Gold body jewelry and gold belly button rings are increasingly popular womens accessories. These accessories are particularly desirable in gold, as gold symbolizes abundance and prosperity. But before you purchase any body jewelry, make sure you know how to choose and what to look for.

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

Without question, 18 karat gold is the best choice. With any lesser karat content, there's a good chance you'll experience a jewelry allergy or that your body will reject the jewelry entirely.

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.

If it isn't gold but only gold plated, it's best to look for another option. Most gold plated body jewelry contains a high percentage of nickel, which gives you a higher risk for a jewelry allergy as we've discussed.

It's very important to check what other metals are present. The lower the karat level, the higher the content of metals like copper, zinc, and nickel. In fact, other metals are almost always used to formulate body jewelry because gold itself is so soft and needs other metals to form jewelry.

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

Consider these factors before buying :

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

2. If your jewelry has a trademark, for example a sports team, it must have a license stamped on the back. If it doesn't, there are serious quality issues. Stay away.

3. To make absolutely sure you've got legitimate gold, you can have the body jewelry tested at an independent lab for $20. Labs are available in almost every large city.

4. Under a jewelers scope, take a good look at the craftsmanship. Are there rough edges? Frays? Imperfections?

One last item... remember that 24 karat gold is the only pure gold. 18k, 14k, and 10k all have gold and other metals present. For reference, 18k gold is 75% pure gold, high quality, affordable, and your best choice to reduce the risk of any problems.