Henna Stains Darken

When Henna paste first comes off the resulting stain is quite faint, a light orange color, then as the first few days pass, the color deepens and becomes a darker, richer brown.

Here is an example of how the color darkens in a few days time.

Photos: Paul Djupe

Henna on Dark Skin

So many people email me asking about how well henna will show up on dark skin. I've seen some very dark skinned people with the most beautiful mahogany/black cherry colored henna stains.

On some pale people there is a higher contrast of color between the stain and the skin color, so it is more obvious from a distance. But, on the other hand, some people with pale skin don't stain very well, and their stains blend in with their freckles from a distance!

Henna has been used by North Africans for thousands of years, and not just light skinned Arabs from Morocco and Algeria, but also dark skinned people from Somalia with beautiful results.

Here are some pictures of a stunning girl from the Ohio State Fair's Cox Fine Arts Building who's shoulder I hennaed. She has very dark skin, and got wonderful results from her henna.

Baby Gust Henna

I had a wonderful appointment for maternity henna with a beautiful artsy couple here in Columbus. I knew from the time I knocked on the door that I would like these people, since they had a "support the arts--Columbus Museum of Art" sticker on their storm door. The dad had his photographs all over the house and the mom is a gourmet chef, so we had a great time talking food and art while I was there. I loved hearing about their "geurilla" style wedding at the Chicago Institute of Art.

The dad-to-be took pictures while I was working, and was kind enough to send them to me that very night.

Aren't they wonderful!?

Photo credits: Paul Djupe

Double Hearts Henna

These girls have been best friends since birth, but one of them lives in Virginia now and they don't get to see each other as much as they used to. As a surprise to her friend she flew into Columbus, and after she was picked up at the airport the two girls came to my house for matching henna designs! They wanted the Double Heart design (that's popular in contemporary jewelry) surrounded by vines and flowers and this is what I did for them.

Unfortunately, it was a cold day and the wind was blowing snow, and these girls had to leave their shoulders exposed so their henna wouldn't be disturbed. I hope they had a great week together.

Random Hearts Party

On Valentine's Day, Bob and I went to a "Random Hearts" Party. I decided to take my paints along and do some body and face painting. I just took one of my palettes, and filled it with pinks, reds, plum, gold and silver, and black and white-- Valentine colors. Sue started out getting just a little bit of a heart over her heart to peek through her shirt, but as I got going she kept giving me access to more and more skin, so I just kept painting.... It looked terrific on her, and her husband liked it too.

It was a real hit with the revellers, it was fun to see everyone walking around with pink and purple swirlies and hearts all over them. I picked a great spot to work too, at the end of the kitchen counter/island, right where Tammy was mixing chocolate martinis and wedding cake martinis.... like I said, great spot! What a great night, fun, friends, painting, and I during it all I had my Valentine with me!

Turbulent Skies

Last year I decided to enter the World Body Painting competition, but, I had never painted a body before! I've painted faces, I've painted paintings, I've painted rooms, but never bodies. I knew I'd be comfortable with the nudity, because I've hennaed my share of breasts, bellies, and booties, but I needed to do some actual body paint, because I needed a picture to submit. So, one afternoon, I pulled out my paints and sat Bob down, and painted him up. I had no idea where I was going with this, I just started swirling colors around, and this is what I ended up with. And even though its only a partial body I was really quite pleased, and very excited about the prospect of breaking into body painting.

A Hennaed Bride

I had an appointment with a beautiful bride who married an Indian man. They were having two ceremonies, one traditional western and one traditional Indian. She wanted me to henna her palms, but leave the backs of her hands clear for the western ceremony, and she also wanted her feet hennaed. She picked out a few different designs that she liked and I fused them together to come up with a beautiful design for her wedding henna.

She took very good care of her henna that night, as you can see from how dark and unsmudged the design is, thus showing her mother-in-law how much patience she will have as a wife. And I'm awfully proud of the dark, rich color of the henna too!

I was fortunate enough to get these images from her photographer, Jim Sanders. Aren't they rich and gorgeous?! These photos were taken during the Indian ceremony, while the bride is wearing her Indian style wedding Sari and colorful bangles. If you're interested in Jim's photographic services he can be reached via http://www.jimsandersphoto.com/ .