Black and white henna are banned in the UAE, but routed through an unregistered home salon service network.
The unlicensed home salon therapist could be a friend or the girl who does great eyebrows/pedicure/ facial/massage that you hear about from a friend. You could find him or her online or in a salon. Or they may just knock on your door offering their services.
“The provision of providing mobile services and home services requires a separate permit. Those who have this permit have the readiness and training for providing services outside the salons. In other cases, there can be no assurance about the quality of service and standard of hygiene,” says Reda Hassan Salman, director of Public Health and Safety Department of Dubai Municipality.
Photo credit: dubaimunicipality, Instagram
Earlier this month, Dubai Municipality announced a Dh2,000 fine for salons using black henna. If found guilty for the second time, beauty centers will be closed down temporarily.
The dangers of henna
An expatriate woman living in Dubai was recently rushed to a hospital with heavy swelling in her face and neck after applying a brand of black henna to her hair.
“I wanted to dye my hair but with natural products just to give it a darker black colour before I had to fly to the UK for my brother-in-law’s wedding,” she told the media. After 30 minutes of keeping on the henna, her hair was washed.
Not just in Dubai. It happens everywhere
What started out as a fun holiday with the family for this seven-year old girl ended up in a painful trip to the emergency room.
Madison Gulliver was vacationing in Egypt in July with her nine-year old brother Sebastian when their parents decided to reward them with a temporary tattoo for behaving well during the trip.
Madison successfully got a floral pattern tattooed from the elbow to the fingers of her right hand at their hotel’s salon.
After returning home to the United Kingdom on July 25, Madison’s black henna tattoo started to itch and turned into painful red blisters, Metro UK reported.
Photo credit: South West News Service
