Question

Your friend is going to a wedding and, as part of the festivities, is having her hands painted with henna dye designs. She was told her henna tattoo would only last a few weeks and that the tattoo process wouldn’t hurt. Using your knowledge of skin anatomy, how can you explain to your friend why her henna tattoo won’t last? Why will it be painless to have the henna tattoo applied? Identify the layers of the skin in your answer.

Write 4 simple sentences in your own words.

Answer 1

Henna tattoos only last a few weeks because they are applied to the outermost layer of the skin, known as the epidermis. This layer constantly sheds dead skin cells, which causes the henna to fade over time. The process of applying henna is painless because it doesn’t penetrate beyond the epidermis and doesn't reach the nerve endings in the deeper layers of the skin. The deeper layers, called the dermis and hypodermis, are where nerves and pain receptors are located, but since henna is applied superficially, there is no pain involved.