I let my mom know about all this! I've also noticed that when I wear watches for an extended period of time, my arm breaks out. I'm starting to wonder if I'm not allergic to the nickel in the watche backs!
Beauty, I would imagine her best bet would be to contact her dermatologist for the medication since this is a skin condition. If she doesn't have a dermatologist, her regular doctor might be able to refer her to one. Good luck to her!
People can develop contact allergies to almost anything that touches their skin, including dyes, chemicals, metals, grass, fragrances, etc. The list is just endless, and they can be very weird. I'm allergic to some, but not all, blue dyes. When blue sneakers were all the rage (oh, that ages me) my feet used to break out in a horrible rash. Some jeans and blue shirts still make me break out.
One of the ladies in my reading group recently had a horrible reaction to a new mascara that caused swollen and very irritated eyes.
I try to just use mostly hypo-allergenic makeup products, soaps and lotions, and although I love fragrances, I have to watch how much of those I have in products, too.
I'll have to pass this info along to my mom. Any time she tries to wear any type of jewelry that isnt' real gold/silver, she breaks out! Would she ask her dermatologist or her regular doctor about the medication?
I did some reading online and found an article by a dermatologist that said there is a prescription drug called Psorizide Forte that treats the symptoms of this costume jewelry allergy, better known as contact dermatitis. I would say if your reaction is severe enough, a visit to the dermatologist might be in the cards? Good luck!
I've had this happen with both costume jewelry and real gold. It usually happened around "that time of the month" or if I ate too much acidic foods. I used to be able to actually get my ring and make black marks on my hand! Sometimes my stainless steel watch does this to my wrist (probably from all the tomatoes/sauces I ate.)
As far as costume jewelry here's a little trick I learned a long time ago:
Coat the item with clear nail polish and you should be good to go.
I get that same reaction too. It has to be stainless steel, silver or gold. I miss out on all the fun jewelry too. Have you thought about wearing some funky wood beads? I have seen some really cute stuff in wood.
You didn't say what kinds of costume jewelry interacts with your body chemistry, but I'm assuming it's metal or alloy. I have a similar reaction to certain types of metals especially watchbands and rings. I've found that I can wear stainless steel jewelry or stainless steel and gold. I usually limit my selections to local designers where I know they don't use any additional coating material, or where I can request that it be left off.
I like the look of stainless, how it can be shaped and how it wears.
I love costume jewelry, but can't wear it, it turns my skin green! This is real bummer for me, and I haven't been able to figure out if there is something I can do to make it so I can wear it, or am I doomed to be accessory-free? :-\
