A woman came into the shop with marks on her arm that she claimed were left over from a henna "tattoo" she had gotten a year or two before at some street festival. I had never seen anything like it and kind of thought she was mistaken about how long it had been, or what it was.There was a discoloration on her arm in the shape of the image she had picked and a little bit of scar tissue. I couldn't see how she could be scarred from a paint on ink, I asked if she was sure the person didn't poke it in or anything. It just seemed nuts.

Then I came across an article on "The Henna Page" about the dangers of black henna. Black henna is made from a dye called Para-phenylenediamine or PPD. "When PPD is used to make black temporary tattoos, often called "black henna", it can cause blistering, open sores, scarring and lifelong health problems. Para-phenylendiamine based black hair dye should never be put straight on your skin, plain, or mixed with other material. Synthetic Black Hair Dye is illegal to put on skin, because that is not an approved use. Even when this dye is applied to hair, people must wear gloves, and they try to not get it on the scalp! PPD, Para-phenylendiamine can seriously injure people. Para-phenylenediamine is a strong sensitizer, transdermal toxin and potential carcinogen. Many people get itching, blistering and hair loss from using black hair dye on their hair."

These dolphins show the progress of the blistering then welts that can result from black henna.

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