Vanity Overcome...damn it.

Please note that this is indeed a before photo, the small pink blotch to the left of the line was a cold sore starting to come up. Next time I swear I'll get a better photo. Turns out the auto white balance plus the horrid bathroom lighting equals a photo that we feel doesn't do my almost cold sore justice. Also you have to trust that I do know dang well what a cold sore feels like and this was going to be one.

This is the after photo. I added the red lines for reference on my lips and also cause I heard vertical lines are slimming..... It's hard to tell but the pink blotch is gone, here it is a half hour later and no cold sore appeared and my sanity is still intact! Oh Goody!

How to find out very quickly just how vain you are. Even if you don't think you are, at all. As in not a drop of make-up, no hair product, perfumes of any kind. Not vain. Acknowledge the silver hairs popping up on your head with a nod and a wink and a promise that they'll stay silver as you've no desire to dump chemicals on your brain.
You might feel pretty damn comfortable in your own skin and it's only the occasional pair of girly socks that have stripes, or polka dots, oohhh or anything fuzzy wuzzy that captures your inner sparkly pink girl self and make you strut about with your jeans hiked up so people can admire an extra inch or two of your prettied up ankles.
Nope, not vain.
Certainly comfortable enough to have your husband take a super macro photo of your face, not even your face, just your lips....for the greater good of course. Not for anything kinky. Not that I'm saying the greater good is mutually exclusive of kinky things.
It's all because of the damn cold sores.
Evil, nasty little teenage years ruining buggers that always have popped up *coincidentally* on picture day at school, or the first day of school, or the day before school starts, or at school or any time some one so much as mentions the world school.
I do not miss being a teenager. Back then cold sores had their way with me. I didn't care if it was a tiny pink spot (relatively speaking) on my face. That a cold sore had nothing absolutely to do with who I was, they hurt, itched and drove me maddddddddddddd.
UNTIL....
(there's always a dramatic *until* and a breath of anxious silence when something amazing is about to be revealed.)
Until...Tetrasil.
I love Tetrasil. It's the most amazing, relatively inexpensive product that ACTUALLY WORKS that I have ever had the pleasure of running in to.
I have wrote about it before, but it's so good it deserves it's own damn blog. Ode to Tetrasil every day. Songs, poems and fine pieces of art should all be dedicated to Tetrasil. People should name their kids after this product it's sooooo goood.
The ONLY salve I have EVER tried that can actually STOP a cold sore. STOP one.
Hooo boy, It got a little warm in here didn't it?
It's just so dang amazing. It would be like you discovered that you could breath under water, would you not brag that up? Would you not want to redirect every conversation around to the absolute amazingnest of being able to breathe under water?
It's like that.
The only disclaimer I have is that I can not say for sure that Tetrasil would work the same for every one as it has for me. As every one, though human (er..I hope) is not the same. Some people can eat cashews, some people get rashes and a belly ache from them. So I fully admit there's a possibility if you're stalked by cold sores as I am that there's a chance Tetrasil won't work for you.
But I hope it does.
Now to clarify about Tetrasil stopping a cold sore I have learned this fact for myself through trial and error. As in the first second I feel the tell tale itch, burning, tingly, make me wanna rip my lip off feeling I TRY and run (with out error) to one of my many many tubes of Tetrasil to slather my lip up. If I do it fast enough, and keep the Tetrasil on long enough the pink swelling that is beginning to occur will go away. Fairly fast. If you've already got the blisters that appear it's probably too late to make the cold sore reverse, you need to catch it the INSTANT you feel/see it appear.
If you have had a cold sore coming on and have tried all the "put ice on it" "put a tea bag on it" "put your fist through the wall" type advice to stop one I'm betting it didn't work.
Cold sores are like this freaky little bit of evilness that resides amongst humans, preying on their stress and lips and making us think dark nasty thoughts about nuclear means of removing one...bleck. I hate them.
But I can't remember the last time I had one. I'm pretty sure when I did it was one that popped up while I was asleep, ASLEEP! Can you fricking believe it? I mean good golly what kind of war is that? Sneak up on your enemy while they're asleep and do your worst??? I learned my lesson though, I keep a tube of Tetrasil on my night stand and if I wake up in the night and so much as think the word "cold sore" I slather up. I'd rather be safe, salved up rather than sorry.
Perhaps I AM vain, that a little pink bump or sore can cause me so much unresolved anger and make me want to wear a brown paper bag, simple but stylish, not to mention recyclable, over my head when one of them gets past my defenses.
