I love brass with its deep golden color and its hefty, solid weight. If you prefer wearing gold tones to silver ones (🙋🏻♀️), brass lets you indulge in fun, statement-making jewelry without mortgaging your house (unless you’re Elizabeth Taylor, of course).
But every metal has its dark side — sterling silver tarnishes crazy fast, high karat golds get more red in tone in a way I don’t love, and wearing brass can leave a “green shadow” on your skin.
No need to fear the green! It isn’t an allergy but instead a natural reaction that happens when brass rubs up against skin. Brass is an alloy with copper in it, and that copper will leave green on you as it oxidizes.
This green shows up differently depending on the piece of jewelry — the green from a brass ring disappears after a day, while brass earrings can leave darker marks on your ear lobe that can be wiped off. And the tighter the brass against your body the more you’ll see it; a loose bracelet won’t leave any traces, but fall asleep in a tight cuff and you’ll see that green ghost the next day.
It’s not a thing that bothers most people I’ve talked to about it, but every now and then it catches someone by surprise and if you don’t know what’s up you might get the wrong idea.
But if you know the deal AND how to clean it, it’s a lot easier to really embrace brass jewelry.
What’s Worked for Me:
For earrings, use a make-up removing wipe on your earlobe and watch the green instantly disappear. This one’s the easiest and most satisfying because it’s so instantaneous.
Alternate days when you wear the same ring or bracelet; that green shadow fades away on its own within a day. If you’re like me and have been wearing, say, the Double Asp Ring incessantly, you could also just not take it off! You can’t see the green when it’s covered up by the ring 😉
When you wear jewelry a lot, gunk will naturally build up from oils and lotion on your skin (humans are amazing and miraculous but also gross; we contain multitudes). This build-up likes to gather in the nooks and crannies of jewelry (like around closures and inside chain links), turning green from the oxidizing copper. You can brush this build-up away with a dry toothbrush or if it’s particularly stubborn, a toothbrush dunked in soapy water. Consider getting a jewelry-only toothbrush (make it cute, why don’t you), and dry the brass completely to prevent dark water spots.
For added protection, you can coat the back of the piece (the part that comes into contact with your skin) with clear nail polish or a sealant (like Renaissance wax, my personal favorite). This trick isn’t perfect, as this coating will eventually wear away and need to be re-applied.
But now that you know what to do, isn’t it a little less intimidating? And armed with that knowledge, let’s voyage into the beautiful world of brass jewelry together!