hennablog

Darcy of the Henna Lounge hosted a wonderful weekend of henna, Indian food, craftmaking and crude jokes!

See more photos here and here.

Posted by Elaine at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After several months hiatus from the internet, I'm back with the news that I've moved home from San Francisco to Reno! The main Web site is also up with basic pricing info, contact info, etc.

Here's a bit of what I've been doing lately, with promises of more to come!

Posted by Elaine at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer festivals and some leaky glitter poofers have reintroduced me to the joy of sparkles!

I like having glitter poofers for festivals because it breaks up the monotony of eight hours of squirting green goop on people. It gives me a reason not to hate my less favorite festival designs (because who can dislike glitter?). I think it also adds value to designs, which is integral for those tiny kanji or horoscope signs people want that barely meet the minimum design dollar amount.

This particular design is from Darcy's Indo-Arabian e-book. The glitter was kind of a mistake -- I meant to sprinkle a little bit on, but I hadn't used the blue glitter poofer from Amerikan Body Art yet, so I didn't know that the particular bottle was "looser" than the other bottles of glitter I ordered. After dumping a large amount at the tip of the design, I figured, why the heck not completely glitterize it?? It certainly goes well with jeans!

Posted by Elaine at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm experimenting with different henna recipes to get a consistently good consistency for doing designs -- not so dry that it immediately cracks, not so sugary that the design flattens out and bleeds like a bad batch of cookies, not so thin that it just dribbles down the skin.

Last night I mixed the following recipe:

• 5 teaspoons powder (scooped and leveled off with a knife)
• 5 teaspoons chai tea, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon essential oils (mostly terping oils, but with some fragrant oils too)
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

I tried it out immediately after mixing, straining, and coning it and was able to do a beautifully delicate design:

Unfortunately it won't stain because the henna didn't have time to set, thus there was little to no dye release. :) I coned it and left it out overnight, and popped it into the refrigerator this morning before work. I'll test the staining power of it tonight sometime.

For a sealant, I nuked a bit of lemon juice, sugar, and honey in the microwave, stirred it up, and dabbed it on with a paper towel. That stuff did NOT want to come off in the morning! Nor did any of it flake off in the tissue I wrapped it in.

After I get this straight, I'm going to experiment with using molasses instead of honey, making my henna vegan.

Also, I found out that these oversize holographic origami papers from Japantown make awesome cones:

In other news, be on the lookout in the next couple weeks for the launch of my new henna site, HandfulofHenna.com! My ultimate goal is to integrate this blog and gallery into the new site using Moveable Type, adding sections for articles, recipes, designs, and booking information should you need a Bay Area henna artist. ;) I promise to dedicate an entire section to henna hair care with photos and summaries of the experiments I blogged here in the past year or so.

Thanks, and happy hennaing!

Posted by Elaine at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A lot of interesting things have been going on in my blogging absence! Here's an attempt to keep you guys up to speed.

The UK-based henna artist Cat Hinton, who has a background in biology, is running a series of henna experiments that challenge the Western notion that lemon is the ideal liquid for henna mixes. She hypothesizes that lemon juice inhibits enzymes from breaking down plant cell walls. The dye in henna, lawsone, is in a plant cell wall. So, lemon juice might actually inhibit staining, rather than make it darker and better. Her experiments deal with lemon juice vs. papaya and pineapple juice, two fruits that have an abundance of enzymes. The nitty-gritty comes to this: Henna Tribe artists are discovering that mixes with plain water stain way better than lemon mixes.

For those of you who find tap water less than romantic, try substituting plain water for your favorite tea. You may need to add more sugar to your mix, because lemon juice has a certain amount of fructose that makes a lemon mix need less sugar for the right consistency than a water mix -- around a tablespoon or two per 100 grams of henna, as estimated by Henna Lounge artist Darcy Vasudev. And don't forget your terps!

In the world of henna for hair, results are similar. I've pared down my henna for hair recipe to henna mixed with hot chamomile tea. (You can also use hot liquid in your mehndi mixes if you want to use them sooner rather than later.) I also learned that there's no need to shampoo it out. Henna is a natural cleanser and conditioner for hair. Drawing a bath and soaking it out is a wonderfully relaxing experience, and leaves your hair clean and silky-soft. (You may have to scrub your tub with some baking soda to get any residual henna stains out, but don't worry -- it won't permanently stain your tub.) No conditioner is needed, either.

