Mendhi (or mehndi, mehendi, or mehandi, depending on where you are) is the art of drawing designs on your skin with a paste made from the henna plant, which leaves a stain ranging in color anywhere from orange to dark brown. It is a practice found in the Middle East, North Africa, and India. Since the artform is found in so many different areas, I'll be focusing mainly on the Indian tradition of mendhi. In India, mendhi is used to decorate the hands and feet of brides prior to the wedding. It is a tradition in some areas that for however long the stain lasts on her hands, she will not have to do any housework (a pretty good deal, I say, since, if taken care of , mendhi can last for up to 3 weeks!). Another tradition is for a bride to have the name of her husband-to-be written somewhere in the design on her hands, and if he can not find his name, then the bride will control the marriage. Sometimes men have mendhi applied to their hands. Another occasion that warrants a trip to the mendhi artist's is the Indian new year.
First off, make sure your hands or feet (or wherever else you decide to apply it) is clean. If your skin is not clean, the henna paste has a hard time sticking. Once clean, apply mendhi oil to your skin where you're going to apply the paste (if you can't find mendhi oil, it's okay, you can use eucalyptus oil); the oil opens the pores so that the stain (or impression) will be deeper, and last longer. Apply the mendhi (henna paste) to your skin in the desired design. Let it dry, and then apply a solution of lemon juice and sugar to it; the acidity of the juice helps to make the impression darker, and the stickyness of the sugar keeps the mendhi on your skin longer. I don't provide a formula for this mixture, since it is a trial and error sort of thing; only experimentation will tell you what the right mixture is. I've also heard of people using a product called New Skin-- which is made for burns-- to keep the mendhi moist and stuck to the skin, but I have never used it, so I can't reccommend it. The next key to getting a really dark and long-lasting stain is to leave the paste on for several hours, keeping it moist with the lemon/sugar mixture. Usually, I try to keep it on for about 2 hours, but others may reccommend you leave it on for 4-6 hours. Leaving it on longer will ensure a long-lasting, deep impression. After you think it has set long enough, gently scrape it off (it will make a MESS, so do it over a trash can or paper towel) and don't wash your hands for at least another 6 hours. When you first take the paste off, your design will most likely be very pale, but don't be disheartened; in the next 24 hours, it will darken up nicely, especially if you have used a quality product.
**Be sure to do a spot test first, before applying the henna paste, to make sure you are not allergic!**
After care is very important, if you want your design to last. Depending on the level of care, the design can last anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks. Soap and water will wear out your design and it will fade very quickly. I'm not saying that you shouldn't wash your hands (or wherever you choose to apply your design) but just know what will happen. Usually, if I want my design to last a while, I'm really careful; I wear gloves if I wash my hair, and wash my hands really carefully. But, it really depends, because if you have a really dark design, it will last longer than one that came out very faint.
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