Beware the black henna in Costa Maya

[undrwatr]

My family and I just returned from a cruise a couple of weeks ago on the fantasy. While in costs maya my son got what we thought was a henna tattoo. Our mistake we didn't know there was such a thing as black henna which is actually a mixture of henna and black hair dye. My son turned up allergic to the hair dye and he broke out in a huge rash. The tattoo itched and got very red and raised. Luckily the swelling is going down and it seems to be going away finally and he won't be left with a permanent scar. However some of the kids and pictures we have seen on the Internet have scared the crap out of us. Also the FDA has just released an advisory on black henna. I post this just as a warning so that other kids don't end up with something permanent that they don't want.

 

[mattykin]

Wow, how scary for you all. I am glad your son will be fine and thank you so much for sharing this information with us.

 

[acamechis]

Ahh I love henna tattoos so thank you for Sharing! I will definitely not be doing that when in costa maya this vacation.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

My family and I just returned from a cruise a couple of weeks ago on the fantasy. While in costs maya my son got what we thought was a henna tattoo. Our mistake we didn't know there was such a thing as black henna which is actually a mixture of henna and black hair dye. My son turned up allergic to the hair dye and he broke out in a huge rash. The tattoo itched and got very red and raised. Luckily the swelling is going down and it seems to be going away finally and he won't be left with a permanent scar. However some of the kids and pictures we have seen on the Internet have scared the crap out of us. Also the FDA has just released an advisory on black henna. I post this just as a warning so that other kids don't end up with something permanent that they don't want.

I taught myself the art of henna when I was a teenager. 31 now. Black so called henna chemical burns were bad news then too. I would have hoped we would be past that. Sorry that it happened to your family. My suggestion is never to let anyone apply anything on your skin if they cannot show you the list of ingredients, even if it says all natural. (Hair dye henna of course not being natural.) For example, even some of the natural mixes can be problematic. I mixed cloves into mine once n my skin broke out. Turns out our family is allergic to cloves.

Henna as a paste should have a sorta dark green color from the crushed leaves. It dries dark tho. No natural henna designs are black in color once the skin design develops. It ranges from burnt orange to deep auburn. The thicker the skin, the darker the color will develop. This us unfortunately why black henna became popular. Eastern designs were applied to hands n feet more commonly and can turn out nicely dark. But western designs for temp tattoos favor upper arms or shoulders etc where the epidermis isn't as thick and so the color might not turn out as well. Some ready made pastes work great too. I used to buy LifeMud already mixed and it turned out well and lists ingredients.

Prob the safe thing is never to get anything that says its a black henna design (spray art temp tattoos not the same thing) and if they can't guarantee the ingredients list for you either, better not to have a design and enjoy your skin than suffer.

It ticks me off! Has been for years!!!