Bali henna 'hair colour chemical' - The West Australian
A professional WA henna artist has revealed the truth about
"temporary" tattoos in Bali as another Perth mum spoke up about her
son's toxic reaction.
Cara Norris said she had been cautious enough to test a small amount
of the product used by the Kuta tattooist before letting her
seven-year-old son Kirk get a design done on his arm. But the burning
sensation and blistering didn't occur until two weeks after they were
back in Perth.
"I'm a hairdresser, so I thought I'll do a skin patch test, as you do
in a salon, and leave a dot on his skin for 24 hours to see if that
reacts," Mrs Norris said. "If it doesn't, you assume it's OK."
She said the mixture took time to reveal its toxicity and so there was no way of first checking if the tattoo was safe.
"Just don't do it," she said. "It could take a couple of years to heal properly."
Mrs Norris and henna artist Charmaine Burnett came forward yesterday
after reading the case of nine-year-old Blake Laufer, who is seeing a
burns specialist after his Bali tattoo turned bad.
"Bali henna is not henna at all," Ms Burnett said. "It is combination of a powder, water and ink.
"The powder used is for colouring hair and contains a harmful
chemical called PPD or paraphelylendiamine - found in most commercial
hair colours.
"This powder is used in high concentration which is toxic and should not come into contact with the skin at any time."
She said the street and beach tattooists in Bali added writing ink.
Natural henna, which was more obvious because of its reddish brown
colour, rarely caused a reaction.
"It contains natural cooling, antifungal and antibacterial properties
and a naturally occurring sunscreen," Ms Burnett said. "I have not seen
a reaction in the time I have worked with it, keeping in mind I attend
all the festivals, the Royal Show and I'm at the Fremantle markets."
Mrs Norris' son got his tattoo on June 9, near the Dynasty, a popular resort for Perth families in Kuta.
The inflammation was gone but the tattoo outline was still clear.
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