What is the Henna?
Henna is the name of a shrub known as Lawsonia Inermis.
The plant has small, four-petaled flowers ranging from yellow to pink and its leaves produce a red dye. Twice a year the leaves are harvested, dried, and ground into a fine powder. This powder is used to dye hair red and also for the ancient eastern art of Mehndi. Henna contains hennotannic acid, a dye that bonds with the collagen in skin cells and keratin of fingernails and hair, leaving behind a red coloring.
Traditional Henna = Mehndi
The henna plant is one of the oldest cosmetics ever used and it's extremely safe.
Some medical journal articles have shown henna may be beneficial for skin, and no test has ever shown that pure henna applied to unbroken normal healthy adult skin causes harm.
Women in over 60 countries have safely used henna for at least 5000 years. Henna traditions are associated with many religions: Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Christian.
Henna has been practiced for thousands of years in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
Natural henna, when applied to the skin rarely causes any adverse reactions, if you are concerned you should do a small patch test first. Natural henna is safe even for use on children as it contains no dangerous chemical dyes or harsh additives.
Black henna -> Harqous, Harquus
There is no such thing as black henna. In order for henna to produce a black color chemicals that are unsafe for your skin have been added. Black henna should be avoided. A chemical dye known as PPD, which is not authorized for use on the skin by the FDA is often added to the natural henna to produce a black color.
Black henna has become very popular in certain tourist areas. It can cause liver and kidney damage, as well as scarring of the skin. Just be aware of the false and toxic henna made by local women wandering around the beach and offering to do it, as recently there are lots of cases of skin allergies appearing after the application of the henna, as some chemicals are added to the original stuff (usually it's a black type of henna, touristy one). And unfortunately no one is informing the people about it and they end up with irrational skin rash and scars for life. Many of my friends suffered of it and now we are trying to warn people to not to do it in unknown places, like beaches. Or at least to do first a little trial on a small part of the skin and see if you get any allergic reaction before getting a bigger tattoo. As you can really regret it afterwards.
I wanted to show you some scars of people I know, as I witnessed it myself and I want to advise you to be really careful with the place you choose to make it.
For more information please check out www.hennapage.com :)
That's the scar of my friend who made 'black henna' tattoo on the beach in Agadir
Where to do a safe henna?
The best places are henna/beauty salon around the city or in the souk, which I choose myself. It's actually better to do original henna, which is brown, and it's a choice of Moroccan women themselves. But please, first always check if the local people do it there too, inform the lady who does it, that you know about common allergies and wish to be safe with the one they offer to be reassured that you won't get the cheated one there. Plus ideally - ask first for a test of the henna (you will get a tiny dot of it to see if you won't get an allergy). If all looks ok and your skin isn't itchy or red - enjoy your Moroccan design henna :)
See you soon...
Martita
Links to pages I used:
http://www.hennapage.com/
http://www.hennacaravan.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henna
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