Henna - Mehndi

There are a ton of helpful "How To Henna" pages on the world wide web. You can buy pre-made henna paste or you can buy the powder and make your own paste. There are also a dozen or so different ways you can apply the henna paste (dispenser bottle, toothpick, plastic bag - similar to cake decorating, etc).

I would like to make some videos to share with you showing how I make my own henna paste and apply to my arms, wrists and hands. Until those videos are produced and published, please indulge in a little preview from my first attempts with henna...

I was playing around with shapes and different types of patterns. This looks like a mess to me, but now I know that I like the dots running up my fingers and I did not care for the large dot on the fingertips. I loved making the wrist bracelet and extending the pattern from my palm around to the other side.

Here is a funky angle showing that I left the top of my hand clean while accenting the fingers and knuckles. You can also see how I've carried the design up the arm. Henna will stain your skin anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks depending on the mix, the cure, the temperature, how long you leave it on... etc. You will also see a darker, longer lasting stain on thicker skin like the palms of your hands, versus the softer skin on the inside of your arm.

Here is another view of the palm and all its craziness! I got impatient waiting for the henna paste to cure, since this was my first attempt and I just wanted to tattoo myself! Fortunately for the mess on my palm, this caused the henna to not stain at all and after I washed away this design it was gone for good. Well, except there is this photo...

Ahh... the gloved hand. I love love love this design and in fact it is inspiring me to go make some more henna paste! I think I will take advantage of this inspiration and make some instructional videos to go along with it!