“Hypoallergenic” is not a regulated term in the United States. Any seller can print it on any listing without meeting a standard, which makes it close to useless as a buying signal. What is useful is knowing which metals cause reactions, and reading the material line instead of the marketing line.
The word to actually look for is “nickel”
Contact allergy to nickel is common — population studies in North America and Europe consistently put it in the range of roughly 10–20% of adults, and it is several times more frequent in women than men, largely because of ear piercing. It is the most frequent cause of allergic contact dermatitis from jewellery by a wide margin.
The reaction is not immediate. It typically appears 12 to 48 hours after contact as itching, redness, small blisters or dry scaly skin, exactly in the shape of whatever was touching the skin — a ring band, an earring back, a clasp at the nape of the neck. That shape is the giveaway.
Once you are sensitised to nickel, you stay sensitised. There is no cure, only avoidance.
What each metal actually does
Usually safe
- Surgical implant-grade titanium — contains no nickel at all. The safest common option, and what most piercers use for fresh piercings.
- Niobium — also nickel-free, less common and usually pricier.
- Platinum — nickel-free, and priced like it.
- Solid gold at 18k and above — at least 75% gold, so there is little room for nickel in the alloy. White gold is the exception; see below.
- Niobium- or titanium-posted earrings with a plated decorative front — the part in the piercing is what matters most.
Usually fine, with a caveat
- Sterling silver (925) — the other 7.5% is normally copper, not nickel, so most sterling is fine for nickel-allergic wearers. A small number of people react to copper or to the silver itself.
- Surgical stainless steel (316L) — contains 10–14% nickel, but it is locked into the alloy and released very slowly. Most nickel-allergic people wear 316L without trouble; a minority still react.
- 14k gold — 58.5% gold, so more room in the alloy for other metals. Usually fine in yellow gold.
Frequent culprits
- White gold — nickel is one of the traditional metals used to whiten gold. Palladium white gold is the nickel-free alternative, but you have to ask which one you have.
- Anything described only as “alloy”, “base metal” or “fashion metal” — these tell you nothing, and inexpensive alloys frequently contain nickel.
- Plated pieces once the plating wears through — this is the sneaky one. A piece can be comfortable for a year and then start causing a rash, because the gold layer has finally worn off the nickel-bearing base underneath.
- Vintage and second-hand jewellery — made before nickel-release limits existed anywhere.
The EU limit, and why it matters in the US
The European Union restricts how much nickel jewellery may release: for items inserted into pierced ears, 0.2 micrograms per square centimetre per week; for items in prolonged skin contact, 0.5 µg/cm²/week. The United States has no equivalent federal rule for adult jewellery, though several states regulate lead and cadmium in children’s jewellery.
The practical consequence: a listing that says “nickel-free” on a US store is a claim by the seller, not a certification. A listing that names the actual alloy — titanium, 316L, 925, 18k — gives you something you can reason about.
If you react to something you already own
- Stop wearing it. The rash will settle over one to three weeks.
- Do not try to seal the metal with clear nail polish. It is a common tip and it is a bad one: the coating chips within days and you go back to skin contact without noticing.
- For earrings, replace the post rather than the whole earring where you can. Titanium posts and backs are inexpensive and solve most ear reactions.
- If the rash is severe, spreading, or does not settle, see a doctor. Patch testing will tell you exactly what you react to, which is worth knowing for life.
How to read our listings
Rawkology publishes the material as the manufacturer states it — sterling silver, stainless steel, titanium, brass, alloy — and we do not add the word “hypoallergenic” to a piece where the manufacturer has not tested for it. Where a manufacturer barcode exists we publish that too, so you can look the product up independently.
Where a listing says only “alloy”, that is because that is all the manufacturer specifies, and we would rather say so than guess. If you have a nickel allergy and want to know what is in a particular piece before you order, email support@rawkology.com — if we cannot get a straight answer from the supplier, we will tell you that instead of inventing one.
And if a piece does not agree with your skin, the 30-day return window on our returns page applies to it like anything else.
This article is general information about materials, not medical advice. If you have a skin reaction, speak to a doctor.
