Henna Designs for Nails and Hands
The ancient art of decorating the hands, fingers, forearms, feet and toes
with a non-permanent dye is known as Mehndi. The mehndi dye is
made from the leaves of the henna plant. Mehndi is a traditional form of body
art for both men and women in certain Arab countries such as Morocco, and in
Asian countries like India and Pakistan. In these countries it is normally
worn for special occasions, particularly weddings.
Mehndi henna body art is great fun to wear but very complicated to apply in
the traditional way using freehand painting. For this reason, in the west it
is regularly applied using self-adhesive stencils. Here is a simple procedure
to follow to achieve some stunning effects:
1. Having found the stencils you want to use, secure them into position by
pressing firmly. They are normally self-adhesive and should stick well.
2. In a glass or glazed bowl (it't important that it's made from non-porous
material), mix together a thick paste of henna powder, about one teaspoon of
coffee granules and water. This will appear green in color, but when finished
will leave a delicate brown tint.
3. Spread the paste thickly over the stencil, concentrating on the exposed
cut-away areas.
4. Leave the paste to dry for as long as possible, ideally overnight. The
longer you can leave the henna paste to dry, the more intense will be the resultant
stain.
5. When the mehndi henna paste is fully dry, you can peel away the stencil,
very carefully, to reveal the beautiful, delicate lace pattern beneath.
6. Rince away any remaining paste not part of the pattern and pat your hands
gently with a towel to dry them.
The henna color will begin to fade within two days. It then changes to a lighter
color in six to seven days. In general, mehndi will stay on the body for about
two to three weeks in total, varying with the body heat of each individual.
When applied to the nails, mehndi can last even longer.