What’s Making My Skin Green, or Black?

It has happened to most of us, the telltale green, or black on a ring finger, or under a necklace. What is it? Are you allergic to jewelry? That may be why some people’s skin reacts that way, but not always! In most cases, the culprits are a combination of the type of metals in your jewelry and the areas at which your skin normally perspires most.

It’s the copper component that turns your skin green. Copper is an inexpensive metal used in many types of jewelry. When it oxidizes, it releases natural acids that turn your ring finger green when the chemicals in skincare products react with the metal when you perspire. If you own and wear solid copper< or copper plated pieces, it’s almost impossible to avoid the problem, short of putting some clear nail polish on the part of the jewelry that touches your skin. Even that “remedy” may not work totally.

Most jewelry wearers who become aware of this problem are those who have sterling silver pieces. Sterling contains 7.5% of copper. The stains these people experience is typically black, not green. The black stains are a result of the silver tarnishing. To avoid this problem, for the most part, the key is to clean your sterling silver jewelry, often. It will help immensely, if you clean each of your silver pieces, every time after you wear it. If you don’t allow the pieces to tarnish and aren’t allergic to silver, you will not experience any staining. If you care for your silver properly and are still experiencing a problem, ask your jeweler about coating.

As a rule, gold shouldn’t stain your skin, unless it is mixed with other metals such as copper, nickel, and silver that makes the gold stronger and more affordable. The lower the karat of gold, the less pure it is and the more other metals it contains. If your skin tends to react negatively, try to buy pieces made of 18K, which will almost always eliminate staining. If you are looking for less expensive jewelry, choose gold filled jewelry instead of gold plated, because gold filled pieces have a thicker outer layer of gold that will not wear off as quickly as gold plated pieces.

For total assurance against staining, purchase pieces made of platinum and titanium. Although they are more expensive, they are non-staining qualities and most suitable for people with metal allergies. Regardless of what piece of jewelry you are wearing, Try to keep your skin dry when wearing jewelry and wear it for shorter amounts of time if you think you may have a reaction. Always keep all jewelry clean and free from tarnish. Buy from reputable jewelers and always ask if the metal is pure or what it is mixed with.

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