Ingredients List

Main Ingredients:

Lemon or Lime Juice - Henna only releases its dye at a low pH, so adding something acidic to your henna will help to improve and catalyze the dye-release process. Lemonade concentrate is an appropriate form of this ingredient as well.

Essential Oil - The most commonly used essential oil in henna art is eucalyptus oil. Often henna companies sell "mehandi" oils or "nilgiri" oils, which are combinations of various essential oils. These days, artists look for individual oils with high terpene content; such as tea tree oil, cajeput oil, or terpeneol. Artists balance out the strong scents of these oils with milder floral oils. Be careful when using essential oils; they may irritate the skin. When used liberally, oils can help your henna dye to near-black stains, but they will also make a dent in your wallet; they're very expensive. Also, using more essential oils will shorten the life of both your henna paste and your eventual stain.

Other Ingredients:

Tea (or Coffee)- not necessary, but gives a nice smell and helps to give an initially darker stain. Artists experiment with various "henna brews," to which they add a variety of extra ingredients such as methys seeds, tamarind paste, dried limes, etc.

Sugar, sugar syrup - Sugar increases your paste's ability to absorb moisture because of its water absorptive properties. It will prevent your paste from drying too early. People also use sugar (glycerine as well) to increase paste stickiness

Tamarind Paste (Tamarindo, Tamicon brands). You can boil tamarind paste in your tea or add it straight to paste to improve paste stickiness, acidity, and viscosity (stringiness).

Fenugreek seeds (Known as Methi ka dana in India). Boil these seeds in your tea concoction and strain them out before adding to you henna; they give henna a more stringy consistency. Boiled Okra juice creates the same effect.

Yogurt or Egg - traditionally used in hair henna, you can experiment with these in your skin henna as well.

Cloves - Cloves are mordants, similar to the oils that you can use on your skin. Artists often boil cloves in their tea brews, but watch out; you may find clove-spiked henna to be a skin irritant.

Titanium powder - makes paste smoother

Wine/wine vinegar - properties analogous to lemon juice

Iced tea - properties analogous to tea, sugar and lemon