A question we get often here at JGOOD is “…will it turn my finger green?” Unfortunately, this is a risk you take when buying any fashion jewelry. We pride ourselves in offering quality fashion jewelry– a higher quality than competitors—but there are a few outside factors that can indeed, cause your finger to turn green.
Oxidation:
Green skin from jewelry can be caused if you have a high acidity level to your skin. High acidity levels react with silver and make it oxidize, which produces the green color on your skin. In high temperatures, your jewelry is more likely to oxidize. If you have jewelry you know occasional turns your skin green, avoid wearing it in warm weather.
Copper and Nickel:
Copper and nickel are both materials that are used in fashion jewelry to promote luster. Unfortunately, these two materials are also more susceptible to oxidation. These materials combined with the oil from your skin may cause them to leave behind a green smudge on your skin.
On rare occasions, it can be that you belong to an estimated 5% of the population that is allergic to nickel. We use nickel as a primer in our plating applications to promote longevity of the plating and promote luster. There is no better earth-element that acts as a primer agent for plated metals than nickel. That’s why we refuse to go nickel-free. In fact, we would argue that the term “nickel-free” should be followed by another set of words—“tarnish-quicker”.
Lotion and Soap:
You may also notice a green color to your skin when you wear jewelry after putting on certain lotion or washing with certain soap. This reaction is all about how the chemicals in the soap and lotion react with fashion jewelry.
How to Avoid Turning Your Skin Green
The easiest way to avoid green skin from jewelry is to buy pure gold jewelry or platinum jewelry. For people who cannot afford this option, you should try hypoallergenic jewelry or jewelry that is lined with rhodium plating. Rhodium is used to make jewelry durable while giving it that same shiny look without turning skin green.
A quicker fix—which must be repeated frequently—is to put clear nail polish on the parts of the jewelry that touch your skin… as long as the polish lasts the metal doesn’t contact your skin, therefore, it can’t turn your skin green.
