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Mehndi

Mehndi Designs

Henna, also called Mehndi is a temporary body decoration that looks like a tattoo but isn't. It is fast, easy, painless and most importantly it is a beautiful form of natural body decoration. It lasts for about 12 days and then slowly fades away.

Henna is a small shrub called hawsonia inermis and is found in Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and North Africa. The young leaves and twigs are ground into a fine powder, then mixed with hot water and applied to fingernails and hair to give them a reddish-orange colour. In order to decorate hands and feet, henna is processed in a special way and packed in a cone for ease in decoration. During hot weather, henna acts as a cooling agent when applied to the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet in addition to leaving a deep reddish-brownish colour on the skin. When used as a temporary tattoo henna is applied to the skin and then left to dry. For darker shades, it should be left for at least four hours before being brushed off. Once it is flaked or brushed off, the colour left behind will darken over the next 12 hours or so. For best effect, lime juice is applied to henna to increase the density of its colour.

Centuries of migration and cultural interaction makes it difficult to determine where particular traditions began. But there is some historical evidence that henna originated in ancient India as a ceremonial art form. Others believe that Henna was introduced to India in the 12th century. It's been used for at least 5000 years as a cosmetic and for it's natural healing properties. There's also documentation that henna was used in ancient Egypt to stain the fingers and toes of the Pharaohs prior to mummification.

Procedure :-

Mix Mehndi powder and Katthaa in some water to make a thick paste, Beat well to crush all the granules. Keep it for 8-10 hrs. Fill the paste in a soft funnel of thin plastic sheet. If you don't know how to make it, you may get it from market through professionals. Apply Eucalyptus oil on the place you are applying mehndi , by gently and continuously pressing the funnel from the top. The patterns are limited only up to your imagination and remember no one is perfect from the start so practice and you will master the art.

The colour effect:-

Mehndi takes on different shades, ranging from light orange to dark maroon, at times even reaching a blackish hue.

The final color depends on a number of factors, including the time for which the paste was allowed to remain on the skin, the quality of henna and the body temperature. The darkest tinge comes on the palms of hands and feet while the palest shades are obtained on the back of neck, forearm and the stomach.

The color lasts for a 10 days to even a month, depending on the type of skin and final shade got - the darker the color, the longer it stays.

To obtain a dark shade, you can try the following tips:-

Add some lemon juice, tea or strongly brewed coffee, clove paste and sugar while preparing the mehndi paste to deepen the final tinge. 

Heat 10-12 clove buds in a dry pan and warm your hands over the smoke for about 15 minutes. 

Apply mustard oil or ground nut oil on the skin after scraping off the mehndi. 

For longer stay avoid contact with water for as long as possible. 

It is said that the girl who gets the most dark and deep colors on her hand has a blissful wedding life and her husband loves her a lot. Now do you believe that? Even if you don’t apply it because it in now and it smells good too.

Different uses of Heena:-

Henna is untraditionally used for Tattooing too. They mix up some chemicals to have the after effect which is very dark. 

Heena is also used as hair conditioner. It is mixed with fenugreek(methi) powder, Amala powder and Aritha powder ,this all powders are mixed and there after it is kept for 2 days. After 2 days apply it on scalp and hair so this is how it does conditioning.

The art form of applying henna (known as mehndi) varies from region to region; this ancient practice has spanned many cultures and traditions. Like all symbols, the varying designs often mean different things to different cultures. It's thus possible to recognize distinctions in cultural style. Arabic designs are generally large floral patterns on hands and feet. Whereas Indians (from India) traditionally use fine thin lines for lacy, floral, and paisley patterns which cover their entire hands, forearms, feet and shins; interestingly this is often performed as part of a pre marriage ritual.