Henna Saturday

I have always been fascinated with body art and truth be told I would probably have a tattoo by now if my husband was OK with it.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your viewpoint, he's not so down with the permanent nature of a traditional tattoo.  So I was very excited to hear about the henna event being held today at our local library.

All I really knew about henna was that it was a form of body art traditionally applied to brides in some of the Middle Eastern countries and that the tattoos were not permanent.  I had seen some pictures of henna tattoos online and thought they were beautiful.  The designs range from very simple to extraordinarily ornate, some have a more tribal influence while others are delicate and flowery.

Some of the history of henna I learned today included some of the bridal traditions.  In some countries, where the bride may not have met her future husband until they were taking their vows, the bride was tattooed all over her body, her hands, arms, feet and legs the day before she was wed.  And, somewhere in the tattoo the husbands initials were hidden.  The initials would have to be located by the new husband before the union could be consumated.  Can you imagine how intimately he would have to examine her?  Now that would make for some nervous brides!


Here in the United States henna is generally just a way to decorate the body with art without it being permanent and has been popularized primarily by Hollywood. 


I was a little bit nervous going to this event all by myself, I generally like to drag a friend along when doing something new.  But even so, I am glad that I went today.  I have become acquainted with one of the girls that works at the front desk of the library but never managed to get past the "What book should I read next" conversation.  It was fun to learn that she was a henna artist, where she was from, and what brought her to this small town we live in.  And, it was amazing to watch the application of the henna, the artistic talent is amazing.  I also enjoyed learning a little bit more about the history of this ancient form of body art.  Not to mention I think it is beautiful.

All of these pictures were taking during the application.  After an hour or so the paste dries and starts to flake off.  At that time you scrape the dried paste off (the glitter comes off then too).  What is left behind is a orangish looking stain.  Over the next 2 days the henna dye will oxidize and darken to a brownish color and the tattoo will last for 1-3 weeks depending on how much its washed or scrubbed.  I can't wait to see it in a few days once it darkens.  I will take a picture of it on Monday and post it so you can see what it looks like once its oxidized.