Felix Boon-Bin Yap
Department of Dermatology, Sarawak General Hospital, Jalan Hospital, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Abstract
Temporary henna tattoos are very popular among travelers visiting Southeast Asia as they are cheap, safe, easy to remove, and not painful. A potent allergen, paraphenylenediamine is usually added to the henna to give a darker, more appealing color and to speed up the dyeing process. Herein, a case of allergic contact dermatitis in a temporary tattoo in a 35-year-old Malaysian Chinese man is reported. Two weeks after the tattoo was applied in Bali, he presented with pruritic, erythematous, weepy vesiculopapules on the tattooed area and the surrounding skin, which had been present for a week. A patch test showed a 2+ allergy to paraphenylenediamine and he was treated with antihistamines and oral and topical steroids. His skin lesions resolved in 2 weeks, leaving postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. He was advised to avoid temporary tattoos and hair dyes in the future.
Keywords
Henna; Paraphenylenediamine (PPD); Temporary holiday tattoo
