Temporary Henna Tattoos: what you didn’t know…
Temporary tattoos are a good alternative for those who just want to try something fun for a few days or just want to make sure they feel comfortable with a tattoo before they get a permanent one. Henna is natural dye and is used in ceremonies such as Indian Weddings where the bride gets beautiful designs on her hands and feet. Now in America, henna temporary tattoos are made of another substance (paraphenylendiamine) that stains darker and quicker the skin. You can get a reaction to this substance when you get a temporary henna tattoo. You can get inflammation of the skin that can go from a little redness to blisters where the tattoo was applied. The problem is not the skin inflammation, but the fact that in the future you might have trouble finding a hair dye that doesn’t have paraphenylendiamine. So be careful.
Have a good day
Dr. Esperanza C. Welsh
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Dr. Welsh: As a person who loves henna art, I am always glad to see warnings about paraphenylendiamine (also called by its initials, PPD); however, there needs to be a small correction to your warning. So-called “black henna” contains PPD and is very dangerous; natural henna does not. It’s quite easy to tell which is being used - if the artist says the stain will be brown, orange, or a similar color, that person is using natural henna, which is very safe. If he/she says the stain will be black - PPD is being used. There is no such thing as black henna; do not get a “black henna” tattoo!
Real henna, properly mixed, can last more than a week and can be a dark-brown stain. There are people doing “henna tattoos” in every country who use real henna, and others who use PPD - it’s necessary to ask the particular artist what’s in the paste being used! This PPD problem is not limited to America; unfortunately, even in countries where henna has a very long tradition of use, there are people using PPD.
Thank you for posting this and helping to keep henna safe!
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 am
Dear Sandy:
As I clearly specified above, “henna tattoos” in America and Latin America as well as other countries are made from a DIFFERENT SUBSTANCE, which I apecify above named PPD or paraphenylenediamine. This is the SUBSTANCE causing THE PROBLEM. Traditional natural henna tattoos which do not stain as dark black but brown or orange are the safe ones. These generally take a longer period of time of application for the pigment to penetrate the skin versus the comercial “MALL” type “darker henna tattoos”.
AND YES ALWAYS ASK IF THE TATTOOS HAVE PPD OR PARAPHENYLENEDIAMINE because if you develop an allergy you will have trouble finding hair dyes in the future.
Hopes this clarifies,
Dr. Welsh
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Great article, it is so nice to see doctors noticing this terrible problem.
However I find that it is not JUST in the Americas that this is happening, it is also found in holiday locations world wide (Turkey, Greece, Morocco, for example) places where you can get a black “henna tattoo” (being neither a tattoo nor henna I hesitate to call it a henna tattoo with out the quote marks) these can show up as burns many days after the stain is gone.
A great way to tell if it is “black henna” is to look at the product - does it look like india ink? Run away!
Are you supposed to leave it on for an hour than wash it off, resulting in a black stain? RUN AWAY!
Thank you for this great article!
Karenh