Tips on Giving Your Fashion Jewelry a Longer Life!
Why do we love fashion jewelry? Simple, it is timeless, glamorous, fun, flirty, the options are endless, AND it’s affordable! Let’s keep it real, most women do not have the budget to be spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on accessories. If you’re like me you have pieces that you favor over the rest and want to get as much life out of them as possible. So here is my trial and error experience, tips, and tricks on keeping your accessories around for a long time!
Now, obviously this type of jewelry is “affordable” for a reason. It is made of less valuable materials ranging from base metals, glass, plastic, synthetic stones, etc. Inevitably, these elements will tarnish and lose their luster. Be warned fashion/costume jewelry may be coat materials like pewter, nickel, AND when dealing with sellers outside the USA use caution, their pieces may contain lead, they have different standards. So don’t hesitate to ask if the piece you are interested in is lead compliant. We at Purple Box Jewelry have the capability test our jewelry to ensure it is compliant! (and we make sure it is!) To read more on how and why lead is harmful – http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/lead_poisoning.html or view this printable PDF http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/pdf/lead/leadexp.pdf .
The biggest killer of your pieces…MOISTURE! So, when getting all “dolled” up for a night out, work, whatever the occasion may be the golden rule #1 : accessories last! Your lotions, perfumes, sprays, liquid bronzers, and all that good stuff WILL affect your jewelry and speed up the tarnish process. It is helpful to actually give these beauty products some drying time after they are applied. Also, avoid water as much as possible to avoid tarnishing, rust, and pits. Whether it’s swimming, bathing, going to the gym, or washing your hands try to remember to remove it.
To avoid a state of disrepair take the time to care for your jewelry. Remove dust and debris with a soft cloth or toothbrush. There are jewelry cleaners made especially for fashion and costume jewelry but a mild soap or (my favorite) Windex will work too. Try not to submerge your jewelry completely (lightly mist instead) and stay away from chemicals such as oils, ammonia, vinegar, acid, and alcohol. These will corrode your accessories quickly! To avoid sullying wrap your jewelry in anti-tarnish paper.
Finally storing your fashion jewelry! The ideal thing to do is separate your pieces using pouches (on a budget, Ziplocks work too!), jewelry cases with individual compartments, boxes, tackle box, whatever you can think of. Now, if you want to show them off there are a million creative ways to store or better yet display your jewelry. I pictured a few for you but trusty Google and YouTube will inspire you with more ideas. Ultimately the last place you want to store your jewelry is the bathroom, again keep away from moisture!
All in all our fashion accessories will not last forever and begin to fade. The plus side to that is it truly is affordable and you can look forward to buying more! (like on www.purpleboxjewelry.com) But wait, before you throw out any pieces that you think have seen better days make sure you can’t use them for something else. Is it just the chain that is tarnished? Can you combine a pendant or pieces of a pendant with another necklace? Do you have more than one accessory you think you should get rid of…can you make an entirely differently piece? Key chain, charm, lamp string switch accessory, do you see where I’m going with this? Customized, gotta love that! The majority of this jewelry is super easy to take apart and put back together. The most you would probably need is a needle nose pliers for the basic revamp of your piece.
I hope these tips help give your jewelry collection the longevity that it deserves. Continue being fashionably you! Happy accessorizing!
purpleboxjewelry 
Great tips on how to….
I’m one of those jewelry addict and yes, it added more glamour. Great tips on how we can take care our jewelries.