Henna and scarring.

Henna tattoos are beginning to replace face-painting in a lot of festivals. Real henna, used intelligently, can be a beautiful, safe, and long-lasting form of temporary body art. Nevertheless I’d be extra careful about getting one done by a stranger at a festival event. There are lots of compounds called “henna” that really aren’t. Not all of them are safe.

Henna penetrates the skin, which is one of the reasons the tattoo will last longer. This can take take a long time, however, for the chemicals from the henna paste to work. During that time, people have to sit or lie still to prevent the henna from moving or falling off before it’s been on long enough. Experienced henna users mix honey or sugar in with the henna to make the paste more sticky, but in a festival situation I doubt the extra stickiness would be enough — or that people would be willing to sit for the two to six hours needed for a decent color stain.

Of course, you get quicker results if you mix things in the henna to soften the skin. Many compounds are often mixed in with henna to do some skin softening — everything from lemon juice to coffee. Of course, you can also use more caustic agents but at the risk of causing actual tissue damage.

Then there’s “black henna,” which is generally p-Phenylenediamine (PPD). PPD is very caustic and people can have severe allergic reactions to it. But PPD works very quickly and makes a very dark mark, so people use it when they need a quick, impressive effect. Whether or not you put PPD on your own skin is your funeral, but you ought to do it knowing what the risks are. There are, however, plenty of artists who use PPD and tell people that they are using henna. They are not.

Festivals are excellent places to use PPD: it works fast and makes a dark mark. Unfortunately, festivals are also full of people ignorant of the art form. Which is why stories like this one about a five-year-old girl scarred by henna tattooing don’t surprise me. But I don’t think it was henna that scarred this girl; it was either PPD or henna mixed with a very caustic agent. Festival workers who use PPD and don’t inform people of the risks — or worse, put PPD on children — are not behaving ethically at all and deserve a lawsuit.

For safety information on henna, you can check out The Henna Page’s Safety Issues. The Henna Page is, of course, a great resource for all things henna.