henna paste

has anyone ever used it? if you dont know what it is, its a goo that when left on your skin it dyes it for up to 3 months. well i have made a lil wrist to finger design and my arm hurts!!! i cant bend my wrist until its dry! haha. well yea, so if you have used it wanna say what you designed? i will maybe put up a pic tomorow of what i did. oh and i put a lil cross by my thumb

I've only used henna in my hair, I've seen some cool henna tattoos though.

ooo what does it do in your hair?

It's works like a super deep conditioner.

It will also give a reddish hue if your hair is light colored, or reddish highlights if your hair is dark.

My wife has a henna tattoo, much better and SAFER than a real one.

I've made Indian/Arabian style tattoos with it, the first one was made for me by a Somalian girl when I was in high school, picked up my technique from her. I've also dyed my hair red with henna("hue" is an understatement). Haven't done it in a few years now. It's differend kind of henna you use in your hair though, and it's pretty permanent in hair, so don't do it if you aren't sure you want to be a red head.

EU is planning on bannig the stuff/decided not to ban it after all, I'm not absolutely sure. That's because animal testing showed some carsinogenic tendencies. I think that's ridiculous, the test was made by feeding some poor rats piles of henna. I'm not planning on having any for dinner, and I also wonder, what would have happened to the lab rats if the scientists had fed them say, L'Oreal hair dye instead? I suppose they wouldn't have lived long enough to get cancer, but I don't see anyone banning these kind of dye. Hooray for multinational business power!

I only ever got a red hue, of course, I'm a redhead to begin with.
My blonde ex-roomate used henna, her results were strawberry blonde.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I only ever got a red hue, of course, I'm a redhead to begin with.
My blonde ex-roomate used henna, her results were strawberry blonde.

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Unlike "normal" hair dye, you must leave henna on for 3-4 hours to get a deep colour. Of course individual hair type is a big factor too.

Mendhi/henna does not have to be specific for hair or skin! It just depends on the amount of coffee/tea you mix into it to make the paste!

Anyway, I use it a lot, for Indian feet and hand designs - i'll see if I can find any pictures! Although, sadly I haven't had much time to do any lately! *sigh*

Megan, I'd love to see yours though!

Originally Posted by Sar

Mendhi/henna does not have to be specific for hair or skin! It just depends on the amount of coffee/tea you mix into it to make the paste!

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Natural powder is OK for everything of course, ready bought tattoo paste isn't hair dye was my point. I've heard you can control the colour like you wrote, by mixing ie coffee or red wine in the paste, never tried it myself.

Originally Posted by Ryn

Natural powder is OK for everything of course, ready bought tattoo paste isn't hair dye was my point.

I've heard you can control the colour like you wrote, by mixing ie coffee or red wine in the paste, never tried it myself.

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Ah, I was thinking you were speaking about the green mendhi powder! The powdered paste works really well! I add a mixture of both coffee and tea and the colour certainly intensifies!

I have only used a tube of ready made paste once and I found it horribly difficult to control - and the tube split in my hands! Plus, I wasn't happy with the final colour!

I'm Arabic and I lived in the Gulf, its a cultural thing there, so I've had it done quite a few times since I was a child. My mother uses it in her hair instead of dye and it looks amazing. Her hair is black with a reddish tinge in the sun. Unfortunatly I've become allergic to henna as an adult so I can't use it anymore!

Hi everybody - I have been interested in henna tattoos...where does one get the stuff to do it? I have not really looked, as I have no idea where to begin the search.

Ah, I am so un-exotic that henna confuses me! Yay midwesterners!
Beth

Originally Posted by blueberrybeth

Hi everybody - I have been interested in henna tattoos...where does one get the stuff to do it? I have not really looked, as I have no idea where to begin the search.

Ah, I am so un-exotic that henna confuses me! Yay midwesterners!
Beth

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Beth, take a look here!

You might be better off with a ready made paste in a tube (despite the fact that I mentioned how much I struggled with it! ) But if you use the powder, you have to get the right consistency of the paste and make your own piping bag etc - there's a lot of preparation!

Hey am from India, and henna/mendi is really popular here. During marriages the Bride's hands and legs and arms are embellished with henna designs. By putting it in hair, the colour turns into flaming orange. The muslim men folk over here even dye their beards with henna!!

I myself have never tried any of this though, as i hate its smell, many are even addicted to henna smell and snuff it, but i cant tolerate it. It stinks. And the mehndi designs on the skin lasts for maybe a month along with the smell....cant take it. Anyway, applying it yourself with a cone is not exactly a good idea if you dont have any experience, it will be a waste, ask some proffesional to do it for you or learn the technique....

I'd almost forgotten about the smell!

I've had butterflies, hearts, stars and designs I've come up with myself...I love it. I get one every year when we go to the Renaissance festival. With henna, you can mess up and not be devestated, but if you mess up a real tattoo....yowzers! I love my real art too

the premade stuff (its what i have) can be found at Hot topic if you have one around you. at least thats where i found mine.

They use mendhi in Turkey as well, though, as I got my mam's colouring, and stubs of fingers, I don't look nearly as elegant with it on as most middle-easterners do. I don't mind the smell, it's a bit of camphor, and the designs are beautiful.. typically rumi style work. I've actually got plans on a gift for myself when i've lost the weight to get a rumi design on my inside wrist, but that's a year away at least!