Henna is a dye used to color hair or create intricate body art. Made from the henna plant, the dye can stain your hair, skin and clothes a muddy brown color but it only lasts a few weeks. Henna tattoos have become increasingly popular for tourists on holiday or as a fashion statement but this popularity has inadvertently created some danger.
With the increased popularity of temporary henna tattoos, you're able to find places to create these intricate designs in almost any major city in the world. Unfortunately, some of these places switch out the natural and safe henna dye for cheaper and more dangerous chemicals.
There are multiple cases of people getting henna tattoos, only to find out that black henna has been put on their skin. Black henna has a toxic chemical, p-paraphenylenediamine (PPD for short), in it, which the FDA has made illegal in henna products — of course, that doesn't stop everyone. The reason black henna is so dangerous is because its primary ingredient, PPD, can cause severe reactions in a person which can lead to serious scarring.
PPD is also put in hair dye, so you could see how keeping it on your skin for an extended period of time could be bad.
If you're not careful that temporary tattoo you got on vacation could wind up being much more permanent and painful.
If you're looking to get a henna tattoo make sure the person is using natural henna, which is dark brown in color and stains in an even lighter shade of brown. Henna should never be pure black in color, no matter what an artist may say to you. If you ask them about the ingredients in their specific dye and anything is a chemical, run.