Last night, I was lucky enough to have mehndi (henna) put on my hand by Arveen, a friend of my roommate's. Arveen has been drawing and practicing mehndi for over ten years and is she gifted!! In talking with her, I discovered she typically has no set design. Instead, she free-hands and makes it up as she goes. Here's the final result:
One has to be very patient to have mehndi (mine took around 90 minutes), keep one's hand warm so the dye darkens, and keep the hand as dry as possible to make it last. The henna paste is applied using what looks like a mini piping cone for frosting a cake. After 15-20 minutes the paste dries and begins to crack/peel off. Keeping the hand warm at this point is very important because it helps to create a darker, more intense color. The dried paste is rubbed off and an oil (coconut in my case) is rubbed vigorously on to the hand to increase circulation and consequently make the mehndi darker.
In terms of weddings, brides and grooms get mehndi before the ceremony. My roommate Kundan told me that the darker a woman's mendhi is, the more her husband will love her.
Pretty cool, huh?
One has to be very patient to have mehndi (mine took around 90 minutes), keep one's hand warm so the dye darkens, and keep the hand as dry as possible to make it last. The henna paste is applied using what looks like a mini piping cone for frosting a cake. After 15-20 minutes the paste dries and begins to crack/peel off. Keeping the hand warm at this point is very important because it helps to create a darker, more intense color. The dried paste is rubbed off and an oil (coconut in my case) is rubbed vigorously on to the hand to increase circulation and consequently make the mehndi darker.
In terms of weddings, brides and grooms get mehndi before the ceremony. My roommate Kundan told me that the darker a woman's mendhi is, the more her husband will love her.
Pretty cool, huh?
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