If you are having allergic reactions to some of your jewelry, it is important to know why and what you can do about it.

Nickel Allergy

Most rashes from gold jewelry are a result of nickel allergies. This type of allergy is very common (about 1 in 8 people). The allergic reaction usually shows up as an itchy, red rash where the skin comes into contact with the jewelry. Costume and other low quality jewelry often contain high amounts of nickel. Also, even high quality white gold can contain a lot of nickel (which gives it the color).

If you are experiencing this type of allergic reaction to your gold jewelry, you should consider switching to pure gold jewelry. However, if you really love the look of white gold, you can still wear some types of white gold, but you will have to make sure the alloy used to make it white isn’t nickel. Acceptable alternatives are palladium, platinum, chromium, cobalt, zinc, tin and silver.

Also, most white gold jewelry is also plated with rhodium which does not tend to cause allergic reactions, but if there is nickel underneath and the rhodium plating is thin or worn through, you will likely still get allergic reactions.

What You Can Do

Get jewelry with less nickel content
This is the easiest fix, but can also be the most expensive. The karat rating of your jewelry should give a decent indicator of the proportion of nickel to gold. 10 and 14 karat gold jewelry is the most likely to cause problems. Once you get to 18 karat and above the risk of getting these rashes goes down significantly.

Try clear nail polish
If you’re in a bind and need a quick fix, you can try coating the area of your jewelry that touches your skin with clear nail polish. Let it dry and you might be able to wear it with no allergic reaction. This is really just a temporary fix since the nail polish will wear off relatively fast and will probably leave a residue behind that will build up over time.

Get it re-plated
If your white gold is giving you problems, you should be able to bring it into your local jeweler and get it re-plated with rhodium. This should seal up the nickel and make your jewelry shine like new.

Is your skin turning green or black?
If your skin is turning colors like green or black when wearing your gold jewelry, you may be seeing the result of a chemical reaction between your skin and your jewelry. This is not an allergic reaction but a chemical one. Read this article for more info:
Why Is My Jewelry Turning My Skin Green? | How To Prevent Gold Jewelry From Discoloring Your Skin

Also Read:
Guide to Jewelry Allergies | How to Prevent Jewelry Allergies