Last updated on November 30th, 2021 at 12:40 pm

No issues with henna used in the past

A normal henna tattoo

Ms H, aged 17 at the time of the injury, is of Egyptian origin and has used henna for tattoos and to dye her eyebrows many times in the past – without incident.  In December 2012, she decided to celebrate passing her driving theory test with a tattoo and purchased a pack of henna from Head in the Clouds in Norwich – which describes itself as “a happy boutique of rainbow infused beauties, magical smells and fabulous fun.” Unfortunately Ms H’s experience was neither magical nor fun – in fact it was completely the opposite!

When buying henna in the past, the seller had always done a skin test on Ms H, but on this occasion, one was not offered and the henna came in clear packaging with no instructions.  All that was printed on the packaging was an email address in India.

Scarring on Ms H’s hand

Burns and scarring

Expecting the tattoo to last around a week, and mixing the henna as she would normally do, Ms H put it on her arm and hand using an Arabic pattern.  Within minutes she experienced itching and burning and had to wash it off.  By the following morning, Ms H was in severe pain and had terrible blisters where the henna had been.  Over the following weeks the deep burns became infected and Ms H had to use various creams and take antibiotics.  The healing took around  three months and Ms H had to visit a dermatologist who confirmed that her skin had reacted very badly to the henna.  Ms H has been left with severe scarring, which the dermatologist told her will fade eventually but that she will always be left with white marks.

Seller’s negative response leads to legal action

Scarring on Ms H’s arm

Ms H contacted Head in the Clouds about the injuries and the henna product, but the owners were very unconcerned, offering her a £20 voucher to use in the shop in the future!  Feeling really upset about the burns and the fact that she would now be scarred for life due to no fault of her own, Ms decided she needed to take more action and contacted Graysons.

Our personal injury experts pursued Head in the Clouds for breach of statutory duty and negligence, saying that it sold an unsafe product to Ms H and failed to:

• properly advise her on the risks, ingredients and effects of the product with labelling or other warnings
• carry out a skin test to find out if she might be allergic
• take reasonable care of her safety
• have a safe system of advising on how to use the product
• advise of the risk of allergic reactions
• warn Ms H about defective henna

Graysons overcame concerns about taking legal action

Ms H was rather worried about how complicated it would be to pursue the shop through a legal route, but deciding she probably didn’t have anything to lose, she contacted Grayons.  Ms H says she couldn’t have been more wrong about the legal action as our experts made things really simple, overcoming her concerns about taking things into her own hands, and not involving her parents.

Delighted with the outcome

Ms H was absolutely delighted with the outcome and the £25,000 compensation, saying:

“I would like to say thank you very much for all your hard work in the last two years during my claim. I am still in disbelief at for such an amazing outcome! None of this would have ever happened without your help. I praise your professionalism highly. I would never have won a fraction of my rights without you. I am beyond happy and ever so grateful to have had such amazing support along the way.  You made the experience very simple and not as complicated as most people would imagine it to be. Despite the endless amounts of paperwork, it was definitely all worth it in the end!

Whilst we are unable to confirm that the product that Ms H was sold was black henna, Ms H feels it may have been and the reaction was very similar to those shown in many recent horror stories in the press.  You can read more about the dangers of black henna on the British Skin Foundation’s website here.

If you have been injured by a product that you have purchased or if you have received scarring caused by an animal attack, an incident at work or on the street, or due to defective products – we can help.  Please contact us now and we will discuss your case quickly and confidentially and advise whether you can claim compensation .

For more information about how we can help you if you have suffered a personal injury, please visit our web pages or contact us directly.