Assalaamu Alaikum (may peace be with you) my dear sisters.
Black henna. It’s a chemically based form of henna body art. It’s not jagua. It’s not natural. It causes extremely bad allergic reactions that can cause long term scarring and health affects. It’s made with hair dye like Bigen, which should never be put onto the skin. It is even banned in Canada.
Scarring from black henna. I took this photo at a hair show in August 2017
This is something that is near and dear to my heart. I wouldn’t be writing this post if I didn’t care. It’s not about being in the business of henna or about trying to be better then someone else, it’s about our community. It’s about our health and choosing natural options. We have so many choices out there that we really shouldn’t even consider anything that can harm us or our children, nieces and nephews.
It really saddens me to see the sisters in my own community still doing black henna. I’m even more sad about the henna artists in our community who continue to do black henna. Several of these artists also already know the harms of black henna. They choose to continue to offer black henna and I just don’t understand. This is not a personal issue, this is a community issue.
I try to understand by breaking down the artists possible reasons in my mind.
- They want to make money. Honestly, you can make a very good living doing henna and jagua using natural ingredients. Otherwise, how would I still be in business? It’s up to us the artists to lead the way. We are the ones in control of the industry. We set the tone. We have the leeway to guide our community and the people to choose the better, natural choice. Without us coming together on this, black henna will continue to exist and continue to confuse clients (because clients don’t always know the difference between all the henna choices).
- Natural henna and jagua supplies are more expensive. Actually no, they’re not. It’s costs only $7.00 for 100 grams of henna powder typically. 100 grams of henna powder makes about 4 oz of henna paste, which in turn makes about 15-20 cones and about 20-30 medium sized hand designs. Even if you do 20 designs out of the $7 henna powder, that’s still only costing you .35 cents. Let’s just round it up to .50 cents because of other miscellaneous supplies needed to make henna. The charges really go into your time to do the design and your artwork. If this is still a concern, then you should give yourself a raise. Hand designs normally should start at $10-$15 a piece. Because $5 a hand design? Is it really worth it? Too many artists are not paying themselves well. Usually it’s about $1 a minute for your henna art services (time). This is even what massage therapists charge.
- The henna won’t be dark enough. You’re worried your client is going to be upset that they will get a light stain. Should you use high quality natural henna and jagua you will be just fine. Good products and good aftercare will equal beautiful dark long lasting henna. I speak from experience. I’ve been doing henna since 2005 and 80% of my clients are black. This excuse isn’t a valid one.
- They want to keep their clients happy. Wanting to give the clients whatever they want regardless of the possible affects. Don’t we care enough about our clients to want the absolutely best for them? Why are we putting them at risk like that? I can only presume that henna artists who offer black henna don’t have enough confidence in the products they use to ensure dark stain results without adding chemicals. Do henna artists that offer this not realize the consequences of black henna and that they can be sued over this? If a client gets an allergic reaction they have the right to sue you. The crazy thing is that, they will sue you and you more then likely won’t have insurance coverage as there is no insurance out there that covers black henna.
There has been events where I wouldn’t even go to because they allowed black henna. It’s a choice I make. I’d love to see change and be apart of that change. I just haven’t fully figure out how to be apart of that change. Even when I think I’ve seen some changes within clients I’ve had, I still see them revert back and use black henna again. It completely blows my mind. I don’t get it. They obviously know the possible harms and there is definitely no benefit to black henna, so why risk it? Even if you don’t have an allergic reaction, don’t you realize that that PPD and chemicals run into your blood stream.
I’m tired of people telling me: “Oh, I don’t ever get a reaction”. Like it’s no big deal. We do realize that PPD and chemical hair dyes are linked to cancer right? Those are the key ingredients used to make black henna.
I just can’t bring myself to take part in any events where there is black henna allowed. It’s doesn’t sit well with my energy. I’ve had sisters, my own Muslim sisters, say out loud to me (actually towards me) that I was claiming natural henna to be better then others. That mess hurts. I can tell you one thing, I never went to that event again.
My fight is separating myself from events that allow black henna. While other artists can sit by and be in the same space, that’s on them. I choose to separate myself to show that I’m not in agreement with it. Being at the event with black henna, makes me feel like I’m giving validity to it.
I want for my sister, what I want for myself. I can’t sit on the side lines and just not say anything. I’m a henna artist and a person that wants to make a change within the community. There is absolutely no need for black henna (nor chemically based pre-made cones out of India/Pakistan).
We already live in a face paced world. Take the time to enjoy the rituals and traditions of making your own henna paste. You will love the feeling and time you took out for self care.
My dear sisters, we have to be stronger in taking care of our mind, body and soul. Allah (God) has commanded us to take care of our bodies. No where in no ahadith does it ever mention adding black chemicals to henna when they used it. I’m no scholar but isn’t that a valid point? You’re changing henna into something that wasn’t even practiced as a sunnah.
I say all of this to also say that I’m here to support the community in whatever capacity I’m able to. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have a great idea or require our support. I will definitely be there. As long as there’s no black henna. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope together we can make some positive changes. I’m ready! Are you?
