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Lifestyle

Why Your Skin Turns Green After Wearing Rings and How to Prevent It

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at U Chicago chapter.

Ever wondered if your finger was infected after you spotted a green band when you took off your favorite ring? Don’t worry so much because the green disappears after a few hours, and it won’t harm you. The reason your skin turns green is actually a normal reaction from the copper in your ring.

Copper is a metal that’s used for a lot of rings, especially really cheap ones. So, like any other copper, the metal reacts with either the product on your fingers or just your fingers themselves. If you want to stop rubbing and washing away the green after each time you wear your ring, follow these three solutions.

Use Clear Nail Polish

Paint the inside of your ring with clear nail polish. This creates a layer between your ring and your skin, so the copper won’t be able to react to anything on your fingers. Take note that you need to reapply the nail polish every once in a while since the layer is prone to wearing off.

Keep Skin Dry

hand modeling
nate steiner on Flickr

Try not to use any lotion or soap while you have your ring on. Also, taking off your ring before showers or swimming can help. Keeping your fingers dry will prevent the copper in the ring from oxidizing faster, so your ring won’t be ruined.

Try Other Types of Rings

If all else fails, try to buy better quality rings. Stainless steel, platinum, pure gold/silver, and rhodium-plated rings aren’t susceptible to discoloration problems. In the long run, these rings will be good investments because their good condition can be maintained for a long time.

Michelle Hahn

U Chicago '20