Nowadays, people wear pearls for all kinds of occasions such as lunch with their best friend, girls night out, or date night to the movies. Pearls are not just for weddings anymore. There's no need to store them in a box for that "special" occasion. Everyday is a special occasion when you wear pearls.

With so many sizes, shapes, and colors, a girl can utilize her prerogative to pick and chose what kind of mood she's in. Is it a crème potato pearl 16" strand today? Maybe it's a Tahitian round 20" classy strand? What ever the shape, size, or color, they are all beautiful and timeless. Just like us girls!

Pricing for pearls has certainly come down too. With the abundance of freshwater pearls, there's no need to wait for your Great Aunt Ethel to leave you her sassy strand. Go out and buy yourself some! Freshwater pearls are the most reasonably priced pearls. You can get them in the traditional white, or get them after they have been dyed blue, purple, or even orange.

Common shapes for freshwater pearls are:

Potato: semi-round and symmetrical.
Rice: oval shaped and symmetrical.
Button: round on one side and flat on the other side. They are symmetrical.
Stick: pointed and somewhat jagged. They are non-symmetrical.

The symmetry of the pearl shape is very important and can affect the cost of the pearl. If the pearl is completely symmetrical, it's the same on both sides (if you were to draw an imaginary line down the middle). The more round a pearl, the more expensive it will be.

Even if your budget is still a tad too tight for freshwater pearls right now, there is always faux glass pearls. With the new techniques in making faux glass pearls, unless you do the "rub test" most folks would not know they were faux. The naked eye can't tell the difference. They'd have to take your strand of faux pearls and run them across their teeth. That's right! Genuine pearls have a gritty or sandy feel to them, whereas faux pearls are generally smooth.

And finally, remember not to use harsh chemicals or jewelry cleaning solution on your pearls. It will damage them. Pearls are very porous and the harsh chemicals can cause your pearls to decompose. Instead, use a pea size amount of liquid hand soap and some warm water to clean your pearls. That's all it takes to keep your pearls looking lustrous all year around.