So it’s Prom week, which of course means that life threw everything at me at once. I broke out last night and woke up with a cold sore and a sore throat this morning. Of course I need to get rid of all this fast. So here’s how I’m doing it.

Everyone knows tea with lemon and honey will fix a sore throat. But it turns out it could fix my other problems, too. Honey is a bacteria killing machine. Tea is a fantastic source of tannic acid, the same stuff found in cold sore medications. The acid in lemon juice sucks up oil. And mint is a great antiseptic.

So what I did was I brewed some super strong mint green tea (I used 4 teabags in about 10 ounces of water) and mixed in the juice from one lemon (about ¼ cup). I poured the mixture into a washed out shampoo bottle. It turned out the kind of gross color of the yellow liquid in the bowl, but it works so well I didn’t care about the color.

So I apply this mix with a cotton ball before bed like you would an astringent, applied honey as a spot treatment to a few stubborn pimples, and then washed it off in the morning (rinse it well or the lemon juice will bleach your skin in the sun). Trust me, I noticed the difference. Not only was my face clearer, but my skin was noticeably softer and less oily.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

So what about my cold sore? Well, cold sores need warmth to fully develop, so I froze up some of my magic formula into ice cubes. I just hold an ice cube against the blister for 10 minutes or until it melts. It’s been working wonderfully. My sore has not even blistered.

I really hope this helps someone else as much as it’s helping me. :)