The other night I felt a cold sore coming on. Seven and a half piercing screams later I tore across the room for my handiest tube of Tetrasil.
You know how in the cartoons when a character is going so fast that when they stop they skid to a halt with smoke coming up from their heels? Well that was me, I swear I've got carpet burn oh my heels, so abruptly did I slam on my brakes and started hollering to my husband "GET THE CAMERA, GET THE CAMERA!"
The things I will do for my fellow cold sore sufferers.
I danced on the balls of my feet, hands flailing as I stood in the unforgiving bathroom light calling out as sanely as possible to my husband "HURRY HURRY HURRY, ACCK HURRRRRRRY, JUST TAKE A PICTURE ALREADY!!!!!!"
So he swooped in, camera in hand, blazing a path of point and shoot glory to my face.
(That's what's cool about my husband, I start running round like a nut screeching that he should grab the camera and take a photo of my lips as fast as he can and he does it.)
He snaps the photo, I slather up in Tetrasil until the tell tale itching and slight pain has gone away and I sigh in relief when I clean my face and see the beginnings of a cold sore has left the premises.
SWEET!!
Victory is mine once more.
Much more calmly I ask for an after photo, again super macro.
Little did I realize the tizzy that a super macro of one's own face would do to one's self.
HAIR????
I HAVE HAIR ON MY FACE????????? My pores are like the fricking craters on the moon, good God it's a wonder my husband and 2 cats haven't fallen in and been lost for ever. Perhaps I should keep some spelunking supplies near by so should there be an accident I could throw some rope in after the loved one who got too close.
SEE!
See what I mean, where in the hell did that unexpected pocket of vanity come from?????
Go ahead, take a super macro (which is closer than a regular macro) of your own face, not even the whole face. No just a nice close shot that only fits like 8 skin cells in the frame and take the photo under lovely fluorescent light and have a gander at it on your computer. Where you can see a part of your own face 17 times bigger on the screen.
17!!!! This is not a number I pulled out of my...er..head like I do sometimes for fun. This is an actual "Honey get over here and please help me figure out how much bigger the super macro photo of my lips is on my computer screen than my real life itsy bitsy lips are."
My sweetie brings his trusty measuring tape, measures my lips, then we measure the lips on the screen and I'm looking at a whopping 17 times larger image of my self.
ewwwwwww. damn it, get me a hammer so I knock some sense into the vain brain cells that have come to life upon seeing my own face that close up.
My only consolation is that I took the photos for the greater good, so I would have proof that a cold sore was coming up and that a few minutes later after an application of my bestest inanimate friend (Tetrasil not my coffee maker) all over the spot it was gone. And STAYED gone. Till what ever nice real life moment it should choose to attack me again. Most likely during an episode of StarGate Atlantis, or when I'm next in line at the DMV or am up to my elbows in glue. Because don't think for one second a cold sore will appear when...say, you have the weapon to repel it in your hand. Nope, it spies on you and waits till your kitchen timer is going off, you're about to burn supper, the phone rings and the cat checks to see if you can keep your balance after running hell bent for leather at your legs in a mini feline body slam. THAT is when a cold sore will try and get you. Which is why I have a tube beside my bed, one in the bathroom, one in the glove compartment of the car plus a spare.
Not to mention I carry one of those tubes in my pocket if we're leaving the house or the safety of our little car for any longer then it takes to pop in to Trader Joe's and buy 3 cans of French Roast Coffee beans.
My point about the vanity.... I do have a point, it may be dull and need a bit of sharpening but it's still there, trust me.
My point is I came this close *holds up thumb and pointy finger together so that a mere fraction of a molecule of space is between them* to just dumping the photos and saying to heck with it.
Silly huh, as if other humans don't have pores, nearly invisible facial hairs and the occasional cold sore. Nothing like a sit down with one's own conscience for a heart to heart about what's really important in the world to make one feel silly, childish and embarrassed about one's small bout of teenage vanity.
My bottom line, I use Tetrasil and it's done so much good for me I hope it can help some one else. You can read a zillion testimonials but a little photo evidence goes a long way. Plus my husband doesn't have vision that is super macro where he can see my skin 17 times larger then it really is so who cares if I've got an entire circus troop living below my lip. (I don't I checked.)
Yahoooooo for me for acting like a grown up and defeating yet another cold sore.

