Henna Muse

Category: Henna Professionalism

  • Safety Concerns with Lavender EO

    Why Lavender?

    Lavender is the industry standard for mildness when it comes to essential oils in a henna paste mix. We use it during pregnancy, for nursing mothers, for those undergoing cancer treatments, for people with sensitive skin, and really for clients with any other health conditions at all! People often ask why that is. Is it because cajeput is dangerous during pregnancy for example? Or does geranium interact badly with cancer medicines? No, none of that. The answer is simply that lavender essential oils has had the most high quality, peer reviewed, and repeatedly verified research. Our other oils might be just as safe, but because of all that research we KNOW that for most people lavender is the most safe. Of course specific conditions and allergies may not make lavender the best choice for every single person! This is why no matter how mild or safe your recipe, its always important to make sure your ingredients list is available to clients so they can evaluate their own personal needs in that regard.

    What About Camphor?

    If you know that camphor at certain levels of exposure can be harmful, you may be shocked to realize that it is a chemical constituent of lavender essential oil. Here are some facts about camphor that you may find surprising. Camphor is actually considered safe for topical applications by many respectable health sources including webMD even thought in high concentrations it can irritate the skin, and taken orally it is toxic. Obviously we never encounter a situation where henna should be used internally! And in a lavender oil, the exposure is super tiny, and further diluted in our paste. Some people are under the impression that the right amount of camphor in lavender oil is zero, but they are mistaken. There will always be a tiny fraction of camphor in lavender no matter what. The ISO limits of camphor in lavender oil to be a minimum of .5% and a max of 1.5%. Our industry standard is less than 1% especially in cases of medical fragility. For your convenience Henna Muse always includes camphor levels in descriptions of all lavender oil varieties we offer.

    Doesn’t Lavender Oil Cause Boys to Grow Excess Breast Tissue?

    Best I can tell, maybe three of them? I’m being facetious here, but still, don’t be alarmed. Here’s the story on that. In 2007 there was a study published showing that this was possible. This study was a small case study involving just three boys, and the thing they shared in common was regular use of products containing lavender essential oil. This is obviously not a reasonable sample size, and even so shows no correlation. Just a common variable. All three boys did quickly return to normal after stopping regular use of the lavender products. In 2018 there was another publications about chemical tests in laboratories that showed that some chemical constituents in lavender and other essential oils can in fact mimic estrogen. These tests were in vitro and do not show us the workings of the body as a whole or any information about dosing. Yes it does appear that regular and probably concentrated use of lavender essential oil may indeed effect some young boys, but the condition appears quite rare, and reversible based on the very limited research available at this time.

    Irritation and Oxidation

    The last health concern involving lavender essential oil has to do with possible skin irritation. This is an especially important point because we are often using lavender in cases where we know the client is particularly sensitive and we certainly don’t want actively cause irritation! Over time lavender will oxidize which alters its chemical make up. When this happens lavender in particular can cause irritation to the skin. On top of that, lavender essential oil has a particularly short shelf life compared to other essential oils. This is a pretty easy problem to avoid though if you take the following steps.

    • Trust that your supplier is only shipping you fresh supplies.
    • Only order what you can use in 6 months.
    • Keep the bottle closed as much as possible.
    • Store oils in dark glass and keep them in a dark place.
    • If your lavender oil goes past date, set it aside for non skin purposes such as air cleaning products or use in a diffuser. Do not continue to use it in henna paste or other uses that would be applied to skin.

    If you have any other questions about lavender essential oil, please ask! If I don’t have the answer I will find for you!

    For further reading:

    Lavender Oil: Skin Savior or Skin Irritant? Robert Tisserand

    Are Lavender and Tea Tree Oils Dangerous for Young Boys? Franklin Institute of Wellness

    These are the two studies discussed above:

    Prepubertal Gynecomastia Linked to Lavender and Tea Tree Oils

    Steroid Receptor Hormonal Actions of Lavender and Tea Tree Oil Components

     

  • 2018 Henna Practice Challenge -Day 2

    Day 2

    Daily henna practice doesn’t have to be horribly time consuming every day! On Wednesdays I coach 5-9 year olds roller derby. I also watch my grandson every weekday evening. Today I didn’t exactly have a lot of spare time. I thought that if I built from yesterday’s practice I would make the most of the little time I had.

