Black Henna Kills!

Actually, I don't know of any casualties per se but it does some serious nastiness so it needs attention, and I'm all about drama.

For many years, especially in the summers, the media has filled pages with sorry tales of massive rashes and even severe scarring due to body art called "black henna." In truth, henna that is black doesn't exist naturally.

Unadulterated henna paste is a beautiful reddish-brownish color used by Mendhi artists to decorate the bodies (and color hair) of Indian brides, Moroccan grandmas, and of course, Madonna. Natural henna is organic, safe, and allergies are rare.


Photo by David Dennis via Wikipedia.

In contrast, black henna is made with Paraphenylenediamine (PPD), either added to the henna paste or alone. You'll find PPD in some black hair dyes, where you'll also find colorists wearing gloves and avoiding the scalp while using it. There's a reason for that—it's one nasty chemical.

So why am I bringing this up on Needled News?

Because people are still putting this shit on their bodies and, even worse, on their kids. I've seen it this past week while on vacation and it's been making headlines yet again. A lawsuit against the company making so-called black henna has even been filed. News of the suit follows this dramatic intro:

A video of the children's scars accompanies the article. Parents of the kids said that they're hoping the lawsuit will lead to removing PPD from temporary tattoos.


Black henna scar photo via Hennapage.com

While New Jersey regulates artists who tattoo permanent designs, it does not legislate temporary tattoos. The US FDA doesn't regulate the dyes in either permanent and temporary tattoo inks, despite receiving numerous reports of allergic reactions to black henna. It should. Canada does, then again, they're an advanced civilization.

I would've been surprised to read the news of the suit if I hadn't seen the ubiquity of black henna stands from Florida to Mexico to the Bahamas. If they're all over the place, they gotta be safe right? Problem is that allergic reactions are not always immediate. As in the case above, it wasn't until after the black paste wore off on the kids that the blisters started appearing.

Children are more likely to experience reactions to these temporary tattoos, but adults aren't spared. When on our cruise last week, my husband and I witnessed aging frat boys and their wives coming back from ports of call with black henna armbands and dolphins on the lower back. I guess no one told them about the dangers—or that the nineties are over.

Body art can be beautiful, temporary or permanently. But in both cases you gotta know what you're putting on and in your skin. You'll find a number of Mendhi artist directories online. To see a gallery of some exceptional work, check out the portfolio of the Ash Kumar, the Guinness World Records "Fastest Henna Artist" who is also profiled in the UK press today.


Marisa_DiMattia is a lawyer and editor of Needled.com, a blog on tattoo art and culture.