Wedding season is here... break out the henna designs!

The wedding I attended this past weekend brought one of my other interests to the forefront. Henna tattoos! Why you ask? Well, historically, henna art was part of the Indian wedding ceremony for the bride. At what we might call a bridal shower, the Indian bride would have both of her hands decorated in elaborate, intricate designs with henna. The new bride would not be expected to engage in "hand work" (i.e. dishes, cooking, cleaning, manual labor) until the tattoo had worn off (typically around 2 weeks).

Henna tattoos last anywhere from 1-3 weeks depending on the body part tattooed and the quality of care. Hands and feet dye the best and with application of essential oil, the tattoo will remain darker longer. Henna designs on the inside of the wrist, belly, or shoulder blades are usually much lighter and may only last a week. This is because of the thickness of the skin. The less you scrub or exfoliate the area will also make the tattoo last longer, as you're not removing layers of skin. Avoiding water in the first 24 hours of getting a tattoo is also important for getting the richest color.

You might be asking, how does henna work? Henna is a powder made by crushing the leaves of a henna plant. When the plant powder is mixed with an acidic liquid (like coffee, lemon juice, or tea) to form a toothpaste like substance, it has the potential to dye a person's skin or hair. The natural color of the plant is released due to the acidity. The green-colored goop is then put into an applicator bottle or bag with a fine tip so intricate designs can be done. After about 20 minutes, the henna mixture has dried and caked on the skin and will begin to flake off. The longer you can keep the green paste on your body the darker it will stain. As it begins to come off, you'll see an orange tattoo left on your skin in place of the paste. (You can see this above in the peacock design on my client's foot. The dark part is the henna paste still needing to flake off, and the orange parts are the resulting tattoo.) The henna tattoo will deepen and darken to a brown color over the next 24-36 hours.

I have a couple henna events coming up this summer. I will be downtown St. Cloud on the evening of June 6th for the "Downtown Walk-About." There will be all sorts of vendors and fun things to see, so please come out and support the downtown area! The following month, I'll be in St. Joseph. My church does an annual 4th of July bazaar to raise money and I have done henna at this celebration for the past five years to help raise funds. I work on the evening of the 3rd from 6-10pm and most of the day on the 4th. People of all ages enjoy this activity and love showing the tattoo off to friends and family.
I also enjoy doing private henna tattooing for birthdays, bachelorette parties, sports teams, dance groups, and many other special events. I worked with a belly dancing troupe in the area to prepare them for a performance last year, and one of those women also hired me this past Fall to do an entire body piece for a fire dance she was doing. It was spectacular to say the least! I've also had the joy of working with my sister's friend during her pregnancy to design a henna belly she loved.

Henna can also be used to naturally dye the hair with red and brown tones. I haven't tried this yet, but there is a ton of information on the internet to help you do it. Henna art is a wonderful way to adorn the body and accent a special event or moment in your life, without the permanency of a real tattoo. It is harmless to your health and naturally beautiful!