Henna & jagua tattoos

Hi I recently got a henna tattoo done in Mexico. I had thought it was Henna, at least. It was actually watered down & the tattoo stayed black for 2 weeks (then it began to fade). I found out on the internet that instead of henna the artist had used something called 'jagua'. I've never heard of it before, but the tattoo came out really nice, & I'd like to buy some of that jagua stuff, & get some more tattoos done. The only problem is, where do I purchase jagua? I live in the San Francisco, bay area, & I don't know where to look to buy this stuff. Can anyone help me out, please?

Here's a few links to Jagua suppliers in the UK. There's currently no USA supplier. http://www.jaguatattoo.co.uk/jaguakit.htm http://www.jaguaart.com/ http://www.hennatattoos.com/section.php?xSec=27&a=c6 Hope this helps, Kat B.

If you had your "henna" applied in Mexico it is likely that they used black hair dye and not henna at all. If it stained jet black and stained right away (like in 30 minutes) it was most likely hair dye. There is a chemical called PPD, paraphenylenediamine, a black coal tar dye which will stain the skin, hair, leather, furnituer, tiles, etc jet black right away. This chemical is illegal to be applied to the skin in many countries including Canada and the US. It can cause scarring, rashes, blistering, oozing, etc with repeated applications, it can cause damage to kidneys and liver. It is nasty. http://www.hennapage.com/henna/ppd/index.html check this out for information on black henna. Jagua is the brand name for a plant based dye from the Amazon known as genipa americana but often is grayish and the color will develop over 24 hours or so. There should be an American distributor for this product in the spring. Henna is a plant based dye from lawsonia inermis and is ALWAYS a reddish brown color, also taking 1-2 days to develop color. Henna is safe, Jagua is safe, PPD black hair dye is not safe. Best of luck, and good luck finding some Jagua to play around with, just watch out for the non existent 'black henna' that some unscrupulous people peddle. Jessica

Hey Nikita, I hope it was jagua that you had, and not ppd. Jessica's right, you can tell if it was jagua by the way it stained. If it was a really pale greyish colour when you removed the dried product, and then developed into a black colour over 1-2 days then it was jagua. If it turned out black straight away then it was ppd (para-Phenylendiamine) Thanks for posting a link to our site Kat :-) (hennatattoos.com) We do ship internationally. But there is now a US stockist of the same formulation of jagua products that we supply. (Primal Cosmetics, Genipa Americana formulations) http://www.naturesbodyart.com The website is new, so there is just a contact front page there at the moment but the shop will be opperational any day now. Re Jagua & Brand name confusion: Jagua isn't a brand name, its one of the common local names for the tree and fruit, with the Latin name Genipa Americana. Just as Henna is one of the common local names for the plant, with the Latin name Lawsonia Inermis. I think the confusion comes in because at this time there are only 2 manufacturers of jagua body art products - Primal Cosmetics Ltd UK(our supplier and parent company) and the Vedic Hindus Company Brazil. Primal Cosmetics doesn't sell a branded product range, they offer ready formulated products and extracts to other manufacturers and suppliers. So far each supplier has chosen to market their retail products using the term 'jagua body art' or 'jagua tattoos' etc... This is just what happened with henna back in the early 1990s. It clearly identifies the natural product in the descriptive title. Most suppliers are sticking with Jagua as their chosen local name because it is one of the more popular names in Central and South America, and it is shorter and easier to pronounce than Jenipapo for example, a common name in parts of Brazil. Vedic Hindus sells a branded jagua product, they have released their jagua product under their 'Surya Henna' brand. It does not contain henna, and its staining properties come from jagua. They supply their product in 2ml tubes, with stick on stencils. But their company is more geared towards hair products, so they haven't developed the same kind of range of jagua body art products. They also chose to initially hide the active staining ingredient in their product, so they did not promote the jagua content under any of its known local names for some time.

NP on the link. My Google alert showed naturesart as the new USA supplier (Yippeee!) and I think I'm the first one on their mailing list. LOL I specialize in temporary bodyart and love it when a new safe product is "discovered". BTW - I give a big "heads-up" to everyone on the dangers of PPD. I've already become a headache to more then a few of those "black henna" people. Between them and the "acrylic paint for face painting" people, I'm a busy gal. (Unfortunately) Stay strong and stay safe, Kat B.

Dear Aileen: Congratulations fro your new webside,by the way I have been trying to get in contact with you so please answer my e-mails as soon as you can. it seems like everybody do the genipa is the best for theirs tattos. I hope your message

Hey Kat, glad you can get more jagua from the USA now, I hope you get really busy with it this Summer :) Hi Rosa, what are the odds, that the week you were trying to email me, I was in South America..? I thought I was really popular when I got home and found so many emails and contact enquiries, most of them were from you ;-) so I guess I'm not so poular after all... LOL. Anyway, hope things are going well for you.

a new batch of jagua gel and some new kits availible from www.jaguaart.com love this stuff being a bloke henna never really rocked me but this is cool

We're the people (Lakaye Studio) who introduced henna to the west coast in 1997 and we went down to the Amazon to find the source for jagua. We work directly with a tribe that harvests the fruit for us. We're the only US manufacturers of a high quality Jagua gel and kits available at retail and wholesale called Earth Jagua. People love it! Check us out at www.earthhenna.com.

Allicy is from Brazil and makes her Jagua fresh to order. If looking for the best quality jagua and best prices, visit http://allicy.com/jagua-products.htm

Hello My Name is Lucia Leung. I would like to offer you Factory Direct pricing on our Jagua extract. We offer it as low as $4.50 per ounce and shipping is included. Email me for more info, thank you. We are the only Factory in Central America that is dedicated to Jagua Dyes/Ink. We're not only environmentally responsible but we also are planting plantations for the future. We only Hire local Indians in our factory and have a non profit org that we give back to the community. We give 10% back to the villages in educational programs, Back to school material give-a-ways, church events and community development. We also are starting a music school and a agriculture effort to teach the Indians on different and better crop to be planted. This is who we are !! We are not only a extraction company but we are doing this in order to support the bigger cause which is to preserve the local Indian traditions, Also the protect the rain forest in our country. If this is something your interested in please email me for a wholesale Price list. Thanks Sincerely, Lucia Leung

now! good quality jagua gel MADE IN THE US. WWW.FRESHJAGUA.COM GOOD PRICES, QUALITY Guaranteed.

Hi, does anyone can suggest where to buy Jagua extract in bulk? I would like to make jagua paste by my own just missing trustworthy extract supplier. I would appreciate any suggestion. hank you! Maija