Why Does Gold Turn Your Skin Black?

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Rachel of AustinStyleWatch.com and I'm also a freelance fashion reporter and today we are going to talk about why some gold rings turn your finger black. So, gold rings are usually not 100 percent gold. Gold is an incredibly soft metal and so in order to keep it strong and keep its shape as a ring, it has to be alloyed or mixed with other metals. So, you've heard of 24 karat gold, 14 karat gold? What karat implicates is the percentage of the gold that is actually gold, and what percent is alloy. With 24 karat gold being 100 percent gold. So, it's often times not the gold that's causing a reaction on our skin, but the alloyed metal. So, if you're finding a ring that's really turning your skin black, it's usually a ring that you've bought at some cheaper, it's costume jewelry, it's not as much real pure metal. But, as far as very high percentage gold, 14 and above, if that's turning your skin green, it might actually be the gold reacting with lotions of products you're using on your hand. So, to prevent black ring, make sure you have the highest amount of gold as you can in your rings. And then also, if that is still causing problems, wash up your hands, tone down the products, and you should avoid that nasty black ring. That's how to keep that black ring off your finger."