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Thread: Henna tattoos

  1. #1
    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Henna tattoos

    I was thinking about getting a few henna tatoos and changing them about every two weeks when they fade. Is this a good idea? i've noticed that other girls with regular tatoos are noticable first.
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    Senior Member shwankie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Henna tattoos

    Hi! Guess what I do as a primary business for the last 4 years (full time)? Yup, henna (properly called mehndi--henna is the paste, mehndi is the application) art. There are a few things to consider with henna that may make you change your mind about using them in place of a real tattoo for work:

    -Henna fades. It does not just come off, but wears gradually. This can, unfortunately, be pretty unattractive under the lights. Hand and feet aren't quite so bad, but other areas often exfoliate rather unattractively. ESPECIALLY under black light (uh-huh--been there).

    -Henna doesn't stain terribly well on many parts of the body, and on places like stomach, back, and thighs you're likely to get only about a week out of it. The color will not be as vibrant as it is on hands and feet.

    -There is no such thing as black henna. Henna comes only in shades of red and brown. "Black henna" is PPD of the same type and quality used to dye tires, and many people develop fairly severe reactions to it. The more you use it, the more likely you are to develope a reaction, which can be severe scarring. "Black henna" is actually banned in Canada and several other countries due to it's potential for serious, permanent side effects.

    -Henna art is a b*tch to apply to yourself on most areas, and unless you're using stencils, it takes some time to learn how to use it well. It also requires at least 5-12 (depending on a variety of things) hours on the body (anything that doesn't require this either isn't henna, or is mixed very strong--I do this for large festivals--and will last a much shorter time on your skin). To get good color, especially on the hard-to-stain areas, you'll need to keep the henna warm and moist. It smudges, and will also stain any fabric or porous surface permanently. So, most of us who use it often do it before bed, wrap the bejeezus out of it, and sleep in in.

    -Henna color takes 24-48 hours to develop, meaning your first day or two (depending on skin and other variables) you're color may not show up well at work.

    -Intricate designs on places like the back and stomach do not show up well, and thin lines fade faster there. So, unless you do bold tribal, you're going to end up just looking like you've got dirty skin after a few days. Most of the belly dancers I henna do *very* bold, large tribals on the occasions that they get those areas henna'd at all.

    Just some thoughts. Obviously, I love henna--it's paid my bills for many years, and I often make as much doing that as I did dancing (and often more since the economy tanked). I've been lucky enough to work for A&E television, among other fun things. It's a great art, but it's often not suited for stage performance. Most belly dancers or other performers who will be at a distance from their audience opt for other things as decoration that mimics (I do other forms of art for that reason), but those types only last until your next bath/shower.

    Hope this was somewhat helpful. Don't mean to be discouraging, but the worst thing is finding out that kind of thing after getting it done.

    -

  3. #3
    Veteran Member Damia's Avatar
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    Default Re: Henna tattoos

    thanks, i just needed someone else's insight.
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    Featured Member Guenevere's Avatar
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    Default Re: Henna tattoos

    Shwankie, when I was in High School I tried Mehndi tatts on my hands but they never seemed to really stain well. Remember the ones at Hot Topic, do they still sell them there? OMG, LOL! Maybe you could help me out and tell me if it was the product or the application because I always thought I was doing it like the instructions said to. I would put them for hours like you mentioned and keep them moist with cloths, I think I may have used lemon juice for something at one point in the process but I'm not sure (sorry it's been a while).

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