Given the lack of professional henna artists in our area, I wanted to take a few minutes and provide some information on basic henna safety.
As a henna professional, I am committed to only using fresh, natural henna on myself and my clients. If you’ve never seen or heard the horror stories about reactions people have to “black” henna, you may be wondering what the big deal is.
Let me tell you…..
Firstly, not all dangerous ‘henna’ products are black, but rest assured, if it’s anything but a greenish-brown paste, it is not henna. Pre-made henna paste is not very well regulated, and the products we get here are most often shipped from overseas. If you order henna paste online and there is no mention of it needing refrigeration, DO NOT BUY IT. This is guaranteed to be a chemical product and is not safe for use on skin!
Natural henna is a perishable product. ALWAYS. No exceptions. As a result, it must be kept refrigerated or frozen or it will lose potency and produce a weaker and weaker stain over time.
It is SO important to pay attention when you are visiting a new henna artist. Never be afraid to ask an artist where they get their paste. Take note of how and where they are storing their paste. If it isn’t being kept in a cooler or fridge they are, at best, inexperienced; worst case scenario they are not using natural henna.
The next piece to mindful of is the smell of the paste. Natural henna has a pleasant, earthy smell and is usually scented with essential oils. Henna artists have different combinations of oils they use to produce specific scents, but the result is a natural and pleasant smell. Chemical henna has an unpleasant odor. If it smells bad, it is bad. Trust your senses.
Another warning sign is a fast and consistently colored stain. The stain produced by natural henna is a process that literally takes days and when fully developed, it has an ombre effect that gets darker as it moves farther from your heart. On hands, for example, the design will be darker on fingertips that it is on the back of your hand. When natural henna paste is first removed, the stain will be a pumpkin orange color that deepens to a rich red-brown over the first 48-72 hours.
If any of these scenarios is reminiscent of a henna experience you’ve had in the past, you may feel like these warnings are excessive, however; studies have shown that even if you don't have an external reaction to chemical "henna" the first time, it does contain sensitizing chemicals. This means you are more likely to have an external reaction each time it's applied. Every application negatively impacts your internal organs every time.
These chemicals are serious and scary. Some of the issues that have been linked to chemical "henna" are rashes, blisters, permanent scarring, organ failure, heart failure, and even cardiac arrest. Here at Glitter Bee Face and Body Art, we only use high quality, 100% natural henna. Alyssa Corbin, The Bee herself, mixes this paste fresh for her clients. The henna paste we use contains nothing more than henna powder (which is just the pulverized leaves of the henna plant), lemon juice, sugar and essential oils.
When getting henna elsewhere it's important to ask your artist a few questions. Firstly ask if they make their own paste. If the answer is no, ask where they source it. Also look at how they're storing their past. If the paste is fine kept at room temperature, it is not safe. Natural henna is a perishable product and must be kept refrigerated in order to maintain its potency. Most importantly, real henna is never black. Henna should only ever be brown. The paste itself can look a greenish color or brown, but never black. It may not seem like a big deal. You may have had this kind of henna before without a reaction, but studies have shown that even if you don't have an external reaction to chemical "henna" the first time, it is a sensitizing chemical. That means you are more likely to have an external reaction each time it's applied. In addition, you can never put this on your skin without it impacting your internal organs!
These chemicals are serious and scary. Some of the issues that have been linked to chemical "henna" are rashes, blisters, permanent scarring, organ failure, heart failure, and even cardiac arrest. Please, please, please henna safely my friends.
One thing to note, is that there IS a second substance that is produced naturally and is used by many henna artists as an alternative that does produce a blue-black stain. This is called jagua and is made from the juice of a particular berry. While this is also a natural product, there are more cases of allergic reactions to this than to henna, and on some people, it has had a sensitizing effect. I don’t have issue with other artists offering jagua as an option, but choose not to for my own business. I wanted to include this information here so you can make a more informed decision on using it yourself.
If you have any questions about the information here or things you’ve heard about henna in general, leave them here in the comments. And again, please henna safely and know that if you want fresh natural henna to play with on your own, you can always purchase those cones from The Glitter Bee.