However, if you do want to condition your hair, a few drops of oil (olive, coconut, or a hair oil like Weleda's rosemary hair oil), you just need a drop or two combed through your wet hair. For a deep conditioning treatment, saturate your hair with oil, wrap with a scarf, leave on overnight, and wash out in the morning. (Beware that coconut oil starts to smell sour after 5-10 minutes; if it bothers you, you might want to use a different oil.)

I should be doing more henna as spring and summer come into full-force, so look for more updates soon. Until then, happy hennaing!

Posted by Elaine at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Things have been quiet lately here -- I haven't done much henna since Thanksgiving. :(

Today things were extremely slow at work because all of our clients skipped out early for the three-day weekend, so we had nothing to do. I had a couple old cones and lemons in the fridge there, and some design ebooks on my flash drive, so I sat down and started doing henna on whoever wanted some.

I started with the boys, ironically. My good friend told me just to doodle (and requested Spiderman's face after I outlined the Moroccan frame -- so I gave him a spider in a spider web). I unfortunately didn't get pictures of the two scorpions I did. They turned out rather well.

Then I did the ladies. We had a heart with my coworker's son's initials in it, and a racy little flower just below my other coworker's collarbone. I also did some designs from Amira's books on myself, one of my other good friends, and a coworker's girlfriend.

Unfortunately, I don't think anybody's stains are going to be that great. Those cones had been sitting in the fridge at work for over a week, and prior to that they went to St. Maarten and back without ice packs. I know it's not totally dead though, so hopefully with good aftercare, everybody will enjoy their henna!

Posted by Elaine at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Wow, have I been busy lately! However, on Thanksgiving I made it a point to meet up with a good friend and henna the hell out of her. :) Thank you Rebecca for being such a willing canvas, and for sending me your after-pics:

She reports that the stain got even darker the next day. It's all about the aftercare -- congratulations on taking good care of your henna!

She chose the designs from some of Amira's books that I brought along. I also recently bought Lezard's first (and much-acclaimed) book, which is amazing -- it has a lot of Asian elements that I've been wanting to eventually integrate into henna designs.

I did a festive little flower design from Lezard's book for myself for Thanksgiving:

And Darcy was sweet enough to invite me to a Henna Happy Hour at her place the Friday before Thanksgiving, where she created this beautiful & fabulous design on my right hand for me (I love you, Darcy!):

So that pretty much sums up the last half of my November. I'm hoping to do some more henna before my upcoming trip to St. Maarten to visit my brother (I can't pass up the chance to show off some henna'd skin in a climate warm enough to show skin!), and then perhaps more for Christmas, despite my relatives' misgivings. My grandma actually thought my Thanksgiving henna was a permanent tattoo. O_o; And no telling what was going through everybody else's heads... they all just pretended it wasn't there.

In any case, Happy Holidays everybody! I hope to share more with you soon!

Posted by Elaine at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check it out!! I can henna ambidexterously! I can also take photos without using my hands. Freaky, huh?

I also think it's freaky how weird and elephant-wrinkly my hands look at that angle.

Design from Amira's Indo-Arabic Bridal book (which is quite nearly brand-new).

Posted by Elaine at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Note: Comments on this entry have been disabled due to spam posts.

Thanks to Khadija for clarifying some misunderstandings I had about Eid Al Fitr! The post has since been fixed. And she also told me about another big holiday coming up around December 31st (depending on the phase of the moon, as the Islamic calendar is lunar, not solar as is the western calendar): Eid Al Adha. So mark your calendars! If you didn't have a good reason to gussy up and do some henna before, then that would be the perfect time to! About.com has some decent articles on Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha if you'd like to learn more.

Posted by Elaine at 06:34 PM | Permalink

Here's one of three designs my arms are currently covered with, inspired by some ebooks I got from Amira over at Henna Spirit. This one is actually two I took out of her African designs book and adapted for my hand (one was originally for a foot). I'll have photos of the other two tomorrow, hopefully -- I have paste-on photos, but I want final-stain photos to show you (though my stain wasn't too great this time around). I even did one left-handed, and it turned out really well. As Darcy says, being able to do henna ambidexterously doubles your canvas space!

