Warning : Graphic images
I was attending an Eid function at Werribee yesterday. A middle age woman came and asked me if I have Black Henna. I said – No, I do not carry Black Henna and I explained that how it’s harmful. She kept on listening to me for a minute and then I asked what sort of design she was looking for. She opened her palm, made a pattern using her finger when I noticed that her skin was bit burnt in flower shape. I inquired about the burnt skin. She mentioned – “Ohh yeah! I had Black Henna 2 weeks back and forgot to wash it off in 10 mins and slept with it, thus the skin was burnt.”
I was aghast and dumbstruck. There is a woman who looks very smart and well educated. She was inquiring about a harmful substance. The inquiry is fine as I thought that she may not be aware of the side effects and I was feeling contended to explain those effects to her. But oh boi, I was wrong. She already had those burn marks from Black Henna and I was at loss to understand why is she inquiring about it again? Woman answered that Black Henna is easy and with kids, it’s difficult to keep henna for a long time. This was painful to hear, very painful. Between, she was not the only one who inquired about Black Henna that night.
Black Henna is very harmful. Look at some of these pictures. While these pictures show the visible effects, what they don’t show are the effects these chemicals have inside the body – what different reactions are happening? Scientifically, Black Henna contains paraphenylenediamine or PPD. This may not be important, what’s important that PPD is associated with bladder and blood cancers, liver failure and other abnormalities. This is horrific. Black henna causes chemical burns. If we google then there have been instances where people have died due to allergic reactions to PPD.
When I was teen and even till much later, whenever I heard that some of my neighborhood aunt or distant relative gets cancer, I use to be surprised. None of these women smoke, drink or chew tobacco, how can cancer have happened to them? They were simple housewives. Now, I understand – how while juggling with hundreds of responsibilities, they may have taken easy way out – directly warming the plastic bowl in microwave, or not drinking enough water or may be getting that black henna to quickly get the stain before big festival.
I have NEVER used Black Henna and I will NEVER use Black Henna. I refuse to entertain any requests even though it means turning down clients or refusing big assignments. Now, I also pledge to fight against this bad practice. There is no reason why we can’t use other much more safer options such as Jagua Henna if we want a quicker stain or a nicely made natural henna where the stains can be equally dark. Please do not play with your health. Henna is auspicious and is nature’s cure to our health. Let’s keep it that way.
Please SAY NO TO BLACK HENNA!
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Some of the horror stories on Black Henna (and there are hundreds of such around):