    For today’s practice I took one of the brainstormed ideas from yesterday, developed it further, executed it better, and tried out some complimentary finger tips ideas.

     

  • Henna and Phytophotodermatitis

    Margarita Burn

    What do henna and phytophotodermatitis have to do with each other? Have you ever heard of Margarita Burn? If so, that’s Phytophotodermatitis. Its the reason we shouldn’t use lime juice in our henna paste.

    Some botanical compounds can react with UV light, changing them them into something toxic to skin and creating burns. The intensity of burns varies depending on sensitivity, and the amount of exposure to both the plant matter and sunlight. The symptoms can range from slight itching and burning with a bruise like appearance or browning of the skin, to extreme discomfort and blisters. Symptoms usually don’t show until the day after exposure.

    Plants that can cause this reaction are:

    Parsley
    Parsnips
    Celery
    Carrot
    Fig
    Lime
    Several species of wild flowers (umbelliferae).

    Some sources will list citrus in general, but after much searching I found actual reports of citrus burns to be almost exclusively lime, with the occasional grapefruit report. The photo below is burns caused by lime juice.

    phytophotodermatitis_from_exposure_to_lime_juice

    Many professional artists concerned about this issue or general citrus allergies have chosen to reduce the amount of lemon in their paste or move to non-lemon mixes. Personally, I’ve been using just a small amount of lemon diluted in water. It is, however, very clear that we should never use lime or grapefruit juice for henna paste!

    The following links will provide more information:

    http://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/phytophotodermatitis/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophotodermatitis

  • Hygiene for Henna Artists

     

    Maybe we don’t tend to do a whole lot of work during cold and flu season, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our best to protect our clients, and ourselves from the spread of germs. Some simple habits will help a lot.

    Its obvious that its a good idea to wash our hands between clients. That’s easy enough if you’re working in a studio, but what about at a party? Do you leave your station between each client to go wash? Or even worse, in a busy festival setting? Totally impractical! Consider instead germ killing wipes like Wet Ones or Germ-X Soft Wipes. They are also handy for wiping down dirty feet before you begin application. If you’re concerned about the waste of using wipes, hand sanitizer is a great solution. Don’t forget to keep your hands LOOKING clean too. We may be used to looking at stains and muddy smudges on our hard working hands, but prospective clients can easily be turned off by what appears to be neglect and filth. Try to wipe your cone tip on a towel or napkin rather than your hands. Do you best to clear any errant henna blobs before they can stain. Clean hands will be a clear indicator to your clients that you care about hygiene.

    41DqeFHJyML._SX425_Also consider your work space. After dozens of people come in and out of your chair its bound to get yucky! Make sure to wipe down hard surfaces on a regular basis thought the work day. Wash cloth table and seat covers between each gig, if not after each day. Glitter may not be germy, but people sure do see it as contagious. Believe it or not, not every client wants to leave your chair with sparkles. Its a good idea to keep the glitter as contained as possible. Take care that your tools are stored properly when not in use and that your space does not become littered with bits of paper towel, tape, dead cones, and other detritus. I like to keep a wast basket in arm’s reach of each work station. To help keep things tidy.

    Its also very important that we keep our tools clean and free of germs. Its helpful that henna applicators don’t make much contact with skin, With the exception of dragging lines, dealing with body hair, and shading, most henna artists keep the applicator tip at least a tiny bit above the surface of the skin. Essential oils in paste are, for the most part, pretty hardy germ killers, so that’s helpful too. I would also encourage people to clean the tip of the applicator with an alcohol swab between clients to kill any germs it might pick up. You can also nip that in the bud by making sure the skin is as clean and germ free as possible before you begin. Using an alcohol swab on the skin before you begin removes and lotion, oils, or sweat, kills germs, and if you use it, keeps glitter from sticking in places you don’t want it.

    Here’s a link to a great article about hygiene for face painters. Obviously there are some differences, but its helpful to take a look and see what parts of best practices in a related field can be adopted for our own. Face Painting Health Guidelines.

    The photos of henna artists failing (the struggle is real!) to keep their fingers tidy are kindly donated by my friends Antoinette Hippe, Wendy Feldman, and Lisa Seltzer. Please check out their work!

    Please feel free to comment below with your own tips for keeping yourself and your workspace sanitary!