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Your Appointment

Before your appointment:

  1. Make sure your skin is clean and exfoliated. You shouldn’t wash it for about twelve hours.
  2. Browse online or take a look at my gallery to find ideas of designs you like. I can incorporate different elements from each that you find appealing into a custom design.

During your appointment:

  1. I will mix the henna twenty-four hours in advance. The lemon juice needs to break down the henna particles to release the dying elements. If you don’t wait long enough or wait too long you will not get a good stain.
  2. I will sketch out the general idea for your design to make sure everything is even and symmetrical.
  3. Then I will apply the henna. It is in the form of a paste so it will be raised on the skin.
  4. Let the henna dry completely, but not so much as it begins to crack.
  5. “Fix” the henna by putting a lemon sugar solution. The henna needs to be moist and tacky on the skin to continue staining. Also, it helps keep it from flaking off.
  6. Leave the paste on the skin for at least two hours, if not six. The longer you leave it on, the darker your stain will be.

It takes approximately twenty-four to forty-eight hours to achieve a dark stain. Your design will be a lighter orange at first, then darken into a reddish brown. The deepness of the stain is relative to where the stain is applied. The darkest areas are the palms and bottoms of the feet. If properly taken care of mehndi can last three or four weeks.

How to take care of your henna:

  1. Don’t wash your design for at least twelve hours.
  2. To remove the paste, pick it off or allow it to flake naturally.
  3. Avoid strong and antibacterial soap and gels.
  4. Avoid swimming or taking long baths.
  5. Keep the area moisturized.
  6. Don’t rub the area hard. Henna permanently stains the top layer of skin, but fades as your body naturally exfoliates itself. Reducing abrasive factors lengthens the life of a stain.

These factors influence the stain:

  1. Where the design is (in reference to the thickness of stratum corneum which is made of keratin and stains most easily)
  2. Body temperature and skin quality
  3. How often you wash your hands
  4. The soap you use
  5. Ingredients in the henna (some essential oils, called terpenes, can be added to the paste to increase the quality of the stain, but also make it deteriorate faster)