Aniseteph

I imagine the traditional artists have the experience to keep any toxic ingredients to a minimum - after all you are not going to get many repeat bookings if you bring wedding parties up in blisters and sensitise all your customers by painting hair dye on them.

Tarik Sultan

Not really. Some people may have a higher tolerance to it than others. Some people are very allergic. Thing is there's no way to know if you're allergic or not until its done. Kind of like playing Russian Roulette. At the festival my friend had it done, there were many people who had it done. None of them seemed to have had a reaction, but she definitely was a lucky winner. Thing is it may take some people longer to develop a sensitivity. The best thing would be to use different additives. There has to be something else besides artificial hair dye.

jenc

When we had our hands done by Saharan refugees we were hosting we had to prepare the skin with oil (can't remember which one, but don't know it it is important which one). then after applying they covered it with a thick paste of I think sugar and water. Once this had dried we had to cover hand with plastic bag overnight and wash off next day. The sugar paste and the plastic bag were to protect henna so it would stay on skin longer and be darker.
Forget to say it was normal henna.

lizaj

Fra safer not to have any toxic ingredients at all!
Just do NOT have anything to do with black henna either overseas or here. Just do a search and see it isn't confined to holidays in North Africa or Turkey but also here in the UK. It is about time, the artistes stopped using black.
Last night there was an item on the NW news of a youngster having an arm tatoo in Turkey. The results horrific and he has been warned he may have a large and permament scar thanks to black henna.

gypsy8522

Tarik, you are saying that the negative effects of tanning only shows up over a period of time. Do you remember actress Charlize Theron when she showed up to the oscars looking like an orange peel? It couldn't possibly get any more alarming than that.

Sita

I've studied mendhi (henna) privately for a while and its common practise to use an oil to prepare the skin before applying the henna paste I just use a brought specially made henna oil and most henna designs should be covered and wrapped in a plastic bag over night as both procedures produce a darker colour/tint for longer. I think its just as mendhi became popular and people have started using it without fully being aware of all the procedures involved that these additional routines have been forgetten yet recipes and information can be found easily with a little research.
I'm also quite surprised how little is truly known about mendhi, I take pictures of my designs while they are drying and therefore still black because it shows up better on camera, other artists tend to do the same, and I think this confuses the matter because most people approach me expecting the designs to stay black.
Black henna therefore tends to fall into the hands of people who are trying it for the first time or uncaring practioners motivated by consumer demands; people just look for henna in shops and prefer the tube pastes to making ther own (which can be a lot cheaper). I also, like any make-up artist, perform a patch test as some people can find the application a little itchy on their skin although with pure henna major allergic reactions are rare.

Sita

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~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb

khanjar

And here is that article with pictures, the aftermath and further down the page, the before. (Be warned, it's not nice )

Scarred for life by henna tattoo | Metro.co.uk

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Sita

It's horrific! Black henna is just to dangerous and should be completly banned however I dislike the fact that black henna is not mentioned at all in the article to the casual reader it appears to be just a normal henna tattoo that went wrong. This I feel is the problem; the warnings about Black Henna are reliant on word of mouth more than anything and with many individuals using henna on their own without advise or some kind of guidance I feel the problem will just continue.

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~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb

khanjar

I agree, but if you look at the thirty three comments on that article you will see others have brought up that, the lack of distinction between true henna and ppd laced henna. The fault of ill informed or just plain bad journalism seeking a headline of doom and gloom as usual.

I have used henna for skin patterns and many variations on recipe for success. I had heard of black henna and even tried to find it, but luckily to no avail.

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Sita

Very true-nothing like a horrid shocking story to sell papers.

Unfortunatly i've seen it advertised on the net and in some shops although I have to say in my experience its not as widely avaliable as natural henna which is good. Also I am always looking for good and different recipes to try out so please feel free to share any

Sita

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~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb