described as her "literal holy grail".
Wedding night cold sore
Georgia said she first began suffering with cold sores in her early twenties and they were often "really severe", with multiple outbreaks every year, sometimes as often as twice a month. She recalled: "One of the hardest moments came the night before my wedding when I developed a cold sore. I was absolutely devastated."
She added: "My husband was nothing but supportive and reassuring, but we couldn't seal our vows with a proper deep kiss, and at the time that was genuinely heartbreaking." The cold sores also took a toll on her self-esteem, with Georgia saying she would avoid work, social events, and even her husband and friends when an outbreak appeared.
How the balm works
Georgia explained that she came across LipQ after reading about how its active ingredient, liquorice, "may help reduce both the severity and frequency of cold sores". She said: "I've now finished two tins and never intend to be without it. I keep one by my bedside and one in my car."
According to Skin Shop, the balm has undergone trials with the Herpes Viruses Association, with 83% of users reporting quicker recovery times and outbreaks being cut by almost half. Marian Nicholson from the Herpes Viruses Association said: "We were aware of the research on liquorice and were interested in carrying out an in vivo trial. Quite often results which look impressive in a test tube are not as effective in real life testers."
Customer reviews
On Amazon, the product has a rating of 4.4 out of five stars from more than 700 reviews. One reviewer wrote: "Wow...it works. I put it on a tingling painful cold sore, it kept it unnoticeable and the cold sore went in 3 days." Another said: "This cream has changed my life! Cold sores are instantly reduced and gone in 48 hours."
Georgia concluded: "Instead of constantly living in defence mode, I've finally been able to live in repair and prevention mode. That has been incredibly healing for both my skin and my nervous system. LipQ Balm has given me my confidence back." The balm is available to purchase from Amazon.
