To make a hickey less obvious, use cold compresses immediately to reduce swelling, then switch to warm compresses, gentle massage, and vitamin K cream to help it fade faster; for quick concealment, use color-correcting makeup (green for red, peach/orange for purple/blue) followed by concealer, setting with powder, or try hiding it with clothing like a turtleneck.
Crush up an aspirin and rub it on the hickey. Also, take a hair comb (like a wide tooth one) and rake it across the bruise. Both will diffuse the bruise and make it seem less obvious.
Vij shares his top tips for minimizing your hickey's appearance as it heals.
Hickeys are bruises that form when pressure or suction is applied to the skin. There's no proven method to make a hickey disappear, but cool compresses, arnica cream, and creams with vitamin K may help it fade faster. A hickey will fade over time, but it can take up to 2 weeks for it to completely disappear.
Teeth aren't needed to cause a hickey — suction alone will do it — but you can mix in a bit of light biting and nibbling here if your partner is interested in that. After about 20 to 30 seconds of uninterrupted suction, you're likely to have visible hickey results within the next few minutes.
Neutralize the Discoloration
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.
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.
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.
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.
For the first 48 hours after getting the hickies, avoid activities that may increase swelling, such as hot showers, hot tubs, hot packs, or alcoholic beverages. Protect the area from further “trauma.” Gently massage the hickey to increase blood flow and relieve pain. Be careful not to rub the area if it hurts too much.
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.
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.
How to Get Rid of a Hickey Quickly?
You cannot get rid of a hickey right away, but home remedies might speed healing. Try applying ice and then heat, massaging the affected area, and using topical creams. In the meantime, you might be able to cover up a hickey with primer, a color corrector, concealer, and translucent powder.
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.
How to Remove Hickeys
Here's what you should try:
A hickey is sometimes used to mark someone as being the target of a partner's romantic affection or as belonging to them.