To quickly hide or get rid of a hickey, use a cold compress immediately, then switch to warm compresses and gentle massage after 48 hours to boost circulation; for immediate concealment, use color-correcting makeup or wear turtlenecks/scarves, as hickeys are bruises that need time to fade.
Like other bruises, hickeys can take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to go away. Hickeys are superficial bruises, which means they are on the surface of your skin. These types of bruises usually don't take as long to heal as deeper bruises like black eyes.
Beyond pulse dye laser, Zeichner says that topical creams like Arnica or Vitamin K are your best bet for a speedy recovery. Plus, Zeichner says if the skin barrier is disrupted and the hickey becomes dry or itchy, you can also apply Vaseline petroleum jelly to protect the skin from infection and keep the wound clean.
Dabbing Toothpaste on Your Hickey
Putting a glob of toothpaste on your love bite isn't going to do it any good. In fact, you might irritate the skin further.
You can apply a warm compress for 5 to 10 minutes to your hickey once or twice a day. For your compress, you can use a reusable heating pad. You want to make sure that the compress is warm but not hot. If the compress is too hot, it can burn the already damaged skin, making redness worse and skin changes more obvious.
A fresh hickey has red or purple tones, which you can color correct with a green or yellow color correcting cream. Then, go in with a concealer that matches or is one shade lighter than your skin tone. Set the makeup with powder.
While the healing process may take up to 2 weeks, here are a few tips that will help any bruise to the skin, including hickies: Put an ice or cold pack on it right away to reduce pain and swelling. Repeat the cold treatment several times a day for 10 to 20 minutes each session.
Since hickeys often have a reddish or purple hue, applying a green color corrector can help counteract the color and make it easier to conceal.
Use a green color corrector for red undertones or a peach corrector for purple tones. Lightly dab it on the hickey and blend out the edges to balance the skin tone before applying foundation.
Lip balm cap
Using the cap from a tube of lip balm to massage the skin is yet another suggestion that pops up all over Google. As with the massage techniques listed above, this won't “break apart” the hickey either.
8 Simple Ways To Get Rid of a Hickey Fast
“Any abrasive treatment of the skin like scrubbing with toothpaste or trying to scratch off the discoloration would be too superficial to impact the hickey. And it could even make the problem more apparent with scratches, bleeding, additional discoloration and scar formation.”
Bruises usually fade away in about 2 weeks. Over that time, the bruise changes color as the body breaks down and reabsorbs the blood. The color of the bruise gives an idea of how old it is: When a bruise first happens, it's looks reddish as the blood appears under the skin.
Here's what you should try:
The healing process of a bruise involves the breakdown and reabsorption of blood released by the damaged blood vessels. Cooling the injury site with ice may help slow the initial blood flow. Following with warm compresses can encourage the metabolic processes that break down and carry away the damaged cells.
A neutralizing concealer can cover up any bruise.
This will cover the bruise completely. First make sure your bruise is free of cuts, nicks, and stitches. Then choose a hypoallergenic concealer with a yellow base; the hue offsets blue discoloration. But if your bruise is red, you'll want to use a green concealer.
You can enhance bruise healing with a few simple techniques.
Vaseline works by creating a protective barrier over the wound that seals in moisture and keeps out bacteria and other irritants. This barrier helps the skin retain water, preventing it from drying out and forming hard scabs that can slow the healing process or lead to further scarring.