A weird, but wonderful beauty industry tip that will kill a cold sore dead in its tracks. It may sound a little strange...

Sure, cold sore creams do the trick very nicely, but this little tip works like wildfire, and although it sounds strange, and, ok, a little dangerous, it zaps the little ******’s like nobody’s business.

Key ingredient: Nail Polish Remover

• As soon as you feel the dreaded TINGLE, use a cotton bud to very gently dab a teeny, tiny amount of nail polish remover to the area. Hold the cotton bud on this area for ten seconds - and yes, it's going to hurt.

• Repeat the process six times a day for three days.

• The nail polish remover dries out the skin, which, under normal circumstances would be the last thing we would try to do. But in the case of the cold sore, it needs moisture to develop - so by drying out the skin, you are creating an environment in which the cold sore will struggle to grow.

• Avoid the use of moisturisers, lip balms, glosses and lipsticks as these will only re-moisturise the area.

PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE don't try to cover an existing cold sore with makeup. We all know that no amount of heavy duty foundation or concealer is going to hide it – in-fact, it actually makes it look worse and far more noticeable. The less you put on it, the quicker it will go away - that should be motivation it itself.