Scratched bead

I think pretty much all you can do is etch it. Trying to "buff" it out will cause more of a white area on the bead. Alternatively, depending on the color, you might try putting a dab of clear nail polish on it to "mask" the scratch. But it might flake off, and might look weird. If the scratch is really bad, etching might not help much, either. I hate it when I scratch a bead - I feel your pain!

Christina, if the scratch is not too deep, you may be able to polish it out using different grades of silicon carbide grit, beginning with 220(careful here), and progressing down to 600, then a final polish using cerium oxide powder. These are all used with water. If you have access to a rock and gem club or shop in your area they can help with supplies and technique. This is a fairly time consuming process however, and one must be aware of not creating facets, which means that you must turn the glass continuously as you work.