Henna

[stracci2000]

I just had some henna done yesterday on my hand, and I am loving it. I was told it would darken in color in the next few days, and last about 10 days or so.
I'm sure that some PSers of Indian/Asian/Middle Eastern descent have had this. I am looking forward to more complex designs next time.
(The lighting makes it look smeared, but it isn't)

 

[kenny]

What henna?
I can't pull my eyes away from your beautiful diamond ring!

 

[stracci2000]

Oh, Kenny!!
I'll trade you for that Octavia

 

[kenny]

Uhm, I'll have to sleep on that ......... for about 50 years.

 

[jordyonbass]

You an always tell when an Aussie comes back from Bali, they're covered in tribal Henna

This thread reminds me that I need to go and get my sleeve tattoos finished. I might have to work some tribal design in there along with the main pieces

 

[AGBF]

Hi, stracci-

I almost didn't open this thread because I thought it was going to be about henna on hair (which I do not care for). I absolutely love the henna designs done on women's skin in Southern Asia and the Middle East. Did you ever see the ones posted in The Gold Thread? I reposted some of them in one thread in Hangout, but it was not as if the thread got a great deal of attention.

I will post a link to at least one thread where I posted some that I especially loved. I became very enamoured of them when a friend (she and I had three year-olds in a pre-school class together) showed me her wedding pictures. As you may know, many women in some cultures are elaborately painted in henna on their wedding days. (My friend was of Pakistani background.)

I love your henna. Who did it for you and how long did it take?

Link to Brides Painted in Henna in The Gold Thread...[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/do-you-have-a-favorite-gold-designer.29197/page-47']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/do-you-have-a-favorite-gold-designer.29197/page-47[/URL]

Deb/AGBF

 

[AGBF]

I do not think that rosetta would mind my re-posting this photo in this thread since she already posted it it on Pricescope. (It, also, is in The Gold Thread.) It is a photo of her putting on some gold jewelry for her traditional wedding. As you can see, her hands have been painted with henna. Not only are her hands beautiful, her jewelry is to die for.

Deb

 

[telephone89]

Wow it looks great with your ring!

I personally do not like Henna on myself. I'm very very pale, and my partner is 'brown' and henna is common in their culture for weddings/celebrations. My BIL was getting married and they requested that I get henna (requested by sitting me down and doing it =\ ). It turns out very orange on my skin - like a bad self tanner colour, blech. If it turned a nice brown like everyone else I wouldn't mind but it looks terrible on me.

 

[stracci2000]

Deb, thanks for the link! Such beautiful designs!
I don't think I'll ever have anything that opulent.

I got mine done at a local Art/Food event that I attended on Sunday. A beautiful Indian woman had a constant line at her little henna table, and on a whim, I jumped in line, too. It took her about 10 minutes to do the design.

I really like it, and think I might go to the local Indian grocery and see if I can buy my own henna, and try it on my own.
The artist told me to leave it on overnight, and avoid water for the second day after removing the dried paste. This might prove to be a hardship, if the designs are done on your palms!
Telephone, maybe you didn't leave it on long enough, and that's why it didn't darken. Mine has darkened to a chocolate color, see photo.
And no one ever told me how hard it is to photograph your own hand!!!

 

[vintagelover229]

I love henna! My gf does it and did my belly the day before she took my maternity pictures. There's so much I love about Indian culture besides the stunning colors and handwoven silk clothing, the jewelry and the henna.

 

[AGBF]

stracci-

Your hand dried beautifully! You must have taken very good care of it. You appear to be very fair and it makes me think that perhaps you are right about telephone's problem. Perhaps the reason her henna design came out orange was not just her being fair, but how she did her aftercare on the henna. It is possible that fair skinned women need more care than darker women, but I know absolutely nothing about that. Do you?

At any rate, your hand looks lovely!

Deb

 

[AGBF]

vintagelover-

Those are stunning pictures! How long ago were they taken?

Deb

 

[telephone89]

They rec'd I leave it on for 5-6 hours, and I left it on the entire day. They also squirted lemon juice/sugar mixture over it to help it darken, but it did not. I've had it multiple times and I really dislike the look on myself. I wish it looked nicer

 

[AGBF]

They rec'd I leave it on for 5-6 hours, and I left it on the entire day. They also squirted lemon juice/sugar mixture over it to help it darken, but it did not. I've had it multiple times and I really dislike the look on myself. I wish it looked nicer

You have my sympathies! I have never tried it, but if fair skin makes it orange, I would be orange, too. No one is lighter than I am!

Deb, feeling empathetic.

