Henna Tattoos

Looking for a tattoo but afraid of the price or the pain? Then temporary Henna tattoos may be the best option for you. Henna has been existent in the eastern worlds in the subcontinent of, Arabia, India, and North Africa. Everywhere you go you see or hear someone speaking of Henna; it is a ubiquitous item nowadays due to the celebrities who sport them like Madonna, Demi Moore and even Prince himself.

If you look carefully in Madonna’s “Frozen” video, you can see the Henna upon her. Due to all the media attention, it has now become a much talked about, and accessible form of body décor and has taken this traditional paste to be promoted into popular magazines and television shows.

Henna is applied all over the world, but traditionally in places like India and Pakistan.

These countries use Henna to celebrate wedding ceremonies or religious holidays like Weddings, Holi and Eid. The traditional name for Henna is “Mehndi” which celebrates the miracle of love and creation through the hands.

The color of Henna varies depending upon the cone, but it is commonly reddish brown but can also be bright red or orange. However, now glitter and paint have combined with Henna to create different colors and styles to go with modern times.

Mehndi or Henna is not like any other form of painting for it requires skin to skin application by the Henna artist placing their hand and finger on the cone and then making contact with their hands on the applicant’s surface to apply it. This adds to the art form for it is a genuinely different dynamic dimension to work.

To express oneself upon the skin is an excellent expression of individuality and creativity that is available, even if it is temporary.

The origin of Henna took part in the eastern part of the world; however, it is quite hard to trace as so much cultural interaction, and migration has occurred.

The archeologists found evidence that determines Henna back to the early Egyptians who used henna to color their hair and nails and their skin, as traces of this paste made from the Henna plant have been found on their remains.

As the form of Henna made its way to the western world, it has acquired much diversity of designs, recipes and most importantly application methods.

Henna attracts people not only because it is cheap and temporary but also that you can try any designs and styles and it is not painful or irritating like permanent tattoos.

Henna is generally applied in India and Pakistan through cones; however, now they even have pens. It is a little messy and consists of the artist paying a lot of attention to details, but the result is beautiful.

Henna tattoos are generally found at amusement parks or special carnivals and fairs, but many people do it from their own home, so stretch your network of friends and guaranteed you will know of someone who knows someone who knows how to apply Henna. Or during winter pull up your pants and work on your designs or some paper. Henna cones of paste can generally be bought at Indian and Pakistani stores, and they come premade, or you may have to mix it with water.

The paste is made from a Henna leaf which is formed into a powder and sifted through and then mixed with a herb that sparks color and water to combine it and it is put into a cone and then taped.

The henna artists use consistent pressure upon the funnel to get the desired thickness.

So if you are looking for something new to try this Holiday season or if you have an upcoming wedding to go to, why not try Henna out.

Henna designs gallery