What Is "Henna" ? |
Henna is a bush (lawsonia inermis) that when ground into a very fine powder and made into a paste, stains your skin leaving a temporary tattoo. Henna used in this artistic form is called mehndi (in India), though most people still refer to the art of mehndi as simply "Henna". Henna is also used to color the hair, but this article is about henna as a skin stain, not henna as hair color.
Henna was originally used as a way to cool the body in the desert. People would cover the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet with henna and found that as long as there was a stain, their body temperature stayed lower. This practiced migrated from covering the entire palms and soles to one large dot in the center and, eventually, to artistic designs. A natural henna tattoo will start out orange, just after paste removal. The tattoo will continue to cure over the following day or two darkening to a brownish or reddish hue. You can expect good color 5-10 days and the stain will be completely gone in 1-3 weeks depending on a number of factors. |
How it is used today ? |
The art of applying henna to the hands and feet is known as Mehndi, and is traditionally used for celebrations and rites of passage. Every culture and region of the world uses henna tattoos in its own unique way. For Hindu weddings, henna is painted on the bride to symbolize joy, beauty, spiritual awakening and offering, while Moroccans often paint doors with henna to bring prosperity and chase away evil. Depending on where you get henna tattoos, they will look different. Indian tattoos feature fine lines and floral patterns, while Arabic henna designs tend to be larger in scale and African henna patterns are more bold and geometric.
|
Health And Safety |
Natural, unadulterated henna is extremely safe, and has been used as a natural form of body art for thousands of years. Henna is the dried, powdered leaf of the henna plant. It's mixed with a liquid, sugar and essential oils to get the proper consistency for body art.
It is extremely rare for someone to have an adverse reaction to henna. Some people may be allergic to those other ingredients used in making the paste, usually the essential oils. You should always ask the artist about the ingredients in their paste. Those with the rare disorder G6PD deficiency (or are allergic to aspirin or fava beans) should not get henna, nor should children under age 6 because they may have undiagnosed G6PD deficiency. |
Health Benefits
|
Henna is beneficial -- how?
Henna has been called "healing" for a variety of reasons. Often, chemotherapy patients have described their experiences as "healing", "empowering", and "warm". Henna also has a cooling effect on the skin. Some people have found it to be an effective relief from Hand Foot Syndrome (HFS/PPE), which is a painful side effect of many drugs including capecitabine, sorafinib and regorafenib. Read more about using henna for HFS relief in this journal article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24021017 |
Henna Glossary of Common Terms
- Henna
- Mehndi
- Black Henna
- PPD (para-Phenylenediamine)
- Henna Oil