What is Henna 

Botany 

The henna is a plant and is botanically known as Lawsonia inermis, a plant indigenous to northern Africa and India. It has since been grown and cultivated in many of the world's continents, Americas, Australia, as well as Africa and Asia. It is used to produce orange, red and brown dyes, which are obtained from ‘hennatonic acid’ present in its crushed leaves. 

How long will Henna last on the skin? 

Depending on the skin colour/type, henna can last up to four or five weeks. The dye in Henna dyes the top later of the skin. The colouring gradually fades with time and exfoliation of the skin. Certain parts of the body take longer to exfoliate such as the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet and the colour will therefore last longer.  

Is it painful?

Henna is a painless and natural alternative to tattooing sometimes referred to as Henna tattoo. Henna is a natural herb when combined with water, and applied on to skin will leave a rich orangey/brown stain (Example below). Unlike tattooing henna does not puncture or pierce the skin. In fact it is completely natural, it is simply absorbed by the skin.

Warning...

The Natural Henna imparts a colour as shown though shades may be lighter or darker depending on the individual. Colours such as Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, Green often passed off as coloured Henna usually contain Dyes that may cause allergic reactions. At K's Creations, we use 100% Herbal Products with no artificial colours or Dyes.

After you have applied the lemon juice to your mehndi design, what next? 

The purpose is not only to keep the design from getting marred, but also to keep the heat in on your design.  Heat is important for getting a good stain  on the skin, so whatever method you choose, just remember to try to keep the area that has the paste on, as warm as you can.

After 4-5 hours you can take the paste off, although it is recommended that you keep the paste on for as long as you can, overnight is easiest to do. When the paste is removed you will have an orange-brown stain on your skin.

Once you have removed the paste, DO NOT wash the area with soap and water.  It is best for the longevity of the mehndi to avoid water contact for at least 12 hours.  Which is sometimes unavoidable, but it is something to keep in mind when having mehndi done.  After 48 hours your design will peak to it's darkest, and then over the next few weeks it will gradually lighten. 10 minutes before removing the mehndi apply edible oil, the oil softens the mehndi and makes it easy to remove the mehndi. Remove the mehndi with blunt side of the knife. Remove excess oil with tissue. Do no wash your hands for 8 hours after removing the mehndi. The right colour comes after 8 hours. To get darker colour, don't wash the area for 18 hours to 24 hours. Chlorine water and salt water is bad for mehndi colour, so avoid washing the hands with that. Mehndi stays on the hands for 15 days or more (lesser for young children) and with  proper care can last up to 3-4 weeks. It fades away gradually with time. Mehndi cannot be removed the mehndi immediately, it takes time to fade out. One can bleach the area to fade it out faster

Remember...The henna paste stains about 1/3 to 1/2 of the upper layers of your skin.  As your skin regenerates the dead cells slough off, when this happens your mehndi design will keep lightening until it is gone.