Henna Traditions
HENNA TRADITIONS
Henna is the most traditional forms of Body Art. In several parts of the world, it is traditionally used in various festivals and celebrations.
Different words for Henna in ancient languages imply it had more than one point of discovery & origin. Henna was regarded as having blessings and was applied for luck as well as joy & beauty.
In the Indian culture, Mehandi is considered very auspicious and is typically applied during special occasions like weddings & festivals like Karva Chauth, Diwali, Bhai Dooj & Teej.
Mehandi Ceremony is the most important pre-wedding rituals. The mehandi ritual is regarded as good omen for the Bride. it is usually organised with the sangeet function where young girls and women dance & sing traditional songs on the Mehandi ritual. Popular motifs of the Bridal mehandi are Kalash, peacocks, dhol, shehnai, doli & baaraat patterns. According to custom, the bride must not step out of the house after the mehandi ritual until the wedding day.
The intricate motifs hide the husband's name & he has to find out his name in his Bride's henna. It is believed that darker the color, the more the husband will love his bride.
wHAT IS HENNA
The leaves of the henna plant are crushed and milled into a fine powder, then mixed with natural ingredients to make henna paste. This henna paste, when applied to the skin and left on for a few hours, leaves a bright orange stain which darkens to a beautiful burgundy/brown color over the next 48 hours.
The Henna stain stays for 1-4 weeks and then gradually fades away, leaving the skin clear for fresh design. Thats the beauty of Henna, you won't be stuck with a lifelong tattoo.
SCIENTIFIC FACTS:
Family Name: Lythraceae
Botanical Name: Lawsonia Inermis
Common Name: Mehandi. Henna, Heena, Al-Khanna, Al-Mehandi, Jamaica Mignonette, Mehndi, Mendee, Egyptian Privet, Smooth Lawsonia.
HENNA AFTER-CARE
Leave the paste on for atleast 4 hours. When you leave the paste on for around 8 hrs or overnight, it yields optimum color.
Apply lemon sugar mixture to the paste to seal it.
Wrap tissue paper, medical bandage, old socks, before going to sleep, anything will work. The idea is to keep the paste moist.
After 8 hrs, DO NOT WASH off your Henna, as the color would still be raw and it will wash away with the water.
Just apply some olive or vegetable oil and gently scrape it off with blunt side of butter knife.
Protect your hands from water for the next 24 hrs. Wear gloves for the household chores.
Then, it would be great to heat up some cloves on a tawa or griddle and take the heat on the henna-ed hand, by hovering it over the tawa/griddle.Please be careful to not burn the skin. Hover it around 8-10 inches away from the tawa/griddle. If you are a minor, do this only under adult supervision.
Do not heat any other Body part.
When you scrape the Henna, it will be orange, and then it will gradually darken to a deep brown/burgandy color. This gradual progression of the color tells that the Henna is 100% natural.
HennaTraditions paste is made with 100% natural Henna from Rajasthan, India, lemon juice/tamarind juice and essential oils.
After Care is of utmost importance to attain dark stain.
Leaving the paste on for 4-8 hrs, sealing with lemon sugar mixture and protecting it from water is what is required for a dark stain.