The first thing is, when you do want to clean your jewelry, you should just be using warm dish soapy water. You don't need any harsh chemicals, you don't need anything crazy, you're going to take the finish right off of your stuff. Get a soft toothbrush or a really super soft makeup brush if you're doing anything with pearls or anything like that because they can easily scratch. And then you just let things soak in the warm water, just put warm soapy dish soap into a little dish, let it soak for ten minutes, and then just really lightly scrub it. You don't ever want to aggressively scrub because you're going to, of course, scrub the finish off something. Rose gold is especially one that has a coating, so you're going to wear it right down. That's always a good thing to know. I always recommend a makeup brush, to be honest, unless you have something specifically that you're trying to get off, then use a soft toothbrush. I feel like that's a good step to try first just to make sure you don't over clean.

           

Avoid sun. I know that sounds super weird. That's why people use jewelry boxes. Melissa, a lot of jewelry is actually coated, like my wedding ring is coated, that's how a lot of stuff is, but thank you. There's no such thing as fake metal, I always like to try to remind people of that. Some people don't have any allergies to different metals, and some people are bothered by rose gold just because they have a sensitivity to copper, and that's what gives rose gold its color, it's actually an alloy mix of gold and different coppers to create that pink.

           

Irritating your piercing can definitely happen with any kind of jewelry. Some people literally can't even wear gold. Some people cannot wear piercings at all, sometimes you can wear plastic. It's all definitely about your body. Light, that's what I was talking about. You should always keep your jewelry box somewhere that you can get to it, but somewhere that you can keep it nice and clean and organized. You don't want your jewelry all roughing up all over each other and sloshing it around. When I travel with jewelry, I'll use the little bags that you get from the belly ring club, or if you ever order the deluxe grab bags or anything like that, you always get a little satchel. I like to use stuff like that to keep different pairs of things from clanking together. I have tons of stone and rose gold weights and stuff like that that can be damaged by being thrown around like that.

Also, because of the light and the heat not being good for your jewelry, over time, it can tarnish stuff, it can diminish it, it can make your gems not look as nice. There's a lot of different things that can actually happen. You should always be careful about what you wear in the sun, that's why I like to wear stone stuff when I'm at the beach a lot, or if I'm going to be in the water a lot. Water is another thing. Pools, chlorine, that kind of stuff can totally ruin any jewelry, so you should always be careful. I take my rings off to shower, but like I said, I do leave in my Body Candy jewelry because I like to test it, and I really, again, don't usually have a problem with it, but it's always good to be safe and take as good care of it as you possibly can.

           

Another interesting one, and I do want to point out, I took all of this care info off of GIA.edu, that is the Gem Institute of America, so it's a very reputable site. Any time you hear me referencing caring for jewelry, or metal information, or gem information, it's definitely from GIA. If you ever hear me referencing any medical information, it's probably from APP, which is the Association of Professional Piercers. I always make sure I find really reputable sites to bring my information to you guys because I don't ever want to give you something that's wrong.

           

GIA says, "Exposure to chemicals can damage or discolor any precious metals or gems. Any substances like hair sprays, lotions, perfumes, and other cosmetics can contain chemicals that will permanently damage the surface of pearls or other porous gems." And, "Fine jewelry should be removed for diving into a chlorinated pool and before using household cleaners." Which is part of what I just said. So, make sure you're always being so careful with your jewelry.

Turquoise is one that's actually listed as a porous one, so that's one that they say to be super careful with, some light hand cleaners and stuff. I'm really glad, Nicole, that you got some information out of this. There's always little stuff that I don't know either until I start reading, so I learn ... I know a lot, but I also learn with you, which is what makes my job really fun. So yeah, they recommend you keep stuff in the boxes or pouches for easy storing, like I said, jewelry boxes are the best. I did like a DIY little jewelry box when I first started in February I think. Maybe I'll bring it back just to show you guys how cheap and easy it is to make your own jewelry box that you love, because I think that's really fun.