History of Henna

"Believe it or not, the practice of Mehndi started out as an answer to the need for air-conditioning in the desert. The Henna plant, whose botanical name is Lawsonia Inermis and which comes from the Loosestrife family, has several medicinal properties, chief among them is its ability to cool down the human body. When the desert people of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Gujarat became aware of Hennas cooling properties, they dipped their hands and feet in a mud or paste made with the crushed leaves of the plant. Even when the mud was scraped off, they noticed, as long as the color remained visible, their body temperatures stayed low. Eventually some women grew tired of bright red palms and found that one large central dot in the palm of the hand had the same effect, while being more pleasing to the eye. Other, smaller dots were placed around the center dot, which gradually gave way to the idea of creating outright artistic designs. To that end, a thin instrument made of silver or ivory (in India) or wood (in Morocco), then most commonly used for applying kohl to the eyes, became the instrument of choice for Henna applications, and it is still in use in desert villages today. Only in the last decade or so have the popular Indian cone (see Page 44 in Mehndi, the Art of Henna Body Painting) and Moroccan syringe, both of which are able to deposit the thinnest filaments of Henna onto the skin, come into play as modern counterparts of the simple stick..."  excerpt from Mehndi, the Art of Henna Body Painting by Carine Fabius.

Mehndi, the art of henna painting on the body, has been practiced for thousands of years in India, Africa and the Middle East where a paste made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant - which is believed to bring Love, Luck and Prosperity - is applied to the skin, and when removed several hours later, leaves beautiful markings on the skin that fade naturally over 1 to 3 weeks.

Earth Henna is a unique henna mix which was created to simplify the centuries-old application process.  Once mixed, the Earth Henna paste lasts 4 weeks, if refrigerated; proper staining of skin is achieved in just 6 hours; and no lemon/sugar setting solution is needed.

The Earth Henna® Body Painting Kit is the most user-friendly kit on the market!  It is clean, fast, long lasting and easy to use! The art of adorning the body with stunning temporary tattoos with the deep, rich color of the henna plant has been practiced for thousands of years in ancient lands. The beautiful art form, known as Mehndi, is made simple with this easy-to-use kit; featuring safe, natural, superior quality henna from the fields of Morocco, along with all the tools and supplies used by professionals!

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