This week was a pretty busy henna week around the world. Diwali and Eid al Fitr were this week -- both are pretty big festivals where henna is much sought-after. If I'm not mistaken, Diwali brings in the new year, characterized by everybody lighting tons of little lamps, wearing new clothes, and getting each other gifts, especially silver. Eid al Fitr is a feast celebrating the end of Ramadan. (Many thanks to Khadija for clarifying that for me!)

This week was also Day of the Dead and Halloween. So, happy multiple multicultural holidays, everybody!

Posted by Elaine at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the best henna I've done to date!

The design is from Darcy's book. The paste is the one I made the other night. The sealer was Maxx's fabulous half-glue, half-lemon juice mix with some glitter thrown in, generously dabbed on with two Q-tips. I blowdried it, and it was so well-protected and flexible that I didn't even cover it when I went to bed. Peeled it off in the morning after 8 hours, covered my hand with a plastic glove while I showered and got ready, and went to work.

Now, 20 hours after application, and 12 hours after paste removal, I have a gorgeous, deeper-than-redweld-colored stain! And such crisp lines as I have never seen myself do.

w00t -> me :)

Oh, and the reason for the orchid is twofold. First of all, I just bloomed on Sunday! Isn't it pretty? Secondly, it seems that there is a rule somewhere about obligatory henna-and-a-pretty-flower photos. So this is my contribution. Ideally, I want to get some black drapery so I can have henna photos on a black background with minimal Photoshopping.

Posted by Elaine at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After working with Darcy's great mix all weekend, I finally had a pretty decent idea of what a good paste consistency is. I mixed some up last night, adding more and more and more lemon juice (but only a small bit of sugar and honey, and not too many essential oils), stirring the hell out of it with a spoon. I let it sit on top of the fridge loosely covered with saran wrap all of last night and until I got home from work today. I think it thickened up a little as it sat out, so I mixed in another generous splash of lemon juice before loading my cones.

I also had a better idea of what kinds of cones I like after working with Darcy. First of all, I'd been folding the tops over and taping them down, which works horribly. Darcy twists the tops and secures them with little rubber bands.

Funny story -- I'd been saving like five little baggies of those tiny, multicolored orthodontic rubber bands since I was an awkward teen with braces, with the idea that someday they would be useful. This summer, I finally tossed them out, thinking that if I hadn't used them yet, I never would. Stupid me! I totally could have used them to secure the tops of my cones! Oh well -- I made do with a spool of hemp I have on hand for macrame.

Even though the Walgreens near work didn't have mylar gift wrap (like Darcy's usually does -- lucky her :P), I still had some cello I bought from Mehandi.com. So this is what I ended up with:

I have three more in the freezer, after seeing how quick the things thawed out at the school fair on Sunday.

Anyway, I clipped a cone for a very, very fine line and went at it. Get this -- no clogs, and perfect control! I think the key to nice, smooth lines is being able to drape lines of henna across the skin. This seems to work more or less with any design, from straight lines to circles, as long as you sling it right.

The worst problem I had when I was doing a few of Darcy's designs on my feet was the fact that I'm not quite flexible enough to get my foot right in front of my nose, where I can see everything well enough to henna accurately. The lighting in my apartment sucks, too, making it even harder. But, I managed to bust out some of the finest designs I've done yet! They're not perfect, obviously, but I'm totally pleased with the paste. Tomorrow I'm going to work on my technique on my hand, which should be easier to reach and see.

I also finally got the right stuff for Maxx's sealant that I've been dying to get straight. Plain old Elmer's school glue (not the gel glue), mixed equal parts with lemon juice. I added some fine glitter I had lying around, but I don't think I dumped enough in for it to show. It was thin enough to dab on, getting it nice and covered and moist, but not running -- a huge problem I was having with my sealers before. (Another thing I learned from Darcy this weekend: When you seal something with lemon sugar, you don't glob the stuff on! You gently dab it just enough to moisten the design. You shouldn't even be able to see wetness on the skin, really.)

I'm going to seal each design at least three times so it's well protected while I sleep tonight. I want good stains to show off my hard weekend of learning. :)

I hope this mix does stain well. I also need to figure out an easier way to load my cones. It was really annoying, even though I was trying to do it the "easy" way by loading a ziploc baggie with the henna, clipping the corner off of it, and squirting it in the cones, which I placed in a mug to keep them upright for me. I should find one of those plastic syringes they use for giving medicine to dogs and cats and babies. That would probably work a lot better.

