Is your Jewelry Turning your Skin Green?

Have you found some really cute jewelry and just couldn't resist purchasing it.  You know how amazing it would be with your wardrobe.  You wore it for a short time and before you knew, your necklace, arm and finger turned green.  Why was that?  There are any number of reasons for your jewelry doing the Green-Thing.

Falling Leaves Bracelet in Stainless Steel by Dea @ Blackberry Designs Jewelry

The Green-Thing is caused by the metal of the jewelry that reacts with the acids in your skin.  Lotions, Perfumes and Hand creams can increase the reaction to the metal.

What metals can cause this reaction?  Did you know it is not just the Fashion Jewelry that turns your skin green, even jewelry made of Gold or Sterling Silver can cause this reaction.  Gold and Silver in their pure form are very soft metals and they need other metals to harden them.  Hence when sterling is Hallmarked, .925 Sterling, this means 92.5% of sterling is pure sterling but the 7.5% that remains are metals that harden the sterling, like Nickel.

Memorial Jewelry in Stainless Steel by Dea @ Blackberry Designs Jewelry

Some of the offenders of doing the Green-Thing are:

• Copper
• Silver Plating
• Nickel
• Zinc
• Tin

Can you already guess the top metal for not having the green around your skin?

• Stainless Steel
• Platinum
• Rhodium Plated Jewelry  

Hints on Helping with the Green Reaction to Jewelry:

• Keep lotions, soap and other chemicals away from your jewelry.
• Remove rings prior to washing your hands, or applying hand cream. 
• Remove jewelry before bathing as well as swimming.

Luckily, most people have no trouble wearing jewelry created from sterling silver or gold. For those who must be careful about the metal they wear against their skin stainless steel is the best for any kind of allergenic reaction and contains none of the offending metals.  Because stainless in its pure form is so hard it doesn't really need fillers.

Personalized Engraved Rings in Stainless by Dea @ Blackberry Designs Jewelry

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Dea at Blackberry Designs Jewelry   left Sterling Silver behind over 20 years ago and has been working in Stainless for over 20 years and is considered an expert in the use of this metal.  If you have questions about your jewelry, I maybe able to help, contact me:  Dea@BlackberryDesignsJewelry.com
#ForeverStainless

Watch for our next post:  Rhodium Plating, Don't Believe the Hype!