Henna

Henna is included to body painting, although henna is used to hands, but hands is the part of body. The henna plant is a little tree that grows in hot climates such as northern Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia. The leaves of this plant are harvested, dried and ground into a fine powder. This powder is made into a paste and used to dye skin, hair and even your fingernails. Henna (also known as Mehndi) is an ancient Indian Body Art. Henna tattoos are applied using henna pen and ink. Traditional henna cone cannot be utilized for this purpose. Henna ink and pen are available online from many stores. Though it can be easily prepared at home. For centuries, mehndi— the art of henna painting on the body — has been practiced in India, Africa, and the Middle East, where the henna plant is believed to bring love and good fortune, and to protect against evil. Mehndi is traditionally practiced for wedding ceremonies, during important rites of passage, and in times of joyous celebration. A paste made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant is applied to the skin, and when removed several hours later, leaves beautiful markings on the skin that fade naturally over 1 to 3 weeks

It is used in creating designs and patterns on various parts of the body, though traditionally applied to the hands and feet of women preparing for special ceremonies like marriage. It is completely natural, non-permanent and painless. This Body Art ( Henna Art) is a Painless temporary tattoos unike real tattoos as designs from Henna fade within 1 to 2 weeks. Henna's color does not pass through into the dermis, it only stains the dead cells in the epidermis. Henna's color naturally makes the brick/red/brown stains, it usually takes 2-3 hours to get a good Henna stain (color) on the skin, and that (color) is quite harmless. Pure Henna, with the help of heat, moisture and time, leaves a reddish brown stain on skin, first light, then darkening during the next 24 hours. The shade various according to the quality of Henna (paste) used, and the methods used when applying, and sometimes the colour can darken to almost black, but basically the colour is brown. Henna painting has become very popular as a form of temporary tattoo and is liked by a lot. The best aspect of henna is that it is totally natural, made from a plant plant whose leaves are first dried and then crushed to make a fine powder. While applying, the powder is mixed with water. This makes henna totally safe to use. Along with that, its application is totally painless and the effect is temporary. You can use henna to get tattoos, without worrying about pain or infection. In case you are not satisfied with a particular tattoo, just wait for a few days. Its color will soon wash off and you can easily go for another design. Though there are no set patterns or designs for Henna, there are some popular designs that have been followed since ages. One of the most popular designs is a paisley that is often filled with a checkerboard pattern. Another popular pattern is a lovely peacock, with the sharp and curved beak and the corona on the head. Floral patterns are quite popular as well.

Henna Designs for Bride Henna designs for traditional eastern brides are usually very detailed and complicated. The designs are oriental and some of them are Arabic (Arabic designs have bigger motifs than Indian designs). The design is applied to hands and feet. The hands are covered from fingers to knee but some people prefer to have simple designs for their weddings that cover only palm of hands. In recent years some brides like to tattoo their shoulders or neck but the tattoo does not suit a formal wedding attire, it is more suitable for informal occasions.

Previously special henna mixtures were being made for the brides henna, which contained many other ingredhents apart from henna to give it better shade but in recent years the problem has been solved by the henna cones that are widely and cheaply available. These cones impart color within an hour or two so the henna needs not to remain on the hand for long time to give color.

After the application of henna a coat of sugar caramel, by lightly brushing the areas where the henna has been applied, can enhance color. When the henna is removed from hands the color it leaves may last at most one week. The color is burnt orange and it starts to fad in two to three days.

How To Make Henna ?

You can get your henna at an eastern shop or a 'souk' in many different colors. There's orange, mahogany, brown and black. The orange one is the traditional henna. The black henna is synthetic. It contains PDD (P-phenylenediamene) and can cause allergic reactions. Even if it doesn't cause irritations, it's still unhealthy. Moreover, in the past, black henna at your wedding was considered a disgrace.

Henna Recipe

With one pack of henna, you'll have enough to body paint the entire football team. Put the henna in a bowl and gently pour some lemon juice and boiling water in the bowl. Don't use too much water, the mud has to resemble the thickness of sate sauce. The purpose of the lemon juice is to help the color hold better on your skin.

Your skin should be clean, dry and not fat. If you want to color your nails too, they shouldn't have nail polish on them. Make sure you really want this, because your nails will be orange for about 2 months. It doesn't come off! When the henna is cold, you can get to painting.

If you want to paint your foot soles, which is a traditional custom in Marokko, make sure you have a pillow of some kind to keep your feet off the floor, before you know it, the henna mud is everywhere! You can apply the henna with all sorts of instruments, what works best is a syringe (without the needle of course).

Symmetric and geometric shapes work best. Don't make the lines too thin, the color won't come on to your skin very well. The bigger the surface, the brighter the color will be. 

Let the henna dry in the sun, the warmth of the sun will get your color deeper into your skin. You can also use a hairdryer.

If you make a mistake in the picture your painting act quickly! If you wipe it off too late, the henna will leave a red spot.

After a while, the henna will start to burst. Don't peel it off yet! The henna has to stay on for at least two hours. Then you can start removing the crusts of mud.

Don’t remove the henna with water! Just scrape the crusts of your skin, you can do this with a bold knife. Don't let your body painting get in touch with water for the first couple of hours. Right after you scraped off all the crusts, rub your skin in with olive oil. It will make the color brighter and help keep the color on as long as possible. Your henna painting will survive for about a month or so.