Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Top Secrets For Getting Rid Of Hickeys Fast

By Tosh Caliberni


Life seems pretty great, you had a smoking night with a hot date last night and today you're totally psyched for the interview for that thrilling new job prospect. Or, maybe there's some big family gathering that you can't miss. Or, possibly its plans for a weekend away with your best buds, and the teasing and cross examinations will go on the whole time. Regardless of the reason, you're flabbergasted when you see it there...On your neck. No! A love bit left over from last night's passion? The scarlet mark of shame has burrowed into your throat.

You have a hickey! Really? I'm afraid so. So, what are you going to do about it? Some say there's nothing to be done; you have to just grin and bear. We'll have none of that. Yet, theories abound. And numerous strategies are available. Which should you try?

As timeless as the old wives tale themselves is the popularity of the cold spoon. And be clear, when we say cold, we mean ice cold spoon. The story goes, if you place it on the hickey you'll observe a noticeable reduction in its spread. However, be forewarned, there are others who insist this method actually makes the hickey worse. This might be one of those personal physiology things. You might have to experiment to discover if this method works for you. If you do decide that's a good idea, we recommend experimenting when there's not quite so much at stake. (Hey, you could even get the hickey on purpose, just so as to experiment!)

There are also those who apparently can't distinguish their neck from their teeth. There's a whole crazy bunch of hickey alleviation techniques based on employing dental hygiene resources. Particularly popular from this category is to scrub the hickey with a tooth brush. The thinking here is that it breaks up the clotting blood (which is what a hickey is, in case you didn't know). The idea is once you get the blood circulating the hickey fades away. Also in the dental hygiene category is the use of mint flavored toothpaste. It's supposed to be the mint that actually does the magic, but hey if you're going to be brushing your neck anyway? Why not? I say, if none of that works, try whipping your hickey into shape with some dental floss!

Less theatrical means to promote blood circulation lie in the homely old true blue use of massage. It will circulate the blood. If that's too vanilla for you, though, try the coin method? This one is for all you masochists out there. A bit out there, but it's supposed to work. Stretch out the skin on which you have the hickey, using the forefinger and thumb of one hand. In the other hand, holding the coin, scrape at the hickey with the coin's edge. You're trying to disperse the blood, so it's important to do your scraping in a pattern that draws the blood out from the center of the hickey, toward its perimeter. Once you're done, don't freak out if you have a red mark from the scraping. Did I mention you're not actually supposed to scrape off the skin? Well, you're not. And, if you didn't, the red mark should clear up quickly after which you'll see a marked improvement, to coin a phrase, (Sorry.)

If the hickey is not from the night before, but as least 48 hours earlier then when you want to get rid of it, warm compresses can be quite effective, too. This one is tricky, though. It definitely has to be at least 48 hours since you got the hickey! (You do know when you got the hickey, right? This hasn't been like a three day bender, I trust?) If you use the warm compress method too soon, it will definitely make the hickey worse.

And, naturally, when you're really pressed for time to get rid of your hickey, well, that's the time for a little creative cheating. I mean, nothing gets rid of a hickey faster than hiding it. The old school turtle neck sweater is a classic. If your fashion IQ allows you to pull off scarves, that's always another reliable contingency plan. Unfortunately, sometimes weather makes these strategies just a tad transparent, if you know what I mean. When that's the case, our last resort is to turn to make-up.

I can't say I've tried this one, but my color coordinator assures me that powering a little green over the hickey, neutralizes its red. Once neutralized, the hickey can be covered with a flesh tone compatible with your own. This is supposed to make for excellent camouflage.

So, you see, you've a variety of options. Which one you choose will depend on your personal taste, timing needs and perhaps pain tolerance.

They say, once bitten, twice shy. I don't know if that applies to you, but probably better to avoid dating the vampires. If you just can't help yourself, you know we always have you covered, here at How to Get Rid of Hickeys Fast.




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