Humans of all genders have been in love with adornment since time immemorial. As an expression of self and identity, our values and ideals, our cultures, symbols of our travels and relationships, superstitions, and any number of things, jewelry is a huge way with which we state our place in the world, to ourselves and to each other. A good piece of jewelry is something to be loved for a lifetime, and to be taken care of like the dear thing that it is. We want to promote the longevity of your favorite pieces for as long as possible. Whoever you are, beauty-beholder, we hope this helps you!

At Kindred Post, the majority of our jewelry is sterling silver, brass or copper. (By the way, we keep an index on all our jewelry materials specifically for those with sensitive ears-- If you have a metal allergy, we’d be more than happy to help find a pair that’s appropriate for you.)

Regardless of the material of the jewelry, there are some base rules:

• Don’t bathe or swim in them.
• Be careful when applying anything to your hair or skin. Make sure to take them off before your skincare routine, and to put them on last after makeup, perfume or hair care. You can even take a cloth to them at the end of the day to wipe away any product buildup the piece might have accumulated throughout the day. 
• Avoid other daily tasks like cooking, gardening or cleaning in your jewelry. We’ve all been guilty of not taking our rings off before getting our hands dirty, so we could use a reminder from time to time. If you do get something wet, don’t fear-- just try to dry it off as soon as possible.

Because jewelry becomes tarnished through chemical reactions, whether from exposure to air, skin chemistry, water, or other chemicals, it’s important to do our best to keep them safe. Storing your pieces in a jewelry box or similar container isn’t just convenient or visually satisfying, it actually helps protect from tarnishing. Even long term exposure to sunlight can darken some metals.

When a piece has become tarnished, there are a few ways to clean it. If it’s appropriate for the jewelry materials (it’s all metal, with no cloth component) you can soak it in a mixture of water and gentle, unscented dish soap for a few minutes to remove grime buildup. Dry with a cloth immediately. The most effective way we’ve found to remove tarnish and patina has been personally tested by our team-- the Sunshine Cloth! This small but mighty cloth is capable of removing even some of the toughest oxidation. It makes everything look super shiny and new, just like a ray of sunshine.

We should also mention that it's natural for metals to tarnish, and some jewelry styles develop more character and depth as it ages this way. So if you choose not to remove the tarnish, that's jewelry care too! 

We hope that these tips are useful to our jewelry wearers everywhere. As always, we appreciate you and sharing beauty with you! If you have any questions about materials or care, we’re ready to help-- just reach out to us!

WHEW

Raise your hand if you feel like the world is changing faster than you are! 

🙋🏻‍♀️

So weird. 

Btw our mask policy has changed.

In the last few weeks we went from proudly requiring masks in order to visually show a sense of safety to feeling like the vestige of an old stubborn era. We found that unmasked individuals entering the store went from being a small minority to the vast majority (oh hey!), that they were all vaccinated (great!), and that their very first impression of Kindred Post was that they're not welcome (oof).

I like the phrase "Come as you are." It means you are enough, you are prepared, we accept you, come in - and it is foundational to the way we do business. Friends, we don't want to greet you in the same breath that we ask you to change. Doing this every few minutes was creating a tension we normally wouldn't find at Kindred Post. Finally, we realized ….maybe it's us, maybe we had to change. 

So. For the time being (high vaccination rates, low case numbers in our community), masks are only required if you are unvaccinated. 

We continue to operate at about 30% capacity, only allowing 8 individuals (and some families) in the store at once. Additionally, our fully vaccinated staff will be wearing "I'M FULLY VAXXED" pins so that you will still have a visual indicator of safety. We will soon have more of these pins (thank you CBJ!) and we're going to place them at the door - if you are also vaccinated, we encourage you to take one and use it in our store and everywhere.

Please know that we made this decision with the unvaccinated still in mind. If you are at risk and nervous about being at Kindred Post or anywhere out and about right now, we understand. Which is why we continue to offer two no-contact options for your peace of mind. 

1) You can shop online and choose free curbside pickup (we bring it right out to your car!) and/or 

2) you can open up a free neighborhood account service for your mailings, which can also be handled completely at the door. 

My friend Liz Medicine Crow was in the shop the other day and, per usual, I'm still thinking about something she said. We were talking about the pandemic and our way of life changing and changing again, and she described the way she wanted to lead her own organization. She said, "we were slammed into this, but we're gonna ease our way out."

Thanks for your patience. For easing out with us, allowing us to ride the wave of cultural shift and make changes to our policy that make the best sense at the time. We're not interested in "going back" so much as being thoughtful about how we move through. We will continue to monitor vaccination rates, case numbers, and our general feeling of safety and well-being. Even this policy is not for forever.

We look forward to the day when the tides change completely, and we see this change, this moment - however awkward - as part of that overall shift.

Unrelated but related,

it feels good to smile at strangers again.