Why does your skin turn green from jewelry?

Answer by  Desine (427)

Oxidation, just like rusty iron or steel turning red. Copper, or the copper in brass, reacts with the oxygen in the air to make green copper oxide, which rubs off on your skin.

Answer by  kmbrcl546 (17)

If your skin turns green from wearing a piece of jewelry, then guess what...it's probably fake! Fake jewelry starts to turn your skin green when it tarnishes. Jewelry that is made of real gold or silver may get dirty and need to be cleaned occasionally, however it will not turn your skin green.

Answer by  brittanyr1992 (31)

The most common cause of skin turning green from wearing jewelry is that it is not real metal. Fake jewelry can often be detected by putting it in water. If it turns a different color or tarnishes, the jewelry is not real. Even without water, fake gold jewelry will fade to the real color of the metal

Answer by  Kavjian (46)

The copper in most jewelry reacts with trace elements on your skin and oxidizes, leaving a green residue on your skin. Even if your jewelry isn't pure copper, it often still contains copper, especially if it is gold.

Answer by  Alev (23)

If a jewelry is fake, than turns your skin green. To avoid this, you must always use jewelry, which is made from real silver or real gold. For the best result you can ask your sales representative.

Answer by  Jenn (116)

Your skin can turn green from jewelry because the jewelry is a cheap metal. Cheaper metals oxidise. This oxisidation is deposited as coloring on to your skin, and that is why your finger can become green.

Answer by  Cyndael (338)

This is caused from your body being too acidic. Some people experience this when changing medications, or occasionally a person is just naturally acidic. Changing your diet often helps this.

Answer by  Zoi (27)

Some metals can cause allergic reactions which can lead to skin discoloration. This happens due to the oxidation of some metals in the jewelry.

Answer by  Darkephoenix (1789)

A person's skin will often turn green if there is a high level of nickel in the jewelry. Nickel is a filler metal often used in commercial grade pieces to make them stronger.

Answer by  beck (1099)

Metals other than pure gold react with the oils and other substances in your skin. If you are wearing low karat gold which is mixed with other metals, your skin is reacting with the other metals. The higher the karat the less likely this will be.

Answer by  stephblake (205)

Metals in Jewelry are often alloyed with other metal due to some reasons. Ex, Yellow Gold is alloyed with nickel,palladium or silver to form white gold and rose gold is alloyed with copper to create rose gold jewelry. These additional metals may react to your skin.