The Art of Henna

The meaning of the word henna is a flowering plant;recent renaissance due to these increased cultivation
the origins of this name lie in the Arabic language. It islevels and better cultivation methods.
also used as a girl's name in the Muslim cultureIn the Indian sub-continent henna is referred to as
meaning blessed. In addition to traditional Muslim clothingMehndi. It is most commonly used as part of
such as hijabs and jilbabs, henna tattoos are an integralcelebrations or festivals. The paste is left on the skin
part of Muslim tradition. The plant itself is native tofor anywhere between a couple of hours up to
Africa, southern Asia and northern Australasia. It is atwelve hours. The stain then remain son the skin for
tall shrub or small tree that varies in height between 2anywhere between a few days to a whole month.
and 6 metres.There are several factors that influence the length of
It is actually a by-product of this plant that is used intime that the stain remains for. These are the quality of
henna art. The leaves are crushed together to form athe paste applied, the skin type and the length of time
paste which is applied to the skin. This paste is used tothat the paste is applied for.
dye a range of things from hair and fingernails toAsian mehndi designs are usually created using a
leather and silk. The henna plant is commerciallypaste that is reddish brown in colour, as opposed to
cultivated in many countries including India, Pakistan andthe darker paste used in Arabic henna. Indian tattoos
Morocco. Rajasthan in India is one of the most heavilytend to consist mainly of floral and paisley patterns.
cultivated areas, where over 100 businesses operate inAsian henna includes lines, leaves, tear drops and other
Sojat City alone. Henna tattooing has experienced amore abstract shapes and forms.