Mehendi Across Cultures

In India, girls of all age and religion show special interest in applying mehandi.It is great fun in applying mehandi to younger ones. New designs are tried out . people get together the previous night of the occasion to apply mehandi on their hands. In south India, a circular pattern is drawn and filled in the center of the palm. Then a cap is formed on the fingers, as if they had been dipped in mehndi. This design is used by most Asian elders, as in the early days before cones (similar to icing bags) were available it was simple to apply. It is this design that is used by south Indian classical dancers.

Mehendi Wedding Customs

Mehendi has great significance in all Eastern wedding traditions, and no wedding is complete without the decoration of the bride's hands and feet - in many cultures on both the front and back of the hands right up to the elbow, and on the bottom half of the legs .In Gujarat, Mehendi tattooing is part of the Adivasi women's wedding traditions.

Leaves and flowers are used as templates around which complex designs are painted on the bride's face and arms. Many brides believe that the deeper the color of the Mehendi, the deeper the love they will receive from their in-laws, in particular the mother-in-law, whose blessing is particularly important to an Asian bride. The peacock, which is the national bird of India, the lotus flower, and an elephant with a raised trunk, which is a symbol of good luck, are all popular images. In some customs the bridegroom's hands are also decorated, and communities in Kashmir have evolved particular men's designs.

The Drawbacks Of Mehndi Before You Begin

Mehndi usually lasts for at least one to two weeks. I have heard of people saying that mehndi can last from two to four weeks; however, this figure is misleading because the length mehndi will stay depends on a number of factors.

1. How often you wash your hands
2. What kind of soap you use
3. Your skin quality and heat in your body
4. Location of the mehndi on the body
5. The ingredients you add to your henna paste

Henna works by staining the outer layers of the epidermis, permanently. The reason why your stain itself is impermanent is because of a magical, mystical, mystery. Or not. Your skin exfoliates off, right? So the deeper your mehndi stains, the longer your design lasts. Thus, it is important to be aware of the contributing factors to a henna design's latency. Strong soap and hand-washing shortens the life of a henna stain because it exfoliates your skin. Therefore, after getting mehndi applied, do not wash your skin for at least twelve hours, and do not use any harsh antibacterial soaps as long as the stain remains upon your skin. If we take our exfoliation theory farther, we note the palm of one's hands exfoliates much faster than the back of the hands; thus, henna on the palm lasts less than half as long as henna on the back of the hand.

Adding essential oils adds another dimension to henna; while the oils, which contain terpenes, can increase the stain quality of the henna, they will greatly compromises the staining depth of your henna, and thus will make the stain disappear in one week rather than the normal 1-3 weeks.

Whether or not to get mehndi is also an important decision because of other properties of henna. For example, henna leaves have a very distinctive scent, and after the mehndi dye is removed from a person , his/her skin will still retain this scent. Many people like the scent, which usually resembles a combination of eucalyptus and henna and various other essential oils, but it is very strong and can become bothersome and distracting. Additionally, other enhancing products, such as tea, coffee, cloves, lemon, and lime, are sometimes added to mehndi -- and all of these ingredients can increase the scent. The good and bad thing about the scent of henna is that the oil scents usually wear off after a few days; the henna scent stays for the first 4-5 days. A way to alleviate the scent problem is to place the mehndi on a part which you don't hold near your face too often, such as the foot. People who are sensitive to perfumes should definitely think twice before getting mehndi done, although the scent probably won't remain with you for the ENTIRE two weeks of the stain's duration (most often the scent lasts for a few days into having the stain. I for one, love the stain of henna, and sit around smelling my fingertips whenever I have a design, but not everyone feels the same way I do!

Before choosing to get mehndi applied on yourself, you should also carefully consider whether it's the right time. Henna designs are expensive, and you probably should be willing to keep the paste on your hands for an extended period of time - at least 2 hours - if you wish to get a dark, long-lasting stain. Plus, will henna get you in trouble with work? As for me, I wear henna wherever I go, but as a hennafanatic be prepared to get comments - great ones at first, but more questioning ones later on. As the mehndi starts to fade it may look blotchy.