Henna Patterns

A few weeks ago, in a post, I showed a picture of some recent henna I had done and since I have had a few requests to make a blog post all about my henna, so here it is! Its going to be an image based post mainly, just so you can see what I like to do, but I will add in a few little bits of info here and there! Enjoy! :)

(Also, I'd like to say that I am in no way trying to turn Indian culture into a fashion statement or anything. I am not trying to offend anyone and I don't want any arguments about cultural appropriation in my comments. I simply find the traditional henna patterns beautiful and really enjoy doing it.)

I buy my henna from a user on Ebay who makes all her henna fresh. I also always get natural brown henna. 

There are two types of henna; black henna and brown/natural henna. Black henna has chemicals in to give it a dark black colour and also to make it last longer. This is the type which you hear horror stories about, people can have severe allergic reactions to black henna, which in turn can cause them to have reactions to hair dye and cause blisters and stuff. Brown/natural henna is made from henna powder (made from a plant) which is them mixed with essential oils (such as tea tree), sugar and lemon juice. People don't really have allergic reactions to this as it is all natural, unless of course they are allergic to sugar etc…

I did this one on my friend Rachael for one of her belly dancing shows. 

Here's the seller I get it from. She always has a special offer on, which is you get a free cone of henna for every one you buy. So if you buy 2, you get 2 free and so on.

Ebay Username : henna-art

On my friend Megan

To make up my patterns, I look images up on google to find inspiration. I don't copy directly from them though. I like to use parts of lots of different images and join them together. I draw them on the skin using a felt tip and then simply go over it in henna when I'm happy with it!

Huge rose on my sister! Love this one!

Cute little symbols are nice to do too!

Once the henna is applied to the skin, its name changes to mehndi. All the traditional patterns, from the simple paisley and swirly ones, to the mandalas and suns all have different meanings. They are all about happiness and finding inner light etc. Just google it to find their proper meanings, they are all so pretty! 

Sun and moon on my sister's thigh

Instead of doing work, just do henna ;)

Giant paisley piece on my sister!

Even just simple dots are cute!

Henna once on, will last around a week to 10 days. After you've put it on the skin, leave it to dry for at least two hours. It takes time as it needs to dye the skin. Then, if you want it darker, wrap you hand, or whatever its on, in cling film. This will trap in the heat, causing it to dye more. The hotter and longer its stays on, the darker and longer it will last!

Sorry about the image quality. They were all taken on my phone, then put on instragram, and then were put onto this post! If you'd like to know anything else about henna/mehndi just ask!