# hickey help! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227 "2005-01-23T07:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/1 "2005-01-23T07:09:56Z")
is there any way to remove a hickey overnight? how long do they take to go away? eek! ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/2 "2005-01-23T07:19:12Z")
A hickey is nothing more than a bruise, broken blood vessels. That being said If you are a girl you could try concealing it with foundation set with powder. Or resort to wearing turtle necks until it heals (would would work for either sex). You could also try rubbing some arnica cream (holistic stuff at wild oats markets and other health food stores, I use it on my bruises but it still takes a few days for them to heal). I have heard of putting Visene eye drops on hickeys, but I doubt that it really works. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/3 "2005-01-23T07:19:25Z")
Well, you can’t remove them, and they usually take between a week and ten days to totally fade, depending on the, uh, vigor in which it was applied and your skin tone. You can probably hide it with makeup fairly easily, however. Or just wear turtlenecks (assuming it’s on your neck). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/4 "2005-01-23T07:21:34Z")
i’m a male. damn damn damn… ---
**Author:** ![bookbuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9bd4f/32.png) [@bookbuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bookbuster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/5 "2005-01-23T07:23:51Z")
they are, in fact, permanent. also known as nature’s scarlet letter sorry ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/6 "2005-01-23T08:34:50Z")
[Hirudoid Cream](http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/health_advice/netdoctor/archive/100001249.html) helps with ordinary bruising. Failing that cover yourself with hickey’s and say you have just recovered from Ebola. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/7 "2005-01-23T15:35:46Z")
**Vinnie** , darling, how important is it to hide? Are we talking job interview important or grandma’s visiting or girlfriend wasn’t the giver or what here? 'Cause (and keep this quiet) BOYS CAN WEAR MAKEUP TOO, YOU SILLY! 😃 But you probably need some directions. Go to Walgreens and purchase something called “Foundation”. It’s a liquid in a bottle, usually between 2 and 4 ounces. I particularly like [Revlon Colorstay](http://www.revlon.com/product.asp?ProductID=5087&Mode=catalog) myself, because it doesn’t smudge off, but it’s a little pricey. You can do this with the cheap stuff, but you may have to wash it off and reapply it later in the day. Pick a color that’s as close to your skin around the hickey as possible. There’s mirrors there to check. Don’t simply guess, because a color that’s off is more noticable than a hickey, trust me. You also need to buy Loose Powder. You don’t want the stuff in the clamshell compact, known as Pressed Powder. Get the color labelled “Translucent” unless you have African or dark Hispanic skin. Then I’m not sure what the color is. Hopefully you can figure it out. When you get home, wash and dry the hickey area. Shake the foundation, and put your finger(s) over the opening. Turn the bottle upside down and then right side up quickly. You should now have a little dollop of liquid goo on your fingers. Apply the goo to the hickey using a light circular patting motion. Start in the middle and work your way to the edges, moving your fingers in little circles where your fingers lose contact with the skin occasionally. It should be a thinner coverage as you go out, and cover a bit of skin beyond the actual hickey area. don’t try to cover it all in one coat. It’s like painting a wall, covering yellow paint with white: it will not cover in one coat, and trying to do so will give you splotches and nasty results. Let it dry. Do another coat. Take some of the loose powder and dust it on the spot. If you’re using Colorstay, you’re done. If you’re using another kind, you can do another coat of foundation on top of the powder, and then powder again. If it’s a \*really \*bad hickey, you can pick up a color corrective stick (looks like a lipstick) to apply underneath the foundation. This works on the principle that opposite colors add up to brownish. If the bruise is still red or purple, you need a yellow stick. If it’s more blue, you need an orange stick and if once it heals to yellow, you need a purple stick. Lightly pat some of the stick color on with your finger, then do the foundation and powder routine. ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/8 "2005-01-23T19:06:06Z")
whoah… i just put a band-aid over it… thanks for the advice though and it’s “i was over at my friends house all night and my parents dont actually know i have a friend” important ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/9 "2005-01-23T21:32:35Z")
In my younger days, I found that vigorous rubbing and pinching etc got rid of them. I have NO idea why, or what made me try that, but it worked! S. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/10 "2005-01-24T06:08:14Z")
I’m going to [repost](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=294607) something I posted a few weeks ago on the same topic. My mom used to tell me the only treatment for a hickey was amputation. She promised to perform it herself if I ever came home with one. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/11 "2005-01-24T21:50:50Z")
You could get into a fight and hide it amongst all the other bruises and scrapes. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/12 "2005-01-25T02:45:12Z")
Liquid latex. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hickey-help/286227/13 "2005-01-25T02:46:47Z")
put a temporary tattoo over it.