Henna darkens naturally

Just an experiment I did over 36 hours to see how henna darkens without using techniques like applying lime juice, essential oils, or steaming.
90% of the time henna relies on your natural body heat to darken and set.

The henna stain can vary depending on its quality and the skin type it is being applied on. And on my skin it turned out very deep, dark brown.

I used henna from a mehandi cone (bought from an Indian shop), knit gloves, and socks. Needed also was a lot of time... making sure the henna does not get in contact with water until the colour sets to its darkest possible.

The colour lasts anywhere between a couple of days to a few weeks before fading away completely. The only way to remove henna fast is to remove the skin.

Just kidding.
Please don't attempt to do that :)

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• henna
• mehndi
• mehendi
• mehandi
• inai
• design
• tattoo
• fingers
• hands
• feet
• jari
• tangan
• kaki
• darken
• dye
• stain
• body
• art
• bridal
• eid
• wedding
• middle-eastern
• indian
• asian
• tradition

[Beauty2ful9lie]

:) a very good video, but just a question: when you put on the gloves or the socks, how does the the henna stay on his place?

[BeautifulTrauma]

@Beauty2ful9lie Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. When I put on the gloves or socks, I already rubbed the dried henna off. The stain still darkens after that.

[babyraven]

In my experiments, it's true -- without terps and lemon, you can still get a pretty nice stain -- they really aren't necessary. However, the acid and terps will make it even darker, so those looking for a really dark reddish-black stain will still want to use them, as well as wraps etc.

[BeautifulTrauma]

@babyraven I agree. In this video, I experimented without any kind of terps, just the quality of the henna itself and simple warm gloves/socks. It is just to show that it is possible to get a really good stain and that you don't *have* to terp henna if you don't have the items or just find it a little too complicated.

With the right terps done the right way, henna can stain a lot darker than what you see in this video. Thanks for commenting :)

[BeautifulTrauma]

@IResonateWithU That's true. The best way to use henna -without- having to additionally think about terping it is to get one of those coned-hennas. The ones I used for the video has eucalyptus oil in it... and all I have to do is apply. That's about it.

In fact, my first try with one of those coned-hennas didn't go too well, *even though* it's terped.

[IResonateWithU]

@BeautifulTrauma i thought you said that in this video,you experimented without any kind of terps,but here you said you bought the henna already coned-up. Those dont usually have ingredients listed,there may have been terps. I only say this because i notice the stain on your hands right after paste-off looked "raised" the way terps can aggravate skin. your design is nice. Neat video.

[sneakiebug10]

I don't think that's true because, on hair, henna darkens over a few days, too. So, it wouldn't be relying on natural body heat to darken. It just... does it naturally.

[mizbowwow]

whats the best type of henna to buy if i want a dark brown stain?

[BeautifulTrauma]

@Desilicious88 I actually buy my henna from a local Asian (Indian or Arab) store, I buy the ones in cones since they're specifically for bridal use (meaning better quality).

If you want to make your own, you only need henna powder and water. You could use lemon juice in addition and let the paste set aside overnight before using, but I've tried that and the stains stayed light as compared to the one in the cones, which I used here.

As long as it's pure henna w/o chemicals, you could use it :)

[Desilicious88]

Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's your Henna recipe, people have so many different ones. I'm not sure which one I should use! Thanx!