Make The Most Of Your Cheap Jewellery

My Jewellery Saving Tips & Tricks!

(For costume jewellery)

I feel like I haven't done many fashion related posts and when it comes

to jewellery, especially the cheaper costume style, I am a bit of an expert.

Having worked and managed a store full of the stuff some years ago.

I have had plenty of experience and learned a lot during that time,

 before we moved to the big smoke and had our little kiddly winks! 

The most common cheap jewellery is made out of the following materials.

Copper & Plastic.

Copper is a pliable, soft metal that is cheap and can be made into any shape.

The down side to this is that is tarnishes easily and a lot of people's skin

can get a negative reaction to the high nickel content contained in it.

As you have most likely experienced after wearing your cheap silver

or gold jewellery a few times, it most likely has started to discolour

and doesn't look all shiny and new anymore.

This can be extremely frustrating and annoying especially if 

you're on a budget and want to make the most out of your jewellery

cheap or not.

The main factors which cause cheap, copper jewellery to tarnish are -

*Water

*Sweat

*Dust

Best to try to avoid your jewellery getting into contact with these elements.

My top tips are.

*Remove your rings when washing your hands, swimming or doing the dishes, etc

*Avoid wearing cheap jewellery when playing sport or working out.

*Store your jewellery away in jewellery boxes. I recommend what actually works best are keeping them in clear snap lock plastic bags.

These keep your jewellery free from all the elements in the air which age your jewellery prematurely.  

Do this and your cheap $2 earrings will still look like new years later.

This brings me to my next big tip - Maintenance! 

If you begin to notice your silver turning gold or your gold turning a yellow tone,

then it's time to invest in some polishing cloths.

I recommend cloths over a liquid solution as liquid jewellery cleaners are

made for cleaning and maintaining real silver and gold, so best to save

it for your expensive treasures as the liquid will only damage your

cheap jewellery, ruining the silver or gold coating turning it to rust.

Cloths are amazing at removing any discolouration and bringing

your cheap jewellery back to life again.
Just do not wash them! Once they are dirty, just buy a new one.
If you wash it, you're also washing out all the cleaning agents in the cloth.

If your jewellery peice has lost its silver or gold coating

It's unfortunately beyond repair and there is nothing you can do

to fix it unless you get the copper re-dipped and with cheap $2-$5

jewellery, it just isn't worth it.

Cut your loses and chuck it out.

A great thing about copper is how soft a metal it is.

If you find the links in your costume jewellery or charms/pendants

falling off or coming apart, simple invest in a pair of craft pliers. 

They should cost you no more than $10 max and can be used to easily

repair your pieces. You'd be surprised how simple it actually is to do

if you just take a few minutes to try rather than just throwing something away. 

You can also easily remove some pretty stones or pendants off one or two

necklaces and put them onto some earring hooks to completely create

another jewellery peice without having to go shopping.

It can save you money too!

Get creative!

As I mentioned earlier copper jewellery can sometimes

leave a rash, turn your skin green or cause pain in piercings. 

The most common causes of the rashes are sweat.

The odd green shade most commonly noticed with cheap rings is caused by water.

Pain in piercings are due to people not being educated about cheaper jewellery.

Also known as costume jewellery, it should be treated like just that. 

A costume, to be worn for a few hours at

 a time, a day max!

Leaving copper in your ears, nose, navel or wherever on your body,

will only start to slowly rust from the moisture in your skin.

As mentioned earlier, water and sweat are cheap jewellery's biggest enemy!

Wearing cheap body jewellery is fine, but don't treat it like your good stuff.

It is not the same and will not react the same way as silver, gold and copper

are completely different materials and there is a reason they're

worth what they are. 

Real gold and silver jewellery can be worn indefinitely 

and is unlikely to cause rash, irritation or pain.

Unless of course you're unlucky enough to be allergic.

The good news is, all this negatively with cheap, copper

jewellery has caused a lot of manufacturers to start

producing hypoallergenic copper jewellery, which

contains lower amounts of nickel which is the main culprit of 

people's allergic reaction to copper.

Just be mindful though that these claims often don't make all that

much of a difference, so don't get sucked into pushy sales assistants,

trying to convince you you can wear their body jewellery 24/7.

I don't recommend it.

Another positive with costume jewellery are all the other wonderful

and beautiful, creative materials they're made from.

Plastic, semi precious stones, wood, glass, ribbon, the list goes on!

These materials are much easier to look after and often last a lot

longer without much looking after.

I love plastic because it will never tarnish. It might fade if left stored in the sun,

but for the most part it's great. Doesn't discolour your skin or irritate.

Colour shades available are endless and come in millions of styles

for all ages and occasion.

Semi precious stones are gorgeous, but are often over priced because

of their name, but are pretty much worthless.

Don't get sucked in!

Wood is one of my favs. A timeless material that lasts.

Never fades, discolour or irritates.

Comes in beautiful styles and tones and suits all skin, hair and eye colour, etc.

Can also be worn with just about anything!

I've seen some really creative and beautiful prices made from glass,

but the downside is, it's glass and can break.

Obvious more fragile, but if you can get your hands on real

glass beads over plastic, the difference is huge as glass ones have an

incredible shine and never scratch or wear easily, therefore lasting longer.

Ribbon is a really versatile material.

Added to necklaces and linking brackets won together can add a subtle, 

feminine touch with minimal effort and can be switched and changed

around with different sizes, colours and even textures.

One of the cheapest materials and easiest to DIY.

Even wrapped around your hair/head can create added, effortless glam

and make any old hair style instantly more interesting.

So that pretty much sums up my tips, tricks and advice on caring for

and maintaining your cheap jewellery.

I love how interesting and creative jewellery can be created

and really add something special to and complete an outfit or

overall look.

Watch my How-To Jewellery video below!

I hoped this post was somewhat useful!

Love Candy! 

xo