In the Middle East and many other countries, henna is used by women to ornament and beautify themselves for special celebrations. Betrothals, weddings, the eighth month of pregnancy, at birth, 40 days after a woman gives birth , naming ceremonies and circumcisions, are all events celebrated with henna. Eids, and other religious holidays are occasions to be hennaed. There are also some healing ceremonies associated with Zar in North Africa which include the use of henna.

At a Henna party, the bride is tradionally adorned with henna. All the bride's friends and relations join to help her make this transition to womanhood auspious and successful, wishing her many children and happiness.

Freshly made, natural, traditional henna paste is green to dark green, and can sometimes be very, very dark green or brown. It generally smells like fresh spinach or hay, unless fragrant oils have been added. If you put a little traditional henna paste on your skin, it will leave an orange stain after 15 minutes.

The length of time it takes for henna to dry depends on how thick the paste is. A thin layer of medium-textured paste may dry in 10 minutes, a thick application in a larger design takes 50 minutes or longer to dry. With the thin lines, once it starts turning a greenish colour you can generally move around without worrying about it too much. With the thick large designs, keep an eye on it until it starts to dry. Henna adheres more the dryer it is, but once completely dry it begins to crumble. Once dried go over it with lemon/sugar/water mixture and let it dry again. Generally you want it to stay on for at least an hour, the longer you leave it on, the longer it will last and the darker the color will be.

The green in the henna paste is chlorophyll. The hennotannic acid stains the skin a dark conker brown. If henna powder is stored for a long time , it will become very stale. Weak henna color comes from stale henna.

Henna for hair is not as fine a quality as henna that is produced to decorate skin. It might work a little, but it won't work very well. Also, there may be other ingredients that can interfere with the henna stain on your skin, or the "hair henna" may include dyes that are not meant to be used on skin...those dyes may harm your skin!

Henna is a translucent stain. Therefore it depends on your skin type as to the depth of the stain.

Henna plants are available from garden suppliers on the internet, but they do not do well in temperate climates. They are susceptible to garden pests, and are fussy plants. Henna thrives in a climate where the nights are always warm, and there are at least 3 months of weather over 100F every summer. Rajasthan, Israel, Egypt, are excellent places to grow henna.

Henna is a complete and natural sunblock...so if you get a tan when you are hennaed, the henna may leave an un-suntanned pale pattern after it has exfoliated. You can swim, but if the water has a lot of chlorine, or you swim for a very long time, you henna may bleach out.

To maintain and preserve henna stain, oil your skin frequently to deter exfoliation. Go over the henna patterns with new henna every several days, carefully retracing the lines. In many traditions, a bride does no housework as long as her hands are ornamented with henna. In Rajasthan, women who always excuse themselves from doing housework to preserve their beautiful hennaes are referred to as "Mehndi spoiled".

If you need to get rid of your henna pattern quickly, you need to bleach and exfoliate that area. Acne medications that have alpha-hydroxies and anti-bacterials will help remove henna. Facial scrubs with exfolients will help. Frequnt washing with bleach will fade henna quickly from your hands. It is better to wash and exfoliate several times gently over 2 or 3 days than to try to remove the henna all at once.

Very fresh traditional henna, applied to a physically active person's palms or soles on a very hot day, will make a stain that often becomes coffee-color or near black on the second day after application. Perspiration and heat darken the color of natural henna. Many pictures of hennaed hands from North Africa and the Middle East appear black or nearly black. The intense heat and fresh henna in these countries make the henna stains far darker than henna appears in temperate climates. The safest, best way to make traditional henna very, very dark, is to use absolutely fresh henna, and plenty of heat and sweat. Even then, when the henna paste is removed from the skin, the stain will be orange at first, and then darken gradually. Henna NEVER stains black immediately! Clove will darken henna, as well as other herbal ingredients that have tannins. If you are concerned about what a henna artist may be putting on your skin, ASK!

Henna itself does not naturally dye skin black, though there are products available for sale called "black henna". If a product is called "black henna" there has been something added to make it turn black. The additional dye may or may not be dangerous. PPD - P-Phenylenediamine - is frequently added to henna to make it stain black. PPD may also be used alone to stain skin black. PPD stains the skin absolutely black within 2 hours and the stain can last easily 2 weeks. PPD is extremely dangerous in either case, because it is a toxin that is able to get into the bloodstream through the skin. Once in the system, PPD toxins can collect in the liver, causing serious damage.