Said to person off screen after I think I'm all done though my fingers sneakily keep typing, unbeknownst to me: "Can I get my treat now? But, you said if I did this I got a treat? WHAT THE HELL KIND OF TREAT IS THAT? Alleviating my conscious? Personal growth? A PERSONAL GROWTH IS WHAT GOT ME INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIST PLACE. Fine, I said FINE...yes I would like a coffee."

p.s. I can not leave you with just the image of my lips and thoughts of coldsores. Here are some pretty flowers, see the pretty flowers. Aren't the flowers pretty? Soooo Pretty. You have experienced only sunshine and prettiness here today.
(actual photo of pretty flowers)

Lip Service.......

I bet y'all never heard any one say, what I'm about to say, before.
I wish like heck I'd taken a photo of the cold sore that started to pop out, right on my bottom lip, a few hours ago.
Why not take the picture now you might be curious enough (and un-repulsed enough by my subject matter) to ask.
Well I can't..... because the cold sore has not only stopped appearing but is gone completely. My lips are lovely and unblemished if I do say so myself.
As a person who's every school picture included my own personal nemesis..."the COLD-SORE from hell" I can say with certainty that I KNOW when a cold sore is coming on.
Up until a couple years ago I thought there was NOTHING that could be done from stopping it. Despite all kinds of home remedies... like putting an ice cube on the spot, a tea bag and heck even some desperate praying, none of it ever stopped a cold sore. I have tried numerous drug store cold sore medications and those never did me any good either. Besides they only treated the cold sore, they never prevented one.
Once I saw that pink spot, felt that nasty, tingly, itchy feeling.... I knew I was in for a week long visit from my enemy...the cold sore. You can't even punch a cold sore to get a little violent satisfaction either...cause you just wind up punching yourself....and please don't try punching some one else's cold sore for that satisfaction...you wind up with a court date, a restraining order and a black eye...not necessarily in that order.
BUT back to the cold sore at hand...or not at hand to be more specific. And that's exactly the point of my ramblings here. Where did it go?
I dunno but I DO know what made it leave. As soon as I saw that tell tale swollen pink spot on my bottom lip I literally RAN round the house yelling "where's the Tetrasil?????"
Tetrasil, my super hero buddy that is the ONLY thing I use to combat the evilness of a cold-sore. Because Tetrasil is the ONLY thing that has actually stopped a cold-sore in it's tracks and reversed it for me. As soon as I feel or see any sign of a cold sore coming on I slather the spot in Tetrasil and LEAVE it there. Better to go for an hour with a grey coloured salve on your lip then a week or more with a nasty painful sore. I just leave it there till I can feel that my lip is back to normal. Then gently wipe off the excess salve and sometimes rub in some new Tetrasil as a further preventative.
This stuff is so effective that I'd only had maybe 1 or 2 cold-sores that fully materialized in like the last 3 years. And the only reason that one slipped past my amazing Tetrasil defenses is because the damn thing popped out while I was asleep!!!!!!!!!! NO FAIR! DIRTY POOL!!!!! How can I slather the spot with Tetrasil if I'm asleep for 8 or 9 hours unaware of what's happening on my lip??????? I just remembered how the other one escaped my detection and prevention now too. It was at the dentist's, over a year ago and it started while I was in the chair. And who can tell with their lips stretched wide open and a zillion tools in your mouth and faces peering down at ya??? Well I learned my lesson and I take Tetrasil with me and have it in my pocket during a dentist trip. Sometimes rubbing some on my lips as a preventative before the visit and some on afterwards.
I am not exaggerating the effectiveness of this product in the stopping of a cold sore.
I just know that periodically, 4 or 5 times a year at least, a cold sore will try to make an uninvited appearance on or around my lips and that every time it's tried (with the exception of times I was asleep and at the Dentist's) I have slathered the spot with Tetrasil and the cold-sore was prevented, the pink swelling disappeared.
Tetrasil is great for if a cold sore has made it past your detection and managed to materialize fully for just taking care of the sore. But I have found prevention of this full materialization is key. As soon as you feel that tell tale itch, see that ominous pink swelling you must act immediately!!!!!! Hence the reason I do not have a before photo of the spot. I was running for the Tetrasil not the camera. I have the after photo as seen above. That's my lips just a few hours after the cold sore tried to appear and they look normal. I did not confuse the cold sore coming on with a bug bite or acne spot either. If it was that then there'd still be a sign of it.
I can not say for certain that Tetrasil will work for you the way it does for me. BUT if you suffer from cold sores it is definitely worth your consideration. And the next time you feel one coming on you can try my technique. Speed is essential. As soon as you feel the cold sore you need to slather on the Tetrasil. I can't repeat that enough. This is why I keep Tetrasil in the car, beside the bed, beside the couch and usually beside the bathroom sink (which is why I was hollering "where's the Tetrasil" earlier, the tube that was supposed to be there got moved)
I personally have noticed in the past that times of stress will bring a cold sore on. So if I feel like I am stressed or going to be I will do a one step further prevention and rub some Tetrasil around my lips before I even see a sign of a cold sore to further prevent even the beginnings of one.
If you suffer from cold sores you know how BIG this is. I kind of feel guilty I haven't communicated this discovery to friends and family before now.
The only thing to be aware of when using Tetrasil is that when exposed to the sun it will discolor and darken, so if you even rubbed it in till it disappeared that spot can darken. I'd rather have a dark spot on my lip then a painful cold-sore. Besides the dark spot is washable, no fear that it will be permanent.
Oh yes I should point out that Tetrasil isn't specifically a cold-sore treatment either. It's a general multi-purpose skin ointment so it can be used for all sorts of things. Another great thing about this ointment is that it lasts a long time despite my generous applications of it. It is composed of all-natural ingredients and very safe to use. You can learn more about the ingredients and company that makes it here www.aidanceproducts.com
O.k.
I feel a lot better now. Not just because I have once again thwarted the evil plans of a cold-sore wanna-be. But because I have shared my positive experiences of this wonderful product with all of you.