Henna

Henna or Hina (Lawsonia inermis) is a flowering plant, the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones. It has been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. Henna has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age.

Whole, unbroken henna leaves will not stain the skin. Henna will not stain skin until the lawsone molecules are made available (released) from the henna leaf. Fresh henna leaves will stain the skin if they are smashed with a mildly acidic liquid. This will stain skin within moments.

Henna is mixed to a toothpaste consistency and applied with a one of many traditional tools, including resist techniques, shading techniques, and thicker paste techniques, or the modern cello wrap cone. Henna’s lawsone will stain the skin within minutes, the longer the paste is left on the skin, the more lawsone will migrate. Henna paste will yield as much dye as the skin can easily absorb in less than eight hours.Henna tends to crack and fall off the skin during these hours, so it is often sealed down by dabbing a sugar/lemon mix over the dried paste, or simply adding some form of sugar to the paste. This also adds to the colour of the end result, increasing the intensity of the shade.

It is traditionally applied to the hands and feet of women preparing for special ceremonies. It is completely natural, non-permanent and painless. Once thought only for women, men are finding it a nice alternative to permanent tattoos. women, men are finding it a nice alternative to permanent tattoos. women, men are finding it a nice alternative to permanent tattoos.

Indian, and Pakistani crops that are harvested soon after the beginning of the monsoon rains are usually the best of the year. If you find a henna you love, buy plenty and store it! If you put your henna in an airtight, light-proof container in your freezer, it’ll stay good for years!

How do we mix and apply henna?

There is NO “one way” or “right way” to mix and apply henna! There are a thousand ways, each best for a particular situation. Every henna is different and works well with some mixes and applications and poorly with others. Every henna artist is different, and has favorite hennas, mixes, and tools. Every person has different skin, some responding well to one henna, another responding well to some other. What works perfectlyWhat do you need to mix a simple henna paste? Not much! You’ll need a container, a spoon, henna and lemon juice.This stain was made with just henna and lemon juice paste, sealed, wrapped, and left on overnight. Henna paste has to stay on the skin for a while to make a stain. The hennotannic acid molecule, Lawsone, goes into your skin and stains it just the way tea from a wet tea bag goes into a tablecloth and makes a stain. The longer the henna is on your skin, the better the stain. To keep henna on your skin, add some sugar or honey to the the henna. This makes it stick better, and makes the henna paste smoother and silkier to work with. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar per 100g of henna (5-to-1 ratio with the dry henna powder), before adding the lemon juice. We can use about ½ a tamarind pod in one cup of water for the brew, and a scant tablespoonful of tamarind syrup per 100 grams henna.”We can use anything to stir up our henna as long as it’s sour. Rainwater is slightly sour. Vinegar and wine are sour. Any citrus juice, fresh or bottled will do. Cola drinks will do. We can simmer dried lemons, limes or tamarind, strain off the sour liquid, and use that to stir into henna powder. It doesn’t make much difference what we use … but some things smell much nicer than others!. Here are a few of the things that go into people’s brews!

Coffee, Tea, Cardamom, Cloves, Citric Acid, Herb Tea, Tamarind, Dried Lemons, Dried Limes, Hard Candy, Honey, Angostura Butters, Okra, Egg Whites, Spit, Black Pepper, Garlic, Wine, Vinegar, Sugar, Molasses, Jaggery, Citric Acid, Walnut Husks, Walnut Leaves, Walnut Root, Rose Petals, Lemon Peel, Orange Flower Water, Fenugreek … and a handful of whatever looks interesting.

Henna technique is always growing.

Negative effects of natural henna paste

Pre-mixed henna body art pastes may have ingredients added to darken stain, or to alter stain color. The health risks involved in pre-mixed paste can be signficant. Some pastes have been found to include: silver nitrate, carmine, pyrogallol, disperse orange dye, and chromium. These have been found to cause allergic reactions, chronic inflammatory reactions, or late-onset allergic reactions to hairdressing products and textile dyes.