The art of self expression

Henna art Henna or Mehndi is the art that allows women to create their own style without simply copying others. It is a body art that started many years ago and continues today. This art is very popular in the GCC countries, East Asia, Pakistan, India and North Africa. Henna was originally used as a form of decoration mainly for brides. Mehndi decorations became fashionable in the West in the late 1990s, where they are sometimes called henna tattoos. In fact, only little changes appeared in the henna art. These changes appeared because of the communication development and the changes of people’s lifestyles.
Henna can be used as a conditioner for hair and for enhancing beauty. It is also used to decorate hands and legs or other body parts as tattoos with multiples designs. Henna is typically applied during special occasions like weddings, festivals and Eid. It is usually drawn on the palms and feet because that is where the color will be darkest due to higher levels of keratin in the skin. Umm Ajlan, a Saudi widow that used to practice this art since forty years ago, started this profession of drawing on her body to look more beautiful for her husband. Recently, she chose to practice this art as a main profession. “Henna is being used in our society by women of different ages. In addition, it is being used by young girls for beauty since the age of puberty,” said Umm Ajlan. “Henna art used to be a necessary skill to learn before marriage. In the past, it was a sign of culture in many areas. Thus, each village had its own painting style and all the girls were professionals in using henna.”
Unfortunately, however, some people and health agencies spread rumors about henna saying it has dangerous effects on the skin and hair. Yet, Umm Ajlan strongly disagrees. “Henna is a flowering plant that has been used since the old ages,” emphasized Umm Ajlan. “It is healthy for skin, hair and fingernails as it is a natural mixture with no chemicals. Henna as a product has been proved to be quite beneficial to people’s health. Consequently, the market expanded all over the world. From the therapeutic to the design standpoint, it is now more in demand than any other body art that is widespread in the world right now.”
According to Umm Ajlan, the wide expanding of this art in the modern age is due to women’s desires to be unique and express themselves in their own way. She added that designing the body with the woman’s own likeness — as is happening recently — was a rare desire. “It is all about how a woman likes to perceive herself, decorated in the versatility of contrasts and colors. The inclusion of henna as part of a wedding culture has been quite popular in the past few centuries and is gaining popularity in many other countries besides the native cultures,” said Umm Ajlan.
The art of henna is actually a very simple process. “The art of drawing henna is simply mixing powdered henna and lemon juice. The henna powder can be found easily in many local markets among the Kingdom’s regions,” she said. “We can also add other ingredients to make dark henna such as tea, coffee and cloves.” The henna paste is covered with plastic for several hours and then released the dye, which looks like a brownish color on the surface of the paste, explained Umm Ajlan. There is no difference between the old henna and the modern henna. Both of them made from the same materials.
She added that some women, especially blondes and those of white skin, prefer to have dark henna while brunette women prefer light henna. “Modern women prefer to use dark henna as tattoos. The designs created with this paste can last up to a month, depending on the individual's skin type and the quality of the henna powder. Proper preparation is essential in creating dark, long-lasting tattoos,” said Umm Ajlan.
According to Umm Ajlan, in order to have dark henna, the powder must be mixed correctly and stored in optimal temperature ranges between 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. “It is necessary to leave the mixture for twelve hours before using it,” she emphasized. “In the past, we were using one design for women of different ages, including brides. Nowadays, we are drawing designs that women are asking for,” she said. To cope with the latest developments and modernization, Umm Ajlan hired her daughter to download different modern henna inscriptions from the Internet. Recently, ready-made henna cones have become popular, which are ready to use and make painting easy. They have now become extremely popular among women of different nationalities such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Europe.