With Eid, Diwali, and weddings coming up, many of you will be getting your henna done, even on the boardwalk so I wanted to give you guys some tips on how to get the best color possible out of it.
- Leave it on for as long as possible.
- Many people think that taking it off once it dries is good enough, and depending on the quality of the henna this may be true, but if you want a deep maroon/brown stain that will last over 2 weeks then you want to leave it on for several hours to overnight.
- To keep it from flaking off, apply lemon juice and sugar, if you don't have any on hand aerosol hairspray works too, just keep it at least 6 inches away from the henna when spraying.
- To apply the lemon juice and sugar simply squeeze half a lemon to a whole lemon depending on the size of the design and mix a few teaspoons of sugar into it until it dissolves. Then simply use a cotton ball to dab on the mixture.
- This acts as a type of adhesive to keep the henna moist, and from flaking off, you may have to repeat this several times.
- If you toss and turn a lot when you sleep and are afraid you'll mess up the henna in your sleep there are several ways you can cover it to enable you to sleep. Make sure the design has been lemon juiced or hairsprayed before doing any of these.
- Masking or packaging tape if it's a small enough area. Press on the tape quickly and tightly making sure the design isn't messed up. Gauze pads with adhesive work too.
- For a whole hand or foot you may want to use a plastic grocery bag/shopping bag and simply tie it around your wrist or ankle, and secure it with tape.
- When you go to remove the henna do not use water to remove it. The water will wash off the reminants of the paste and not allow it to get dark. Use a paper towel or just peel it off.
- After the henna has been removed apply Mustard Oil immediately with a cotton ball or paper towel, you can clean off the excess henna/lemon juice/hairspray this way. Mustard Oil or Mustard Seed Oil can be found mostly at Indian Grocery Stores and it's the best oil to apply after. If you can't get a hold of Mustard or Mustard Seed Oil you can use Olive oil, or any cooking oil.
- Last but not least, do not let water touch the designed area for 24 hours. The design will get darker as the day progresses, when you take a shower simply cover up the area with a bandaid or something, it may get a little dampened when showering but the idea is not to soak it in water and soap because it'll start fading the henna which is the opposite of what you want to do.
I hope this helps! Enjoy your henna :)
