Adorning your skin with henna/mehndi is an all-natural body art form with centuries of history. It's easy to learn, good for your skin, and produces gorgeous results.
An ancient beauty tradition that has recently gained popularity in America, henna skin decoration is a natural art that is easy to learn for anyone with artistic inclinations.
Known as “mehndi” in the Indian subcontinent, a region that has used it for centuries, henna powder is ground from the leaves of the henna plant. This powder contains a dye which creates a beautiful, red-orange color on the skin that can be deepened using a variety of additives. You can purchase powder at a local Indian store or online, alone or as part of a henna kit. Be sure to check the date on the package, which should be no older than three years. If the powder is chunky, you may want to sift it through a very fine material, such as nylon.
Making henna paste
Henna artists use a wide variety of ingredients to produce the most favorable color from their chosen powders, but the most essential ingredient is simply something acidic, such as lemon juice. This helps release the dye from the powder. Adding something sweet, like sugar or honey, can improve the consistency of the paste, making it easier to work with and easier to keep on the skin.
Some essential oils contain a natural chemical that helps extract more of the dye from the henna, so henna artists often add a few drops of these oils – usually tea tree, cajeput or eucalyptus oils – to deepen the color on the skin. For children or pregnant women, the safest oil to use is lavender.
Beyond these additives, many other ingredients can be used to improve the color and smell of the paste, such as concentrated tea or coffee, cloves or tamarind, with solids strained out of the liquid before it is added to the powder.
Applying henna paste
Henna paste must sit for at least a few hours after being mixed so that the dye can release. Once it has released, keeping the paste in the refrigerator will extend its dying power over several days; the paste can also be frozen for several months.
The dye in henna stains darkest on the thick skin of the palms or soles; henna on other skin areas, such as arms, legs or belly, will leave lighter stains.
Some of the easiest ways to apply henna include spooning it into an applicator bottle with a fine tip, available at arts and crafts stores, or into a plastic or mylar “cone” which can be rolled from a square of material and taped into shape. Carefully cut the tip of the cone to allow the desired thickness of lines.
Traditional henna patterns range from the geometric figures of North Africa, to the flowing floral forms of the Middle East and the elaborate designs of the Indian subcontinent, but modern mehndi can take any artistic shape imaginable.
Caring for henna designs
The longer henna paste stays on skin, the deeper it stains and the longer its color lasts. Once the paste dries, before it can flake off, you can apply a mixture of sugar dissolved in a little lemon juice, which will dry “sticky” and help keep the paste on longer.
After you remove the paste, the color will naturally deepen over a day or so, then begin to fade, disappearing completely within a few weeks.
Note: Natural henna stains in ranges from red-orange to deep brown and burgundy. Henna products marketed as “black henna” may contain a chemical known as PPD which can cause allergic reactions. For more information, see the FDA’s information sheet on henna tattoos.
Other source: The Henna Page
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