Bali mistake could leave young Aussie girl with a permanent scar - as mum issues a stark warning: 'Slowly recovering'

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 01:29, 22 April 2026 | Updated: 01:29, 22 April 2026 An Aussie mum has issued an urgent warning against getting a henna tattoo in Bali after her daughter suffered a nasty reaction.  The mother posted before and after photos of her daughter's temporary tattoo, explaining she had it done while at a beach on the popular tourist island.  The first image showed a shiny new black henna tattoo, but photos taken seven days later showed it had faded to a light pink.  'My daughter came back with what she thought was a henna tattoo,' the mother wrote on the Australian Bali Info for Traveling Facebook page. 'Approximately one week afterwards, the dye had almost completely faded.' She said her daughter suffered a 'very angry' reaction that left her skin red and stinging with itchy welts.  'She is now on day four of a course of steroid cream and slowly recovering,' the mother said. 'There is a concern that this will leave a long-lasting or even permanent scar on her hand,' the mother said. The woman's henna tattoo looked good when she first got it at a Bali beach, but the fact it came out black in colour was a warning sign of things to come About a week later, the colour had faded and the woman was experiencing welts and a stinging feeling on her hand 'We talked about not buying knockoff perfumes and makeup because we don't know what is in them, but clearly I should have added temporary tattoos and henna to the list.' Aussies pointed out the fact the tattoo came out black was a warning sign it wasn't real henna, which is brown in colour.  Unlike natural henna, which is orange/brown in colour and won't stain skin, black henna contains a chemical called paraphenylenediamine (PPD), which is a known irritant and allergen. PPD is found in many popular skin and haircare products such as sunscreen and hair dye but usually in tiny doses Black henna can cause bubbling blisters in shapes like suns, stars and flowers, and may leave lifelong scars.  Others online shared their horror stories. 'They use hair dye for their tattoos. I got a dolphin tattoo about 25 years ago and I'm still sporting the scar. It was awful,' one person said. 'As a result of this, I am now completely allergic to hair dye, so I would suggest if she uses hair dye, to do a patch test before using in your hair.' The woman is currently using steroid cream to treat her symptoms  'This exact same thing happened to my son. It did scar for a while but has since faded. He will never get another given the pain he was in,' another said. Others said the young woman who got the tattoo should have known better. 'People have known not to get this crap for years, it's nothing new,' one person said. 'Black henna has been known as dangerous for many years,' another said. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises travellers to avoid temporary black henna tattoos while in Indonesia, stating that they 'often contain a dye which can cause serious skin reactions'. Henna has been used by different cultures for centuries and is a paste made from grinding dried henna leaves. Traditional henna is considered safe to use in temporary tattoos and rarely causes allergic reactions.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.