Why Your Ears Get Itchy After You Wear Earrings

That little itch that pops up an hour or two after you put your earrings in? We get asked about it aaall the time. Most of the time it's not a sign that anything's wrong with you at all... it usually comes down to what your earrings are made of and how clean they are.

The Metal Is Usually the Culprit

If your ears flare up almost every single time, no matter which piece you grab, the metal touching your skin is your most likely suspect. A lot of cheap jewelry is gold plated, which is just a teeny microscopic layer of gold sprayed or dipped over a base metal. That thin layer wears off soooo fast, and once it does, your skin is sitting right up against whatever's hiding underneath.

Gold filled and sterling silver are a whooole different story. Gold filled is a thick layer of gold bonded through heat to a brass core, so your skin isn't reacting to some cheap base metal that's already worn through. Both gold filled and sterling silver are hypoallergenic, which is exactly why we won't sell plated anything!

Even Gentle Metals Need a Wipe

This one surprises people. Even the good stuff can start to itch if it's carrying a layer of buildup.

Lotion, perfume, sweat, the film from your last few showers... it all collects right where the earring sits. That gunk is often the thing your ears are actually reacting to, not the metal itself! And it gets even truer as fall rolls in and those heavier lotions come back into rotation.

Good news, the fix is easy. A little Dawn and water, or a quick pass with a soft anti-tarnishing cloth, and then dry them off before they go back in. Water left on metal wears it down over time, so drying really does matter more than you'd think.