Bali: Melbourne mum’s worst nightmare comes true on holiday

A horrified mother who let her two sons get temporary tattoos in Bali has warned other travelling parents after the ink left her boys with chemical burns.

Elena Kovalenko and her husband Phillip Saenko, along with their two boys Luke, 8, and Adrian, 6, arrived in Bali on a family holiday on July 27.

The family were staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nusa Dua when they paid $30 at a nearby night market for their boys to have temporary henna tattoos on the third night of their trip.

The Melbourne mother-of-two said every time her family is on a holiday, her boys get temporary tattoos, but this was the first time they had had one in Bali.

‘They (Luke and Adrian) have done it before in Russia, Thailand and the Gold Coast, so we didn’t think twice and agreed,’ Ms Kovalenko told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Luke and Adrian chose their tattoo designs and sat down ready for their tattoos.’

Ms Kovalenko said she was surprised by the temporary tattoo application as the Balinese vendor took 30 minutes to draw it on rather than a 20-second’ spray and stencil’.

As the night progressed, Luke and Adrian complained about a burning sensation, but Ms Kovalenko admitted she regrettably dismissed it as sunburn as the family was in the sun all day.

‘I didn’t pay attention to the kids’ tattoos because at the same time, my husband was injured and hospitalised while we were in Bali,’ Ms Kovalenko said.

Ms Kovalenko was horrified when the tattoo began to fade five days later, revealing painful ‘itching and burning’ red welts on Luke’s arm and Adrian’s leg where the tattoo had been.

‘When we came back (to Australia) the horror began,’ Ms Kovalenko said.

‘The dye came off, and it looked like a chemical burn.

‘The kids were crying that it was itching and burning, so we went to the pharmacy, and we were given a cream that we applied on their sores straight away.’

The distraught mother took her boys to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne the following day after the burns appeared to be getting worse.

Doctors prescribed steroid cream to Adrian and Luke but advised the damage caused by the tattoos could be permanent.

‘If it was just one child, I would think it’s some kind of allergy, but because it’s two kids with two different skin types, I’m just shocked,’ Ms Kovalenko said.

‘My kids don’t have any allergies, but they will have horrible scar forever!’

Ms Kovalenko said she wanted to share her experience to warn parents and children considering temporary tattoos and called for ‘black henna’ to be banned.

‘We all know not to drink tap water in Thailand or Bali, and we know about robbery facts in the countries too,’ Ms Kovalenko said.

‘The media screams about foot and mouth disease, but I never heard anything about it (black henna).

‘It’s a dangerous thing. It might even be life-threatening. People should be aware of it, and it should be banned.’

Ms Kovalenko shared a picture of Adrian’s burn to ‘Australian Bali info for traveling’ Facebook group on Monday and has received over 150 comments – most of which are other travellers detailing similar bad experiences. 

‘My sons temp tattoo lasted for 6 years with a lot of different creams and medical visits, never again,’ one user wrote. 

‘The same thing happened to my son and he still has the scar and that was 20 years ago,’ another user commented. 

‘This happened to my daughter. She now has a lifelong allergy to PPD (black dye), cannot colour her hair or eyebrows – Be very careful,’ a third user chimed.  

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises travellers to avoid temporary black henna tattoos while in Indonesia, stating that they ‘often contain a dye which can cause serious skin reactions’. 

Henna has been used by different cultures for centuries and is usually brown or orange-brown in colour and is a paste made from grinding dried henna leaves. 

Traditional henna is considered safe to use in temporary tattoos and causes few allergic reactions. 

However travellers are warned to avoid ‘black henna’ as it typically contains para-phenylenediamine or PPD – a black ink found in hair dye.  

PPD can cause serious adverse reactions including redness, itching, burning, swelling, blisters and scarring which appear seven to ten days after the ink is applied to the skin.