Intro to henna

My first post is all about henna since this is my intro i decided to conduct a lil swatch ( i will move onto more intermediate and advanced designs in my later tutorials) but this is just so you familiarise yourself with henna.

Right! so henna is used to dye hair, skin, fingernails and even leather.

It is an art of temporary tattooing, the art of henna has been around for 5,000 years (woah)

Things you should know before using henna...

It should not be applied to broken skin

Do a patch test just like you would do with any other cosmetic or hair dye you were applying to your skin for the first time.

Do not use black henna but use natural henna instead.

Get henna body art applied by a professional or someone who has experience in producing henna art.

The actual paste colour is green and a dark brown almost black in cones but this then flakes off to reveal a orange stain but this changes to a reddish/brown colour over the course of a few days.

TIP: once you have taken off the flaking henna, rub your hands with lemon juice or oil.. i use oil e.g. olive or almond oil.

Here is a lil run through i have done so you can understand the process :D

Here i did a lil swatch (nothing to fancy) simply make a design with a henna cone. NOTE: WHEN PURCHASING HENNA CONES BE SURE TO CHECK THE BRAND IF IT'S AUTHENTIC (THIS CAN BE CHECKED BY LOOKING FOR THE SEAL AND BE SURE TO CHECK THE EXPIRY DATE. IN OTHER WORDS BY FROM TRUSTED SELLERS).

In pure boredom i also decorated this swatch with my blue glitter henna cone (AGAIN BE SURE AS TO WHERE YOU PURCHASE YOUR HENNA, AND YES! YOU CAN GET GLITTERY HENNA CONES TOO! IT'S JUST THEY ONLY LAST A DAY (GOOD FOR PARTIES AND OTHER SOCIAL EVENTS).

Zoomed out...

This was the colour when the henna started flaking off, was a really bright orange but do not fret this colour changes over a course and i applied oil directly onto the henna straight after this photo being taken.

This was the swatch a day after, you can see that there is a tinge of brown and the bright orange colour  disappeared, oil  or lemon should be used to increase the longevity of the henna.

Hope this clears any misconceptions about henna :) if you have any comments please feel free to post em :)