Hey everyone. I apologize in advance if this comes off as a bitchy rant, but I hope this helps to prevent any future injuries to tpunker's.
Be careful of "temporary black henna tattoos." I am a professional henna artist, and there is NO SUCH THING as "Black Henna." It's almost always going to be HAIR DYE. And if it's not hair dye, it's Indigo, which does not stain the skin very well and only lasts about 3 days. There is a chemical in hair dye called Para- phenelyne-diamine, or PPD, which causes major health problems. The usual injuries are chemical burns and scarring, but it's not uncommon for people to develop severe reactions like permanent sensitivity to any and all dye-- can you imagine wearing nothing but white for the rest of your life? I've read several case studies where this has happened. PPD is absorbed *through* the skin, directly into the bloodstream. It particularly likes to lodge itself in the liver. It can cause organ failure and death. This has happened to people who have had only one temporary tattoo.
The nature of PPD is not IF it's going to hurt you, it's WHEN. I've had tons of people tell me "Yeah, I get black henna tattoos all the time and nothing has ever happened." Well, their clock is ticking. If they continue to get PPD black henna put on their skin, they will have a problem. This is the same chemical that is causing all the uproar right now about the health effects of dark hair dyes. A friend of mine ended up in the hospital because of PPD poisoning from hair dye use; after years and years of dyeing her hair with generic drug-store dark brown dye, one day her head swelled up so badly that she was in the hospital for three weeks and at one point was on a respirator. It's extremely common for hair dressers to develop mysterious "allergies" to the dye they're using on their customers.
So if you come across "black henna tattoos" and you're considering getting one, please don't. You're playing roulette with your health. And DO NOT believe the person applying the black paste of death if they say "it's all natural." Unless it's Indigo, which stains for shit, it's not natural and it will hurt you.
The thing that really sucks is that people let their little kids get a tattoo, and they are far more likely to have a reaction.
Check this out for more info:
Black Henna warnings
again, I'm sorry about the soapbox rant but I thought everyone should know about this, because a lot of the PPD injuries are from travelers to places like Spain and Greece, where black henna slingers are parked on the beaches making a quick buck. You wouldn't believe the amount of posts on the henna forum I frequent from people asking about PPD injuries acquired abroad.
Natural henna artists have been fighting to get PPD black shit banned or at least not marketed as "henna", because people start to think that real henna causes these problems. Can you tell this is something I feel very strongly about??
Thanks again.
And a Henna tattoo once...Geez! At least now I know...And I will remember this as a futur doctor, so if a patient comes in with the head all swollen, I'll know why! Thanks!!!!! 
Hybrid Mode
