Beware the black henna

Two weeks ago, Montrealer Alex Tobias thought he'd join in on the fun and get himself a henna tattoo. A lovely black stenciled design, wrapped around his bicep.

Within days, his bicep developed a red, pus-filled blister--in exactly the same design as his tattoo. "Apparently I'm allergic to whatever it is they use to make the henna black," says Tobias, who now has a stylish yet gross tattooesque scar.

Inder Singh, owner of Boutique Orientale on St-Denis and purveyor of henna tattoos, says natural henna should be of a reddish-brown colour only. "We never do black henna tattoos," he says. "You never know what they use--sometimes it's hair dye, sometimes it's paint." While allergic reactions are rare, Singh says tattoo artists in New York City now ask clients to sign a waiver if they insist upon black henna.

Henna tattoos are currently unregulated: artists need no special licensing, and product ingredients are not listed.

Tobias went back to the woman in Old Montreal who gave him the tattoo and got his money back.

--Philip Preville