Posted by Elaine at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First of all, I'd like to share a design I did last week (sorry for the delay). It's my first palm design! And whoa, do palms give crazy beautiful color or what?

The design is from Darcy's book that I've been talking about so much lately.

Which conveniently leads me to my next announcement... I'm going pro! Well, sort of. Darcy was kind enough to invite me along as an assistant at two events this weekend.

I have no words for how friggin' stoked I am. I'm so stoked that listening to a French rock ballad called "Hey Dude" isn't even fazing me. Hell, yeah! I had already decided that I really wanted to move on to being an assistant or "booth babe" to learn more about the henna biz, but little did I know that I'd end up with such an awesome, talented, and totally nice pro. It's nice to know that I'll be in good hands!

Posted by Elaine at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First of all, I realized I had the traditional sealant wrong in my Basic Mehndi Mix post, so I changed it. You dissolve 2 or more parts sugar to 1 part lemon so it's nice and pasty. I just mixed up a jar myself... and then adulterated it with some unnecessary essential oils and ground clove. I don't know why. I was bored! I also nuked it a couple times (5 seconds each) to encourage the sugar to dissolve properly. Don't know if that helps or not, though.

I've uploaded some stuff I've been working on this weekend into my Henna Gallery. Most of it was me playing with designs from Darcy's recent ebook.

The paste I made this week was a little bit too pasty. It was thick enough that squeezing it out of the cone hurt my hand -- a complaint usually reserved for jaq bottles! It also dried up and cracked fairly quickly, and it didn't stick to the skin unless I took care to moosh it on real good. (You should be able to drape it over the skin, and it'll fall onto the skin and stick. Not this batch.) However, the lines sure were crisp! And since I used less EOs in this batch, the design I did on my palm turned a pretty red color, not the nutty brown of my last mix. Both colors are good, but I really like the red.

I discovered that the easiest way to seal this batch, since the henna wasn't sticking to my skin very well, was to unroll a cotton ball, reroll it around the tip of a pencil, dip that in the lemon-sugar mix, and gently roll it across the design a couple times. Dabbing it with a cotton ball or two Q-tips made the mix stick to the henna, which wasn't stuck to the skin, which lifted the henna right off. By rolling, it helped seal the henna to the skin, even if it wasn't too well placed. Although it helped, when the henna was partially dry, to pat it with a finger to make sure the moist underlayer did have contact with the skin.

Also, dabbing usually made me coat it too thickly, which resulted in gooey drips of lemon-sugar getting all over the carpet. We're hoping my ever-so-patient partner doesn't notice. This weekend he gave me a new henna-inspired nickname, though: Doodlebear. Like, those teddy bears they used to sell, where you can draw all over them, then wash them off and draw all over them again. I'm considering using that as my henna name if I ever do this as a business: Doodlebear Henna. Except that doesn't sound very bridal, now, does it? LOL.

So the first batch I mixed was too runny. This batch was too stiff. Hopefully with my next batch, I'll find a good medium.

And props to Rand for experimenting with part of my slimy batch that I gave him at work on Saturday! You are a brave man, my friend.

Posted by Elaine at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A mixing guide for beginners, by a beginner.

HENNA BREW

Ingredients

• 15 grams (about 2 tablespoons) quality henna (order online from Mehandi.com or Henna Tribe suppliers)
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses
• 2 drops tea tree or cajeput essential oil
• 1 drop of any other essential oil that smells good (I like geranium)
• Lemon juice

Dissolve your sugar into 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add the mix to your henna,  and add more lemon juice until you have a thick paste. Mix well. Let sit for 2  hours in a warm spot. Add essential oils. Mix well. Add more lemon juice if needed  to reach desired consistency (comparable to that of toothpaste). Let sit 4 to 8  hours in a warm spot, or overnight. When you have dye release*, load into one or  more cones (cone materials are cheap -- learn to roll one here or here) or jaquard bottles and apply. Seal your design and refrigerate the leftovers.

*Dye release has occurred when:

• A small dot of henna left on your palm for ten minutes leaves a bright orange  stain on removal
• The top layer of your mixed henna turns a dark brownish green, while the insides  remain bright green
• If you mix your henna in a thin plastic sandwich baggie and set it out on a paper  towel, you will know you have dye release when you lift the baggie and see a  faint orange stain on the paper towel

TRADITIONAL HENNA SEALANT

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6+ tablespoons sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses

Mix well. Apply using cotton balls, Q-tips or a paintbrush.

