Updated October, 2019

Will your Halloween be full of treats or riddled with nickel allergy symptoms? Be very aware of frighteningly ubiquitous nickel when choosing costumes and accessories for you and your child, especially if you are one of the many who suffer from nickel allergy or other metal allergies.

Halloween garb is typically made for one-time use, so it is inexpensively produced using less costly materials such as nickel. An evening made for fun could soon turn into drudgery as nickel allergy symptoms work their mischief.

The most common symptom of nickel allergy is an itchy red rash appearing at the site of contact. If you’ve had rashes on your ears after wearing earrings, on your wrist where your watch sits, or on your abdomen near the site of your belt buckle, it may be nickel allergy that is causing your symptoms. A visit to your dermatologist or allergist is in order to get a definitive diagnosis. If you have been diagnosed and are working to avoid nickel, NoNickel.com is the place for you!

Even if you’ve already selected your Halloween attire, you can easily determine if these items will create the discomfort of nickel allergy symptoms by using Nickel Alert™. This Dimethylglyoxime test will determine if there are even minute trace of nickel in the metal to be tested. If smaller items are found to contain nickel, Nickel Guard™ is a protective lacquer that can be brushed onto the surface of the offending metal to protect your skin from nickel exposure.

Wondering which common Halloween costume accessories could contain nickel? Just a few suggestions to get you started include: costume jewelry, tiaras, magic wands, glasses and sunglasses, masks with any metallic embellishments, even flashlights might contain this irritant.

While nickel from metal is the most pressing concern at Halloween or any time of the year, there are a few people for whom nickel in food creates a problem.  If a low nickel diet has been recommended by your physician, you may want be aware that Halloween chocolate is not on the Low Nickel Diet! Unfortunately, cocoa powder typically goes through a lengthy refining process allowing it to be in contact with equipment that often contains nickel. 

Just use these few tips and enjoy a Hauntingly Happy Halloween! But, be very aware that your friends and family may be marking this season as the start of holiday shopping! If you want to jump on that bandwagon, have no fear! NoNickel has added more nickel free belts than ever this year and we are ready to share some great ideas with you!

We’ll be posting our great gift suggestions in an upcoming blog, but today, just to prepare yourself, take a look at our New Nickel Free Belts! We think you’re going to love them for gift ideas and for yourself!

Thanks once again to our guest artist, Kelly Paige Arrup, for her NoNickel pumpkin which we have been able to use for the past five years. For those following the artist's history, she is now a senior at North Carolina State University and has had an exciting year which included Study Abroad at Lancaster University in the UK, and visiting 14 different European countries during her time there. Her summer work as a research assistant had her rappelling down mountainous cliffs in her quest to study the endangered plant, Solidago Spithamaea (Blue Ridge Goldenrod). Back in school, she continues to be active with her College of Natural Resources Engaging Leaders, serving on the Advisory Board.