About This Culture: Henna

I went with some friends to get henna a couple days ago. This is what it looks like today. I love the brown color of this henna!! We went to get henna because one of my friends was going to travel to see her family and she wanted to have some beautiful henna to show them! 

This is one of the many things that I've grown to love about this culture! Henna can be done for special occasions or just for fun.

I've seen henna used mostly for times of celebration like having a baby, holidays called "Eid," weddings, graduation, or after final exams. I've spent time with friends who just wanted to practice their henna designs on me. It's a great time to talk and spend time together!! 

It's common to have a whole "henna day" or a "henna party" for a bride a couple days before her wedding. I have only been to a couple of these, but they're so fun! The most recent henna party I went to was so neat! The bride sat in a special chair (it looked like a throne to me) to get her henna. She sat there for hours getting henna painted from her toes to her thighs and from her finger tips to her shoulders. I was exhausted just watching her, but she was so beautiful!

Henna is a plant. The leaves are dried and made into powder and later mixed with liquid to make a paste. A henna artist will apply the paste on to skin in a beautiful pattern and then it dries. After the paste dries it starts to crack and then fall off. I like to pick off the dried henna when it's time! After a couple days it turns the beautiful brown color. For this reason people typically get henna couple days before a special event.

Before I came here I wondered if henna had any religious significance and I've learned that it doesn't. One of my favorite things about it is that it only lasts for a couple of weeks before it's gone. It's only temporary.

You can find more information about henna here. 

Here's a picure of a henna artist applying the henna paste:

This is what my henna looked like right before the paste dried:

Getting henna:

Carie is getting henna on her feet and Melissa is getting henna on her hands:

Here are Melissa's hands with the fresh henna paste: