How To Avoid Green Jewelry Stains On Skin: 5 Brilliant Ideas

Be good to your skin because you’ll wear it every day for the rest of your life.

It is always said that you should invest in your skin as it is going to represent you for a long time. What does it actually mean? Does this mean you should invest in good skincare products? To some extent, yes. But, there so much more to taking care of your skin than just applying skin products on it. You have to be careful of what touches your skin. You need to be aware of how your skin reacts to certain metals, chemicals, temperatures, weather conditions, etc to be able to take care of your skin well. Here, we will concentrate on the distressing phenomenon where you see your fingers, or any other part of your skin with green colored patches after wearing certain jewelry, like silver moonstone jewelry, silver larimar jewelry, silver chokers, etc. This may make you think that the jewelry is of low-quality or it is because of sterling silver, right? Well, it is a myth that we have been believing for a
long time now. There could be the case of low-quality jewelry, but there are other factors, too that can
cause green stains on the skin. Read further to find out what can cause those nasty green colored
patches and how you can avoid them.

Is Sterling Silver Causing The Green Patches On My Skin?

The biggest myth we have about silver jewelry is that it can cause the skin to turn green, or low-quality silver can turn the skin green. Well, the reason for those stains could be many and they are all mentioned below. It could be because of the jewelry, your skin type, allergy to some metals, humidity, or chemicals from cleaners, swimming pools, etc. Below are the possible reasons why sterling silver is causing green patches on your skin.

1. Sterling Silver Composition: The ace of all the silvers, 925 sterling silver is an amazing metal for jewelry because of its lustrous shine, tarnish-resistance, and durability. But, there is one teensy spot of bother in the composition of sterling silver. There are some people who are allergic to copper and that is the reason they may not be able to wear sterling silver jewelry without facing the green patches on their skin. Copper, with many other metals, is added in very little amounts to silver to make it sterling silver and give it the all the great properties that make it last and shine for long, very long.

2. Low-Quality Silver: This could be another reason for your skin’s green stains. Lower grade jewelry can contain a mixture of many metals and this type of jewelry is usually found in the flea markets and untrusted shady retailers. If you sense something is off with the whole buying experience, you should look for jewelry at a better store. 925 sterling silver jewelry will always be stamped with the numbers ‘925.’ This is not a foolproof method, but it can give you some conviction.

3. Chemicals: Even if you are not allergic to copper, you can experience patches on your skin around the
area that the jewelry was touching because of interaction with various chemicals. When you clean the house,
you use different house cleaners with various mild-strong chemicals, mostly acid. These chemicals can, not only tarnish your jewelry, they can also cause reactions on your skin. Same is the case with swimming pools
because they contain a chemical named chlorine, which is not good for your jewelry.

4. Humidity and Sweat: Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of other metals. These metals are
mixed in it because they help silver become stable in many ways. However, they don’t make it completely stable and it can still cause discoloration and cause patches on your skin due to high humidity. It is recommended to keep your sterling silver jewelry away from sauna baths, steam baths, swimming pools, or any other place with high humidity and places that cause high perspiration.

5. Skincare Products: Some of the skin care products that you freely use on your skin will make you think that
they are doing only good and no harm-well, think again. These products contain umpteen number of chemicals
and are and these chemicals can react with the metal in your jewelry to cause a reaction. This reaction can
affect your jewelry, as well as your skin.

How Do I Avoid Green Stains On My Skin?

The green stains or patches caused because of copper or some other reaction can be avoided. Some ways talk about avoiding to wear a certain type of jewelry at certain places, some tell you the tips and tricks of avoiding those nasty marks even when you are allergic to a metal in your jewelry. All of these methods will make sure that you are
able to wear any jewelry you want; responsibly and safely.

1. Avoid Water and Humidity: This is the first and foremost rule of wearing silver jewelry-keep it away from water as much as you can. Even if you wear it and it comes in contact with water, wipe the water off as soon as you are away from the water before it causes any harm to your skin and jewelry. Avoid wearing jewelry in saunas and steam baths or while performing an activity that requires you to use water for a long time.

2. Avoid Cleaning While Wearing Jewelry: This is no brainer as the chemicals that we discussed earlier can react
with the metal and cause those ugly patches. They can even tarnish and corrode your jewelry if it goes on for a long time. These chemicals are neither good for your jewelry nor your skin, so keep contact with them to the minimum.

3. Use Nail Polish if you are Allergic: This method can only be applied when wearing rings. If you are allergic to copper , you should avoid wearing sterling silver because it has some amount of copper. But, if you really have your heart stuck on a
ring which is made of sterling silver, you should not stop yourself from buying and wearing it because there’s a great trick.
Paint the inside of the ring with a clear nail paint and let it dry. Wear that ring anytime, anywhere until the polish wears off,
and apply it again whenever you feel it has lost its effect.

4. Buy From a Trusted Source: Whenever you buy sterling silver, you must keep one thing in mind-always buy from a trusted
seller. The ‘925’ stamp is the mark of genuine sterling silver, but it is not a method that is difficult to fake. You should always go
to a trusted store to buy jewelry, especially sterling silver. You don’t want to take a chance with what you put on your skin.
www.gemstonesilverjewelry.us has alluring nickel-free sterling silver and moonstone jewelry designs that can be trusted.

5. Polymer Barrier: This is exactly the same method as the previous one, the only difference is that, instead of nail polish,
which is a temporary solution and will wear off really quickly, you will be using polymer barrier that lasts up to 2 months. You
can easily buy polymer barrier, commonly known as jeweler’s skin guard, online for about $7. Applying it is same as the nail
polish. In fact, it also comes in a similar bottle.

NOTE: When you see dark green or black colored stains on your skin because of jewelry, don’t panic and the first
thing- wash your hands. If washing doesn’t help much, you can consider using nail polish remover (non-acetone,)
makeup remover, or rubbing alcohol to get rid of the marks. If it doesn’t irritate your skin, you’ll probably be fine but
if it does, you should go and see your dermatologist because it could be an allergic reaction you may not know about.