Method one: Apply over dry design and layer with squares of toilet paper  thoroughly wetted with sealant. Let dry. Wrap with an Ace bandage or old sock  and leave on overnight. Peel off, and gently remove any remaining stickies with  vegetable oil, or water if necessary.

Method two: Once dry, seal entire design. Let sealant dry. Dust with baby powder or talcum. Leave on 6 to 8 hours, or wrap lightly with an  Ace bandage or old sock and leave on overnight. Pick off the henna goobers in  the morning, and remove any remaining bits gently with vegetable oil, or water if  necessary.

MAXX'S WONDER SEALER

• 3 tablespoons Elmer's glue
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Glitter, if desired

Mix well. Apply over dry design using two Q-tips held together, or paint on with a  paintbrush. Don't coat too thickly. Dries clear and hard. Peel off in 6 to 8 hours,  or cover loosely with a sock or Ace bandage and leave on overnight. Peel off in  the morning. Avoid washing -- chlorine makes the design fade faster.

Posted by Elaine at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The design on my wrist and finger are kind of awkward, but I love what I came up with for my fingertips.

Unfortunately, it totally smeared and bled overnight (even though I didn't use saran wrap, and even though I blowdried it before and after sealing it with glue -- the price of an over-sugared mix).

Oh, and I had a fun time with the sealer again. I've been using Elmer's gel glue because it's all I had lying around, and it doesn't mix very well with water. This time, I added a bit of eucalyptis and geranium oil to make it smell pretty, and it changed the texture of the glue somewhat. It mixed right up with a few drops of water to make a thick but spreadable sealer with a more even consistency than the gel glue with water alone. The eo's also made it cloudy for some reason, which was weird. But it worked. Too bad my batch of henna didn't do so well.

Posted by Elaine at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't think I ever posted my ankle experiment. I did my ankle in an easy floral design from my old Earth Henna kit, taking an extra effort to use fine, crisp lines.

To ensure that it dried properly, I utilized my handy-dandy blowdrier. I sealed it with watered-down glue, applied with one of those little Crayola paintbrushes from their standard kids' watercolor sets (I have two, so I had a brush to spare). I then blowdried this, and applied another layer or two of the glue. This seemed to be pretty thoroughly sealed, so I went searching in the sock drawer for something I could claim for overnight henna use. Lo and behold, my boyfriend had some loose, unfortunately-colored socks left over from a horrible job uniform that I could use and ruin with abandon! So I skipped the saran wrap in the hopes of stalling any possible henna bleed and socked myself instead.

This was by far the easiest henna removal yet. All I had to do was scrape at the edges of the glue in the morning, and the entire thing peeled off like a bad price tag, leaving a pretty orange stain behind.

I am so sealing my next design the same way!

In other news, I got my right hand professionally henna'd at the Reno Rib Cookoff by Renu of hennadesigns.com:

That cool neclace I got at the cookoff as well. :)

She was so fast! She applied with a jaq bottle. I was particularly interested in the way she sealed it. Her mix was lemon juice, sugar, and honey, but she applied it with a little dowel wrapped with cotton at one end. The dowel was probably five or six inches long and maybe a quarter-inch or less in diameter. She would just whip it out of the jar of sealer and roll it over the design. It was quick and painless, and I bet it would work with watered-down glue. The lemon-sugar-honey mix sealed it fabulously, but it was hell to get off. I picked at it and picked at it and it just kept sticking. I rubbed at it with vegetable oil and it just kept sticking. So I gave up and washed it off with water. That hasn't seemed to affect the stain too much, though.

It's by far my favorite design that's currently on my skin. The lines are fine, the geometry is gorgeous, and I just love the cuff style! It peeks out from the longish sleeves I like to wear. The color of her henna is nice, too.

I'm trying to scrub off the coverup henna on my left hand. If it goes away any time soon, I might try to emulate my right hand design on my left hand. Those Moroccan designs -- they're just coolio! :)

Posted by Elaine at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So it didn't go perfectly, but it went pretty well, in my opinion.

I didn't get my EOs in the mail, so I added ground cinammon and allspice to the mix so it would smell good. Nice combo! Completely took out the "moldy lemonade stand" motif.

