All silver jewelry will tarnish, becoming dull and turning dark brown or black. Sometimes, this happens very quickly depending on your individual body chemistry, your location, and how the jewelry is stored when not in use. Argentium silver nose studs need to be periodically taken out and cleaned - they are not intended to be worn 24/7 without cleaning. You should never wear silver in an unhealed piercing.

• Keeping your stud looking nice is much easier than cleaning it after it darkens! Use a soft toothbrush and some soap to clean your nose stud after each wear before you put it away.
• If you shower or wash your face with your stud in, always remember to completely dry it after. I don't recommend doing this, though! Dropping the nose stud down a sink or shower drain is one of the most common ways that people lose their nose jewelry.
• Store your jewelry in an airtight bag with an anti-tarnish tab when not in use. The anti-tarnish tabs that I include in my packaging are good for approximately 6 months and will start to change color when they need to be replaced.

If jewelry has already darkened, below are three methods you can use to clean your silver nose stud so that it looks just as shiny as the day you got it:

METHOD #1: USE A LIQUID SILVER CLEANER

1. DIP THE POST IN THE CLEANER

Use a pair of tongs or tweezers to carefully lower your nose stud into the cleaning solution. Do not submerge the charm or the stone, only the post of the stud. This is important because the silver cleaner will remove the dark patina that I put on each charm to highlight the details, and it can also cause damage to some stones. You only need to keep the stud in the solution for 15-30 seconds.

2. RINSE & SCRUB WITH A TOOTHBRUSH

Once you take the stud out of the solution, rinse it off under water while scrubbing lightly with a toothbrush. Once the stud looks silver in color again, wash it off thoroughly with soapy water to remove any residual cleaner left behind. Don't forget to dry it well!

3. BUFF WITH A SOFT CLOTH

After the stud has been washed with soap and dried well, use a soft cloth to buff it. This step will make it just as shiny as when you got it. I use a small cloth that I got for cleaning my eyeglasses.

METHOD #2: USE A SILVER CLEANING PASTE

I prefer using Herman's Silver Polish over a liquid dip because it's non-toxic and it cleans my jewelry gently. You can purchase it online, and the jar goes a long way when you're only using it for tiny nose studs! A silver cleaning paste will work well for all nose studs bends (screw, L-bend, and bone).

1. APPLY POLISH TO A TOOTHBRUSH

Although the directions on the container say to use a sponge or a cotton ball, I use a soft toothbrush when I'm cleaning nose studs because the recommended options are difficult to use on screws - you definitely could use them on an L-bend or a nose bone, though. You may be able to use a Q-tip.

2. SCRUB THE POST OF THE STUD

Gently use the toothbrush to scrub the post of the stud in circular motions. Again, don't apply the silver polish to the charm or the stone. Once the post is silver in color again, rinse the silver polish off. Then, wash your stud with soap and water thoroughly to remove any residual polish. After you've dried your stud off, I highly recommend using a soft cloth to buff it.

METHOD #3: USE A POLISHING PAD OR CLOTH

Your package includes a small polishing pad to get you started! Once the entire pad has turned black, you can buy yourself a full sized polishing cloth intended for sterling silver. This method is ideal for cleaning tarnish off of the charm and from around the stones. However, it is not the easiest way to clean a nose screw. You can use it for cleaning an L-bend or a nose bone.

1. CLEAN THE POST OF THE STUD

Fold your polishing pad over to get the most contact with the metal and use firm pulling strokes to remove the tarnish if you're cleaning a stud with a straight post. If you're cleaning an L-bend, you will need to use short horizontal strokes with one side of the pad to clean all angles of the post.

2. WASH & DRY YOUR STUD

As you clean your nose stud you will notice the polishing pad (or cloth) turning black. This is completely normal! Don't throw the pad away until the entire thing is black. If you're using a full sized polishing cloth, don't put it in the washer! Just keep using it until the whole cloth is black. Once you're finished, wash your stud off thoroughly with soapy water to remove any residue.

3. CLEAN THE DESIGN OR BEZEL

If the design, or the bezel around your stone, has started to dull or blacken a polishing pad is the best way to make it look new again! It won't remove the dark details in the recesses of the design like a dip or a paste will. I usually try to avoid running it over the actual stone, but so far I haven't ruined any stones by accidentally using it on them either.

Quick Tip: Does your charm look too shiny after using the polishing pad? That's super easy to fix! Brush it horizontally with a piece of 2,000 grit sand paper until you see the desired finish. I purposely give most of my charms a brushed finish because it doesn't look dirty as quickly as shiny silver does, and the blackened details stand out better.