Primarily, you'll want and need to know that your body jewelry being advertised as gold is really gold. There are specific ways to know for sure, so let's examine what to look for.

The first aspect to consider with body jewelry is karat content. You never want to buy body jewelry less than 18 karat gold. Lesser karat content, like 14k gold, means you'll run the risk of a body jewelry allergy, which are discomforting at best and downright painful at worst.

Usually this occurs because the gold used for body jewelry is an alloy that contains other metals in addition to gold. Often, gold body jewelry is only plated with gold; such jewelry should never be used in piercings even if the piercing is healed.

Gold plated body jewelry exposes you to a high risk for allergic reaction, because the gold plating will wear away. Most gold plated body jewelry contains nickel, a common element for body jewelry. Most white gold belly button rings contain nickel, and it's important to find out how much. Very inexpensive body jewelry almost always contains a high percentage of nickel.

Since gold in its natural state is quite soft, it's very common for body jewelry manufacturers to use other metals along with gold to formulate a piece of body jewelry. For example, 14 karat gold belly button rings are just over half gold, with other metals comprising the remainder.

18 karat gold has a 75% gold composition. That's why, when choosing body jewelry, you should always go with 18 karat. Most very inexpensive body jewelry is 14 karat gold, so to avoid painful jewelry allergies, go with 18 karat gold.

Consider these factors when buying gold body jewelry:

1. Buy jewelry from a store with a quality assurance and testing program. These stores test their own jewelry for purity.

2. Look for a license stamped on the body jewelry if a trademark or logo is present, i.e. the trademark for a large company. If a trademark or logo is on your body jewelry but there is no license stamped on the back, your body jewelry is suspect in quality.

3. Test your body jewelry at an independent lab if you have any questions about the gold content. Typically these tests are about $20.

4. Be sure to closely examine your body jewelry before purchase. Check for any defects. To be absolutely safe, look at the jewelry under a jeweler's scope. to check for imperfections.

Lastly, you should understand gold terminology before you invest in body jewelry, especially belly button rings. 24k gold is pure gold, 18k gold is 75% pure, 14k gold is 58.3% pure. 10k gold is the lowest purity allowed to be labeled gold, at 41.7% purity.