Some things I'm gonig to fix my next time around:

• WAY less sugar. I used equal gram weights of sugar and henna powder... I'm thinking using half or a third as much sugar as henna powder. I don't know how to describe the results. Whenever I wanted a line to end, it wouldn't, because the end would refuse to leave the cone.
• If I add cinnamon and allspice, I need to either get it powdered, cook it into a liquid to add, or strain my paste before using it. I had a slight clogging problem with those added in.
• Gotta remember to wait until it's dry before putting the lemon juice/sugar mix on to set it! I totally smooshed my nice, delicate hand henna with the lemony cotton ball.
• I'm totally using an Elmer's glue mix to set it next time, not the lemon juice/sugar with a coating of New Skin. That stuff totally stinks. I guess, alternately, I could just apply the New Skin outside instead of in the kitchen...
• If I do apply New Skin outside instead of in the kitchen, I need to remember to do it after the lemony sugar skin dries, too. Or else it ends up running, then crystalizing, then being sticky.
• And lastly, maybe I'll make a smaller batch. I ended up with five cones, lol.

Now, onto the photos! I took these before setting the paste. None of these come directly from a pattern book, btw.

My left foot.

My fun hand henna that I squished with my lemony sugar ball after taking this photo.

A design I tried to do on the outside of my left ankle. It looks narsty because, well, it's really, really hard to see the outside of your ankle. Either that or I haven't been doing enough yoga. Anyway, yuck.

So tomorrow I get to scrape the paste off, and it should be a nice dark color by Saturday or Sunday, if I'm lucky, and my tea tree oil did what it's supposed to do!

Now, I'm off to wrap these babies and stick 'em under a heating pad. In true fog city fashion, my apartment is freezing. Not good for henna.

Posted by Elaine at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is my new thing:

(image from the Henna Page)

No, not moldy crack. It's henna! Properly applied, it should look something like this:

(image from the Henna Page)

The first time I did henna on myself, last Christmas, it turned out like this:

The stain was pretty dark, but the lines? Terribly chunky. And I also didn't realize that, should one henna one's fingernails, it doesn't fade. Took six months for my nails to finally grow out, and for me to stop getting horrified looks from people that assumed I'd been horribly burned in a freak accident.

That was using a kit I bought from the Earth Henna Web site. (This Web site is cool because of their photos of naked henna chicks.) Now, armed with information -- and samples! -- from The Henna Page, I'm ready to try again.

The keys, apparently, are Mylar (the stuff shiny baloons are made out of -- as well as oven mits, space suits, and those crinkly emergency blankets) and dextrose. If you roll a Mylar fattie -- er, cone -- and fill it with henna, you can razor off the tip of the cone to make as thick or thin of a line as you need. The dextrose is just corn sugar, a monosaccharide that makes the henna more pliable and easier to apply. Plain old table sugar works too, but "dextrose" sounds way more mad scientist.

I think the first time I saw henna was on my Indian coworker after she came back from visiting her husband and family. She was hands-down one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Even though the henna on her palms had faded to a burnt orange color by the time she returned to work, it was still beautiful!

The second time I saw henna was in Morocco. Morocco, Orlando -- as in, the Epcot Center Morocco, at a little kiosk across from a restaurant that usually had a guy in a Genie costume from Disney's Aladdin hanging around. The henna artist looked terribly bored, probably because she was sick of doing henna "tatoos" of butterflies and flowers on pre-teen girls' midrifts. She did my hand and arm for me, but it didn't turn out too well, because I immediately started picking at it, instead of letting it set for the 4-8 hours it usually needs.

This time around, when I get my new stuff in the mail, I want to do my feet and legs in nifty, yoga-inspired patterns. That way I'll have something to cheer me up when I go back to doing yoga again, and I'm sitting there trying to get my index fingers around my big toes and failing miserably.

Ooh, ooh, I know -- I'll do a Japanese theme, and do "ganbare" on my toes. LOL.

Anyway, if you're a geek like me, you should totally read up on henna at The Henna Page. It talks about the culture and history behind henna over many cultures, India and Africa being two big ones. It talks about the chemistry of henna, and how certain ingredients react with the powder to release its dye. Naturally, it gives you plenty of step-by-step henna how-tos, and lots of patterns you can use. And it even has some of that Myth Busters trial-and-error element, because the author of the page has tested mix after mix of henna ingredients, disproving the effects of some and creating whole new recipes using others.

So, that's my new "thing." I'll let you know how it turns out!

Posted by Elaine at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)