Julieann lovingly hand creates every piece of bridal and glass bead jewellery using carefully selected materials. We take great care to ensure it is properly packaged so that your jewellery arrives safely at it's destination.  Please wear it and love it but how do you ensure it stays in the best condition? Here are some suggestions

We hope you find these tips useful. Enjoy wearing your Julieann jewellery and hair accessories; if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

We use freshwater pearls in our jewellery designs. These cultured pearls are created when a foreign body such as a plastic bead or piece of shell is put inside a shellfish such as an oyster, mussel or clam. The shellfish responds by coating the foreign body with the pearly nacre or finish, giving us the beautiful pearls we use to create our jewellery.

Pearls look their best, when worn, as the warmth of the human body and natural skin oils keep the pearly coat in optimum condition. However, pearls are delicate and precious and pearl jewellery should be treated as such. Here are a few suggestions for looking after pearl jewellery;

1. Storage: Store flat or hanging up so as to avoid scratching the pearl nacre. This is really important with pearl and crystal jewellery. Store your jewellery carefully to avoid items getting tangled and damaged.
   
2. Hairspray, perfume and cosmetics: These can affect the lustre of pearls. Always make sure that pearl jewellery is the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off! Wait until perfume and hair products have dried before putting your jewellery and hair accessories on.
   
3. Cleaning: After wearing, carefully wipe your pearl jewellery with a soft cotton or lint-free cloth; this will remove unwanted chemicals/material from the pearl surface. Pearl jewellery can be washed in a soft or pure soap water solution. Treat as you would a pure wool garment. Rinse, wipe with a cotton cloth and leave to air dry flat before putting your jewellery away. We don’t recommend the use of chemical jewellery cleaners or ultrasonic cleaning baths as these will wear away the pearl nacre.
   

Silver, like all precious metals will tarnish with time. Tarnish is a natural dulling caused by silver reacting with sulphur or hydrogen sulphide in the air leaving black or brown coloured dull areas. Here are a few suggestions for minimising and removing silver tarnish;

1. Household cleaning products, air-refreshers, hairsprays, cosmetics and perfumes can all damage silver and accelerate tarnishing. As with pearl jewellery, minimise the contact of your silver jewellery with these products.
   
2. Storage of silver jewellery in humid rooms can also promote tarnishing.  Use of air tight sealed bags containing anti-tarnish squares is recommended for the long term storage of silver jewellery.
   
3. Silver tarnish can easily be removed with an appropriate silver polish cloth or dip, available in most supermarkets. These are NOT recommended for contact with pearls, we suggest you remove pendants from chains before cleaning them. Please note; silver plated finish can be worn away by over-zealous polishing! Most of our jewellery is solid silver; this information is included in the product description.
   

Caring for your glass bead or crystal jewellery follows the same advice as given above for pearl jewellery. However, we would like to add a couple more suggestions;

1. Strong light: Prolonged exposure to strong sunlight can cause fading so don’t leave crystal or glass bead jewellery on car dashboards or on windowsills.
   
2. Heat sources: For obvious reasons we don’t recommend leaving jewellery near heat or cold sources (e.g. on top of heaters, in a car glove box on a frosty night) as this can not only damage your jewellery but can represent a burn hazard to you when you put it back on.
   

Gemstones are beautiful natural materials but like pearls are precious and should be treated as such. Once again follow the care instructions above with one additional consideration;

1. Water: It is always a good idea to avoid swimming and showering while wearing your jewellery as chlorine and some chemicals in beauty products can damage gemstones.