The Colour of Mehndi

When I was first introduced to Mehndi I was about 12. Now I'm not that old, but henna wasn't even introduced into the world at that time. What amazed me most was how long it lasted on my hand - at least 3 weeks! I was back in the homeland at a time when mehndi wasn't altered in any way nor filled with any chemicals like they have now.
Although I have to admit that after a week I kind of get tired of looking at the fading mehndi design over my hands. So I guess it's a good thing that mehndi doesn't last that long any more!
So lets get with the colour of mehndi. Initially mehndi comes out an orange colour if it's not mixed with anything but water. Actually if you put coffee or tea in it as well it just comes out orange.

If you purchase your mehndi from a professional 'mixer' then you will get a lovely dark mahogany red colour. Sometimes mehndi turns darker during the day, and then starts to fade in about a week.

The most dangerous kind of colour mehndi is black mehndi.  Such mehndi is mixed with a chemical called ParaPhenylenediamine or PPD for short.  PPD in mehndi will only take 2 hours to stain your skin black, and will last at least 2 weeks. Such mehndi penetrates deep into the skin and can reach as far as your blood stream.  Having such a toxin in your system can be extremely dangerous because not only on the off-hand chance you might just only get a skin infection, but constant use of such mehndi it will embed in your system and the toxins will start to collect into your major organs like your liver and kidney. This can cause serious damage and possibly expose you to cancer.

I'm not a professional mixer I'll tell you that now. I have however heard of other ways of turning mehndi black or near to black colour without the side effects, but I'll have to research a bit more on that before I can share it with you.