Now You Can Draw a Henna Tattoo by Yourself: Henna Tattoo Recipes and More

Posted on May 28, 2009
Filed Under Curious Tattoo Facts, For Tattoo Artists, Uncategorized

Henna tattoo stems from the antique technique used by the women of Ancient Egypt, who spent hours adorning themselves. Later it became widespread across India and Central Asia and today henna tattoo enjoys wide popularity all over the world. These tattoos last about 2 weeks (even more with proper care), and gives you the chance to think whether you’d like a permanent one or not. The process itself is painless, and if you’ve got a steady hand and some patience, then it will be easy for you to create a henna tattoo. And should I mention the kids that are going to love the idea of having a temporary tattoo?

Below you will find a simple but effective guide on creating a henna tattoo.

Henna is a powder made of leaves of Lawsonia Alba, the plant indigenous to North Africa, the Middle East, and India. Its leaves that gathered from the lower part of the plant are used for hair and nail dye. Upper leaves have a more intensive dying effect, thus providing material for body painting. Henna should be stored in vacuum-sealed packages; otherwise it won’t provide a bright image. The tattoo’s color will also depend on the skin shade: the paler you are – the more reddish shade your tattoo will have.

Stage1: Preparing the skin

Henna tattoo will remain longer on the smooth skin, so do a peeling if needed, dab the area of the future tattoo with alcohol or alcohol-containing liquid and rub three drops of eucalyptus oil in.

Before you start you should make sure that you’re not allergic to henna. Simply put a few drops of the henna mixed with water on the inner side of your elbow and wait for 12 hours. If there’s no allergic reaction, then you’re ready to get a henna tattoo.

Stage 2: Preparing the dye

1. 30-40 g (1 – 1.5 oz) of pure green henna powder + 500 ml (18 oz) of hot water

2. 30-40 g (1 – 1.5 oz) of henna powder + 500 ml (18 oz) of water + 2 tbsp of ground coffee + 2 tsp of black tea. Add tea and coffee to the boiling water and boil for an hour, than pass through a sieve and mix with henna

3. 30-40 g (1 – 1.5 oz) of henna powder + 250 ml (9 oz) of water + 250 ml (9 oz) of red wine. Boil the water, add wine and mix with henna

4. 30-40 g (1 – 1.5 oz) of henna powder + 500 ml (18 oz) of water + 2 tsp of sugar + 2 tsp of lemon juice. Boil the water, add sugar and lemon juice. After the sugar has dissolved – mix with henna

5. 30-40 g (1 – 1.5 oz) of henna powder + 500 ml (18 oz) of water + 5 tbsp of clover. Boil the water, add clover, and steam on a slow fire for 20 minutes and mix with henna.

Mixing should be done slowly. Avoid lumps: if there are some – pass the mixture through a sieve. Henna paste should be a bit thick. If you want to make the color of your tat more intensive – you can add 1-2 tsp of lime juice.

Cool the mixture – and you’re ready to paint!

Of course, you can buy a cone with prepared henna, in that case - skip the stage

Stage 3: Creating your tattoo

Traditionally henna paint is applied with the help of thin wooden or metallic sticks, a paintbrush or a special syringe. If you are planning to use a ready-made henna paste, you can buy a special easy-to-use tube of henna.

You may draw the tattoo free-handedly or use some special techniques, if you’re no good at drawing. The easiest technique consists of the following steps:

1. Pick a design and copy it from the source on a sheet of parchment with a water-soluble soft-tip pen.

2. Apply some deodorant on your skin in the area where you plan to draw your tattoo (use the roll-on deodorant)

3. Adjust the sheet of the parchment with the drawn image to the skin and press for a few minutes. The deodorant will dissolve the pen’s pigment and the lines of the drawing will remain on your skin.

After you have applied the henna paste – let it dry for at least 2 hours. If you want it to be brighter and to last longer, then don’t remove the paste for 6-8 hours. Avoid watering the tattoo during the first 24-48 hours. Keep in mind that at first the tattoo will be of a light orange-brownish color, but it will get darker with time.

Fine points:

Henna tattoo stays longer on the places that are usually covered by clothes
While drying the image – try to expose it to the sunlight or keep it under infrared lamp in order to make it last longer
Henna tattoos drawn on feet or hands turn out to be the brightest
While drying your tattoo – dab it with a tissue moistened with mixture of lemon juice (2tbsp) and sugar (1 tbsp)
On the next day apply a thin layer of henna paste on your tattoo – it will make the color brighter
Rub in some almond, mustard-seed or sesame oil after removing henna paste. It will also brighten the tattoo
If you want the tattoo to stay as long as possible don’t rub or soap the image – simply rinse it with water. Also avoid excessive sweating
If you liked your henna tattoo – you can renew it by applying henna paste on it again before it has completely faded away
Henna is a strong dye, so be careful and remove stray drops and smudges at once with the help of a q-tip moistened with alcohol

(Images from Flikr.com)

Comments

One Response to “Now You Can Draw a Henna Tattoo by Yourself: Henna Tattoo Recipes and More”

Foot Tattoo Designs on March 3rd, 2010 2:15 pm

[...] hands henna tattoos are most frequently chosen as they last 2 weeks and then disappear. It is unusual to wear permanent [...]

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