What is Mehndi?

Mehndi is the art of painting the body in ornate designs with henna.

Associated with transformation and transcendence, it is a beautiful and mysterious art form 

that has been used for centuries to heal, to adorn and to bless.

A paste is made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant mixed with other natural ingredients, 

such as eucalyptus oil, lemon juice, and black tea.

The paste is applied to the skin, and when removed several hours later, it leaves beautiful markings that last from 1 to 3 weeks.

The longevity of a mehndi design depends on many factors.

Keep in mind that each persons skin takes differently to henna, as does the area of the body you choose to adorn.

Before applying the paste, the skin must be free and clear of all other oils and dirt.

Once The Paste Is On The Skin The Real Work Begins!

To Get The Best Results From Your Henna Experience

YOU MUST TAKE CARE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

The paste must be allowed to dry completely (20-30 min).

The longer the dried paste remains on the skin the longer the design will last, recommended time 4-6 hours.

Remove the paste with a layer of oil, or scratch off with fingers,

DO NOT TAKE IT OFF WITH WATER! 

Avoid water contact for the first 24 hrs after the paste is removed, as the color is still developing at this time.

When the paste is first removed it will appear orange, it takes 24-48 hrs for the color to finish darkening to a deep brown.

Preserve and Protect your Design by Applying a Layer of 'Mehndi Maintenance Oil' to your Design Frequently,

Especially BEFORE and AFTER Water Contact.

10 Things You Didn't Know About Mehndi

10 Things You Didn't Know About Mehndi

Henna (mehndi) is beautiful. The deep red colors on a bride's hands is elegant and mysterious.
But do you know the history of mehndi and why we use mehndi? 

1. First used in Egypt more than 5000 years ago. Pharoahs who passed away were painted with henna in order to live a great afterlife and be easily identified.
2. Arrived in India in the 12th century AD during the Mughul period.
3. The Yemenite and North African Jewish communities also put on mehndi for weddings.
4. Today, henna is popular amongst the Sephardi and Ashkenazi brides.
5. Muslim styled henna is typical of floral patterns and negative spaces. Objects like the peacock, raja/rani are not permitted as it personifies God.
6. Hindu styled henna is typical of intricate patterns, geometric shapes, and the use of peacocks, mangos, parrots, ranis, Ganesha, and name writing.
7. Henna is an important aspect of warding off the evil eye in Islamic and Jewish traditions. The more henna and intricate the patters on a bride's hands and feet, the harder it is for the evil eye to find its way to a bride's forehead.
8. Moroccan women celebrating Id al-Adha wear henna to celebrate springtime and the sacrifice of an animal.
9. When henna was first used, Egyptian men and women would dip their fingers into henna in order to have red tipped fingers. It was considered inappropriate to leave the house without henna'ed hands.
10. Rural North African people still use henna twigs as toothpicks to keep their gums and teeth healthy.

A Step By Step Tutorial On Mehndi (Henna) Designing For Beginners

How to Apply Henna Mehndi Designs: Step by Step Tutorial

Henna (mehndi) is basically an herbal dye that is powdered and when applied on skin gives cooling effect. Simple mehendi designs are worn by women and young girls during auspicious festivals and occasions such as Diwali, Karva Chauth, and so on in the Northern states of India. And, those who love elaborate ones, generally prefer wearing these for family weddings or as a bridal mehendi for themselves.

What used to seem as a very difficult task, to make the mehndi paste, fill a cone and then apply, has become much easy and simple with the ready-made mehndi cones available in the market these days. Now women enjoy applying mehndi on their own hands and others for either festivals, get-together or just has become a part of their hobby.

For those who have always wanted to learn this how to apply mehndi step by step, we have some good news for you. After reading this article on how to apply mehndi designs for beginners, you will look for an empty hand to try and practice this mehndi design.



How to Start?

Always begin with small designs. Simple mehndi designs such as making leaves, veils, flowers need to be practiced and mastered before going into the elaborate and beautiful mehndi designs including peacocks, dulha dulhan,..., and so on.

In this post on how to apply henna designs step by step, we will cover the easy yet impressive henna design tutorial. Go through the tutorial and get some cues to unleash your creativity.

To learn the step by step mehndi designs, you need:

1. Henna mehendi cone
2. A printed copy of Henna design
3. A clear plastic sheet
4. Tissue paper
5. Glitter cone (optional)
6. A4 sheet or plain piece of paper
7. Pencil

Beginners should first go through the simple basic shapes that are used in the simple henna designs by following step by step mehendi designs tutorial, like we have just suggested. Once they are aware of these basic patterns, they can make use of them in intricate bridal mehndi designs and for other functions as well.

Whether it’s a simple curved branch with leaves, bud designs or the gota patterns, you should remember these easy designs. While it takes time to obtain a fair hand in intricate designs, you can always start with the simple henna or mehndi patterns and with practice later on you can go for intricate Arabic henna designs.

In order to start with any kind of mehndi design, you have to learn the art of drawing leaves and vines. The below collage of patterns can give you some basic ideas to learn from.

How to draw peacock design using mehndi

How to draw peacock design using mehndi

After you have practiced the leaf and vine designs, now you should start working on the peacock design, which is essential in the art of henna. Follow this peacock henna step by step tutorial to learn how to do henna.

Peacocks are one of the most beautiful henna designs which add elegance and charm to the body art. Go through these image tutorials to easily learn how to draw the outlines and also the elaborate patterns within.

With basic henna designs mentioned earlier in the post, you can fill in the body of the peacock. However, always make sure to carefully draw peacock’s eye and beak to create natural effect. For fingers, you can either go for checkered designs, floral patterns or simple vines. You can make bigger or smaller peacock designs with mehndi. Fill it up according to your wish. You can make small flowers or add checks to fill the peacock.

How to apply henna design – step by step tutorial

Some tips to follow:

In order to check if your skin is allergic to your skin, you can apply a small amount on your hand before starting with the step by step henna design
If you’ve done waxing on your hands, then wait for a day or two before applying henna. As pores are opened and the chemicals present in henna might enter through open pores
The color of the henna is different on palm and on skin. While it is darkest on palm, it appears to be lighter on hands. It only get darker after one or two days.

Here are some more images of simple henna designs. Use the above mentioned techniques on step by step henna application, and keep practising different shapes and sizes of motifs that you love.

Hope this post on how to apply henna mehndi designs step by step tutorial helps you in becoming a pro!