Contact Allergy to Henna

Vegetable dyes can be recommended to patients sensitized to oxidative dyes due to their low allergenic power. The most important of these is henna which is used as a reddishbrown hair dye in some parts of the world. Different pathologies have been described caused by henna but the incidence of contact dermatitis appears to be extremely rare. In the present paper, we describe the case of a 30-year-old woman who developed allergic contact dermatitis following application of henna, but who did not work with the dye professionally.