Henna tattoos are an ancient custom in India: girls and women are
body painted before ceremonies, like marriage. They painted complicated
patterns on their hands and feet to symbolize their fertility.
Henna
(or 'Mehndi', the Indian name) is made from the henna plant (Lawsonia
Inermis). The leaves of the plant are dried and ground. The powder gets
mixed with water and you get a sort of green-brownish mud. If you put
that mud on your skin, let it harden, and then peel it off, you will
notice it has left an orange color.
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. Now: the annoying
part: Waiting... 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. Also nice to know: Swimming, body peeling,
scrubbing your back, and bodyscrub products will make the henna tattoo
deteriorate faster...
For more information, visit the authors website on
body painting.
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