 

[telephone89]

They rec'd I leave it on for 5-6 hours, and I left it on the entire day. They also squirted lemon juice/sugar mixture over it to help it darken, but it did not. I've had it multiple times and I really dislike the look on myself. I wish it looked nicer

You have my sympathies! I have never tried it, but if fair skin makes it orange, I would be orange, too. No one is lighter than I am!

Deb, feeling empathetic.

It might have just been something about my skin, but I can't even do spray tans because they dont darken properly! If you try it out, do a spot test first!

 

[vintagelover229]

Thanks! I was super happy with how they turned out too, although I was/am a bit shy since I don't even wear a two piece suit doing the belly stuff lol!

Mine didn't take very well either but I did bathe the same night and was unsuccessful at missing the belly. I also hate it when it flakes all off all over the place. No way it was staying on all night with a toddler so she touched it up a bit the next day. It still was pretty light though but I'm very fair skinned and don't tan at all.

It was taken in July when I was like 36-37 weeks pregnant? Can't remember-here it is right after application and a couple more from the shoot. It was actually pretty light compared to most I've seen done, in some pictures it's almost not visible at all.

She did use frozen henna though, she doesn't use a full cone every time and they are still good after freezing but maybe that impacts the saturation?

 

[AGBF]

I can't tell you how much I love those pregnancy shots, vintagelover! The artwork combined with your lovely, pregnant body is just amazing.

Deb

 

[stracci2000]

Vintagelover, those photos are fabulous!
I especially love the last one of you standing in the water in front of the rocks. Great composition and lighting.
You look very regal!

 

[packrat]

Beautiful-I wish hand tattoos weren't so frowned upon in the workplace or that we would become independently wealthy and then it wouldn't matter b/c I'd love to take my baby sleeves down to my hands.

 

[jazzoboe]

I have never used henna for body art, but I do use it on my hair. I suspect the reason some of you aren't getting a nice stain is in the preparation. It's possible the henna used has a low lawsone (the compound in henna that dyes) content or it didn't dye release properly before application. Once the powdered henna is mixed with water or another liquid, it needs to sit for a while, usually quite a few hours, to release its dye. If that doesn't happen completely, it will not stain well. Also, once it dries it basically stops staining, so the aftercare shouldn't be so crucial as long as you let it dry out and don't get your skin wet too soon.

Interestingly, a lot of people who use it for hair color like to freeze it first because it is known to stain better after freezing and thawing (something about dye molecules bursting during freezing?), but it needs to be dye released before going in the freezer.

 

[stracci2000]

I bought some henna, and now I am happily decorating myself.
It is so much fun, and since it fades in about 10 days, no commitment!
Here is my hand with my latest design.

 

[vintagelover229]

Your tempting me with buying a cone off my gf-I think I may have to give it a go myself! You do so well! Just free style it?

 

[stracci2000]

Your tempting me with buying a cone off my gf-I think I may have to give it a go myself! You do so well! Just free style it?

Yes, free style. I sorta make it up as I go. I bought the powder, mixed it, and also made my own cones.
I'm new at this, so I did a bunch of research on traditional designs, and motifs, and I practiced designs on paper first.
As soon as the henna makes contact with your skin, it starts to stain, so you don't want to make any mistakes.
It's fun to do on your feet, too!

 

[AGBF]

It looks really fabulous on you, stracci. Really fabulous. I have that super fair skin that telephone does, though. I wonder if it would be worth trying it on my skin. The other issue is: I am coming to it too late in life. My hands are now wrinkled. No one told me about henna when I was young! It is beautiful on brides because they have great, youthful skin!.

Deb/AGBF

 

[stracci2000]

It looks really fabulous on you, stracci. Really fabulous. I have that super fair skin that telephone does, though. I wonder if it would be worth trying it on my skin. The other issue is: I am coming to it too late in life. My hands are now wrinkled. No one told me about henna when I was young! It is beautiful on brides because they have great, youthful skin!.

Deb/AGBF

My hands are kinda wrinkly, too.
It was hard to get a good photo that didn't make me look like an old crone!

 

[AGBF]

It looks really fabulous on you, stracci. Really fabulous. I have that super fair skin that telephone does, though. I wonder if it would be worth trying it on my skin. The other issue is: I am coming to it too late in life. My hands are now wrinkled. No one told me about henna when I was young! It is beautiful on brides because they have great, youthful skin!.

My hands are kinda wrinkly, too.
It was hard to get a good photo that didn't make me look like an old crone!

stracci-I am glad that you have no idea what may happen when you age more. On the other hand, you may age more gracefully than I did!

Hugs,
Deb