We returned from a lovely 2 week family holiday in Carvoeiro on Sunday 8th August shocked and devastated to discover that our 9 yr old daughter was having an allergic reaction to a henna tattoo she had applied to her arm on Saturday evening, by one of the street artists in the town centre. The skin began to bubble and blister and she was in a great deal of pain and discomfort. We ended up in the Accident & Emergency department of our local hospital where she was treated for burns to her upper arm.

I have researched henna tattoos on the internet and am horrified to find that the allergic reaction is not to 'natural henna' but to a chemical called paraphenylenediamine (PPD) which is added to the henna to make the tattoos darker and effective quicker i.e in less than 1 hour (natural henna takes longer to darken). PPD is widely used in hair dyes and cannot be applied without first doing a patch test to see if the user is allergic. WHY then is this substance being used on children without their knowledge or consent and without a patch test???

At the time of writing the colour has faded from my daughter's arm but she is left with a red, angry, itchy blister which is more than likely going to scar her for life! I AM OUTRAGED that this is being allowed to happen in such a well respected area of Portugal. These tattoos should be stopped before an even more serious reaction occurs in someone, it is possible that it could cause anaphylaxis!!

Please be warned DO NOT have these "henna" tattoos applied under any circumstance.

Sorry to hear that, I read a similar thing about a young girl who had one done in Spain, her parents thought she had sunburn even though she had used maximum sunscreen protection. It was only when they took her to their GP that they found out it was because of chemicals in the tattoo.

More info here:

http://www.hennapage.com/henna/ppd/gotodoctor.html

The cheap henna tatoos that are prevelant in the western hemisphere are not a true henna embelishment nor does it have the pure products which are normally utilized by a nomad or someone from the middle eastern provinces who tend to use only the tried and tested henna products.

There have also been several programmes on TV about this. Hope your little girl is not permanently scarred by this.

WHY then is this substance being used on children without their knowledge or consent and without a patch test???


me thinks the responsibility lies elsewhere and not with a 9 year old child...parents perhaps?????????

When the store holder advertises Henna you automatically think, right or wrongly, that it's natural Henna. It’s therefore the responsibility of the person selling the products to advertise as a Henna type/based product. We're talking travelling stall holders so they don’t tend to care much about the aftermath, just want the money.
Very sad though that it turned out like that.
Gaynor

It also p******* off property owners like us. We are fed up replacing henna stained bedding and we now charge for replacements.

So if renting and you do not want to lose part of your security deposit do let use or let your children have henna .

My ex took my son on holiday to Spain 3 years ago. He had one of these stupid tatoos done because "daddy said it would look nice" and it was meant to last 1-2 weeks.
He still had the bloody tatoo when he went back to school in September - 6 weeks after having had it done. In the end it took 9 weeks to disappear.
Fortunately it did no damage to him.
Must admit, I do wonder what goes through a parent's head allowing/encouraging a young child to get one done - but we are all different ...