Creative Mehendi Designer

Mehndi (henna) in India is a temporary form of skin decoration traditionally drawn in delicate, intricate, exquisite patterns on the hands and feet of women, typically for any festival or occasion, especially for big celebrations like weddings. Though it has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age, henna has had a recent renaissance in Euro-American (Western) culture of exotic creations of body art (‘henna tattoos’ at carnivals, festivals and fun fairs / holistic fayres), growing in complexity and elaboration, with new innovations in glitter, gilding, and fine line work.

Mehndi has great significance in all Eastern wedding traditions. The ‘Mehndi Ceremony’ (literally Mehndi Night), is one of the most important and grandest pre-wedding functions. It is something like the ‘bachelorettes’ of the West, with all the bride’s female relatives and friends getting together to celebrate.The designs adorn both the front and back of the hands, sometimes all the way up to the elbows and the feet, sometimes all the way up to the knees. Some popular beliefs are that the darker the design, the more her in-laws and in particular, the husband, will love her and that a darker design signifies the strength of love/affection/passion in the marriage :)

Women can continue to use Henna during pregnancy (as long as they have no other contraindications or previous problems with henna.

Commercially available henna powder is made by drying the henna leaves and milling them to powder, and then sifting it. This powder is mixed with lemon juice, strong tea, coffee, cloves, tamarind, lemon and sugar. Essential oils such as tea tree, eucalyptus,lavender will improve skin stain characteristics. The henna mix has a toothpaste-like consistency and is applied with a cello-wrap cone.Once applied to the skin, color molecules gradually migrate from the henna paste into the outer layer of the skin. Though the color will stain the skin within minutes, the longer the paste is left on the skin, the more color will transfer. 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 this time, so it is often sealed by dabbing a sugar/lemon mix over the dried paste. This also adds to the colour of the end result and increases the intensity of the shade.When the paste has either, fallen off the skin or was removed by scraping, the stain will be orange, but should darken over the following three days. Steaming or warming the design will darken the stain. Chlorinated water and soaps may spoil the darkening process. The stain starts to fade after it reaches its peak. The henna stain is not actually fading, the skin is exfoliating: the lower, less stained cells, rise to the surface, until all stained cells are shed.

Pure, natural henna does not allow for a full range of colors but only shades of reds, oranges and browns. It can be lighter on other parts of the body; the shades can vary depending on the individual skin. Henna tattoos last at least a week depending on the quality and freshness of the paste, application, skin chemistry and aftercare. It usually takes many hours to get a good henna stain on the skin, and is relatively safe. Allergic and irritant reactions are very rare.

The fact of the matter is that it is not henna that is the problem, but the toxic dye PPD. Caution should be taken as many products labelled henna can be misleading. Even brown shades of pre-mixed henna body art pastes may contain other ingredients intended to make them darker or make the stain last longer.

Please take care to protect yourself and find responsible henna artists.

I am a professional henna artist offering a safe service...

It is attractive, temporary, creative, imaginative and so on…

and I am getting paid to my creative works on beautiful hands :)