| 5 star (1) | 100% |
Lizzy (North Carolina, USA) on 07/15/2026: 
Last few years, experimented with essential oils and found a combination that works at least as effectively as Abreva but is all natural and gentle.
First, if I'm away from home and feel the familiar tingle, I found that rubbing an ice cube on the spot will greatly slow down the virus. Apparently, it needs a certain temperature to replicate (hence, the name of fever sore).
Here is the formula I use. Though it varies a bit, the proportions are roughly the same:
Tea tree oil (anti-viral) | 30 drops
Peppermint (relieves itching)| 15 drops
Lavender (soothing and healing especially with blisters) | 10 drops
I mix them in small glass vials that you can buy online at essential oil stores and such.
This creates plenty of blend to get me through an outbreak. I typically apply it about 4x per day with a Q-tip or with my fingertip but make sure to wash my hands extremely thoroughly afterwards.
It works best at the very first tingle - but that's true of most remedies including the OTC ones. I find it to be gentle and moisturizing so there's no horrible stinging (can't even imagine using acetone in this way! ), burning, terrible smell, etc. There is also much less to no horrible crusting and scabbing.
Used it about 2 weeks about 5 days before a weekend trip - caught it right away the and sore was literally gone in 2 days!
Hope it helps!
