Henna...The Ultimate in Doodling Fun!

Click on photo to enlarge.

Inspired by one of my Flickr contacts, Henna Bee, who does such gorgeous henna (You just have to check out her photos, they are amazing) I decided to have a go myself.  I had big and small hands to practice on, including my five year old daughter who had been waiting patiently ever since she saw the henna tube arrive from the Halal butchers in Wellington (yes, our halal butcher doesn't just sell meat!)

I thought I would make it a special Eid tradition for us.  Muslims are not permitted to tattoo themselves permanently, therefore henna is a great halal (permissable) way for us to decorate our body on special occasions...and the good thing about it is that if it looks awful, it won't last forever (not like permanent tattoos).

The first time I ever had henna on my hands is when I visited Morocco to meet my husband's family.  My husband's sister patiently applied the decorations to my hands at night, and then in the morning we travelled to Fes to see the old medieval Medinah and get lost in all the ancient winding alleyways...oh those were the days...travelling is so much fun!

As you can see in the photos, I had to wash off my henna after about 15 minutes, and I didn't get to finish it properly...someone needed feeding, and it's a bit difficult to feed a baby with gooey green stuff all over your hands.  But it was fun to experiment, and I might go back later and reapply some of the lines to accentuate them and make them darker.

If you're a keen doodler, you just have to try this, it is so addictive!  You can practice on a bit of paper first if you are worried about staining your hands.  To get nice fine lines, you can use a plastic syringe if you can get one, just make sure you get one with a blunt needle (and make sure you're in a quiet area and not in danger of being 'bumped'), and make sure your henna is very finely sieved.  

I'm definately going to do more of this...I'm hooked!  Expect more henna experiment photos soon.  Next time I might even try to do a video as well.

Important: Make sure the henna you use is safe for use on your skin.  Avoid BLACK HENNA, which can be dangerous and has harmful chemicals mixed with it.  Check out Henna Bee's fact page for more information.

Regards,