How To Get Rid Of Hickies

Who's here because they have just encountered a plunger feeling somewhere on their body? You are!

You have now got broken blood vessels under your skin, which probably hurt a bit too.

How to Get Rid of Hickies

The question is simple, now that you have all that trapped blood right beneath the skin's surface, how do you get rid of it?

You can start by applying ice: if you catch a hickey as soon as possible (I know, what a passion killer) you can minimize the effects with an ice cube.

Gentle rubbing of the skin (again the sooner the better) with a hairbrush or comb can quickly break up the blood. Don't use your fingers for this; if you happen to nip rather than rub you will end up with a very large, bright purple hickey.

I've heard about this one, but I wouldn't say that it sounds too appealing: use a tubular object with a rounded end and apply steady/ even pressure to the area over the hickey. The aim of this is to push the broken blood cells deeper (in my mind they still have to come out sometime.

Here's an old classic: Make the hickey worse, I know what you're thinking "I want to get rid of it, not have one twice as big". Ok what's going to look worse, a hickey which everyone can see (and know it's a hickey) or a large, strange shaped bruise which only you know what it is? - I'm not going to tell you how this is done because the last thing I want is for anyone to maim themselves for the sake of a bit of passion.

Dig out your favourite turtleneck sweaters or scarves to cover it up (not for use in summer).

Rub vitamin K into the area.

Apply a warm, moist, used tea-bag as a hot compress. Repeatedly re-wet and re-warm it as needed until the hickey disappears, remember, the teabag will most likely stain your skin at the same time so you may want to just try makeup instead.

Here are some other remedies which have been used in the past:

Toothpaste: one of my favourites and probably not my brightest idea, just apply a thin layer of toothpaste to the hickey and massage it in gently (don't go near anyone for an hour or so, until you stop smelling "minty fresh".

Put cold spoons in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. then place it round side down and rub up and down until the spoon is warm. This should get rid of the black/purple look and just leave a red mark.

Put green eye shadow on it then put consealer on over the top of it. This is a spectrum trick, the green cancels out the red and the consealer covers it all.

Deodorant: spray on the deodorant and leave for 10-15 minutes, then wash off.

Run a toothbrush under hot water, apply to the hickey and use a sweeping motion back and forth to moving the trapped blood to the outside and about an inch or two past the edge of the hickey.

The combo that works: This is a tried and tested method which works - it's a combination process (you may want to get the spoons in the fridge). Start with the cold spoon, rubbing from the centre of the hickey to the outside and beyond. After a few minutes of doing this, swap over to the warm toothbrush, rubbing from the centre to the outside, continue this process for 20-30 minutes.

Remember, when all else fails, hit the pharmacy and find a concealer which is very near your own skin colour. Cover the hickey and let nature take its course. These are just my opinions and experiences, not medical tips.