NEW Henna Tattoo Tips & Ticks
There
is always something new to be learned about
the art of henna! New information can
get lost on a site this big, so I thought
I'd keep a running log of new tips and
tricks for you.
Some tips will be from my personal
experiences with henna (8 years and
counting), but some tips will come from your
fellow henna artists out there. If you
would like to send a henna tip or henna
pictures,
just send me an email. Feel free
to include a picture of yourself or a link
to your website.
11/23/2008
Henna Energy by Mariko
Mariko Adams is a professional henna artist
right here in Orlando. She is one of
the best henna artists I've ever encountered
and has wonderful understanding of the art
of henna.
Sometimes you will find your henna is not as
dark as another time you used the same henna
(especially this time of the year when the
temperature starts dropping). Mariko
had some wonderful thoughts in this.
"I ask myself some questions if I am not
getting the henna color I am used to
getting.
- When I was mixing the henna, did I put my
positive energy intention good enough? (I
also put energy stone on the henna while
setting 12 hours)
- Am I using my henna for the right
purpose-which is right feeling? right time?
Henna is absolutely the energy from the
person I do henna on. I believe henna art
is energy from of person's inner beauty.
I feel I am chanting while doing henna with
person and bring their energy through the
henna design. When I do henna I really
try not to think anything. When I think or
talk henna design stops and hard to draw.
When I'm doing henna I totally feel person's
energy and if that person is nervous I feel
nervous and if that person is happy I feel
great also. With many people it takes about
5 minutes to feel comfortable while drawing
design and after that the design just flows
out.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful
henna energy in this world!!!
Grateful thankful...
Love&Peace always, Mariko"
I feel she is absolutely right.
Positive energy is an important henna
component. My own attitude seems to
have a direct connection with how my henna
stain turns out. I also find henna is
a great way to make you feel better when you
are feeling down.
Lose yourself in a henna design and not only
does it make you feel better while doing the
henna, but you have a beautiful lasting
talisman of luck and protection.
11/17/2008
Henna & Temperature
This time of year I start getting emails
from henna artists that are not getting as
good of color as they typically do.
Henna can be picky about temperature and
winter is a different set of challenges than
summer.
In summer, we have to be careful that we
don't "cook" our henna. We have to
keep it out of sunlight and not let it get
too warm. When mixing henna
powder in the summer dye release is often
much quicker (often a just a few hours will
yield good dye release). This also
means that the henna paste can lose it's
dying abilities quickly, so you need to keep
your henna cool.
In the winter (even here in Florida) we have
to be more patient with our henna. The
same henna that would obtain full dye
release in a few hours can take a full day
or more in a cooler environment. I
find that if my house is less than 70
degrees I need to let my henna powder mix
sit 24 hours or more. I do this in
stages. I mix my powder with my liquid
(lemon, tea mix, or whatever I am using that
day) and let it sit overnight. The
next day, either in the morning or before
work, I add sugar, essential oils, and any
additional liquid if needed. I let
that sit again overnight and the next day I
put the henna in applicators and cones for
freezing. Sometimes I don't freeze the
cones until the next day.
I am always cold, so I have to work extra
hard to get a good stain in the winter.
I get all my supplies together along with a
candle, blanket, and cup of hot tea or glass
of wine. I do my henna while I
am all wrapped up in my blanket and seal it
with lemon sugar. When my hands (or
feet) get cold, I hold them over the candle.
This winter, keep temperature in mind while
mixing and applying your henna.
Remember, body temperature is nearly 99
degrees. Even 70 degrees is a
significant difference in temperature.
Stay Warm!
10/10/2008
Henna Storage
Ever wonder how the heck to keep you
henna and accessories when it's not being
used?
For henna accessories such as applicator
bottles, pins, glitter, and the like, I use
a fishing tackle box. The dividers
make perfect little compartments to store my
applicator tips and bottles.
For mixed henna paste, I simply use a small
Corning Ware container with a lid to store
premixed paste in the refrigerator.
When I freeze henna, I first put the henna
in empty applicator cones, so that I can
thaw only as much henna as I need at a time.
I apply a label to the cone with the date
and ingredients, then tape over the label.
I wrap the cones in a paper towel and put
them in a Ziploc freezer bag.
When I need to bring henna out for an event,
I simply grab my tackle box and a soft lunch
box where I place my henna paste. The
lunch box leaves plenty of space for a
couple of wash cloths and a bottle of witch
hazel for cleaning skin. It has a flat
outside pocket where I keep my aftercare
instructions.
So what's your henna set up?
6/23/2008
First Time Henna!
Kayla did her very
first henna design using powder henna and on
the back (one of the most difficult places
to stain)! It turned out beautifully!
She used Beachcombers powder henna and used
the Tea Henna Mix Jr henna
recipe below.
Kayla has been chosen as the current Henna
Design Of the Moment winner, as well.
Great work, Kayla!
6/20/2008
Relax, Henna Is Fun!
Don't get too caught up in getting your
henna perfect, especially if you are new to
henna. Henna is like cooking.
Two people can make the same recipe, but
have different results.
Relax when you are mixing henna and don't
worry about getting anything exact. My
Great-Grandmother (from Italy) takes four
days to make her marinara sauce. I
take about an hour, lol! My sauce
isn't as good as her sauce, but it's still
delicious and much less stressful on a
Tuesday night. Your henna mix doesn't
have to be an intense-hard-core mixture
every time you mix henna. Try some
super easy mixes sometimes. You can
get some decent color by mixing your henna
powder with lemon juice and letting it sit
for 4-6 hours.
The same goes for drawing your actual
design. If things aren't going well,
wipe it off with water and start again.
You would be surprised at how nice a design
will look once the henna paste is removed
and the color has come up.
My point is, get in there and start doing
some henna! Remember the worst
that can happen is your color doesn't get as
dark as it could get, or you end up with a
not-so-hot design. So what? Try
it again! Have FUN!
5/15/2008
New Henna Mixes!
I am LOVING this new henna mix so I want
to share it with you! I'm going to use
a fake timeline to give you a realistic idea
of the timeframe. There is
plenty of room for changing the
instructions. They don't need to be followed
to the letter.
Jody's Fabulous 4
Day Tea Henna Mix!
This one is a bit complicated and long to
make, but I'm getting some amazing color
with it.
Monday - Make lemon tea mixture
On the stove I heat lemon juice (about 2 or
3 cups, but the amount will vary greatly
depending on the tea you use),
loose Indian Black tea
(about 3 or 4 heaping table spoons, but
again depends),
whole black cloves,
cardamom seeds,
and one cinnamon
stick.
I heat that to a simmer for about 1/2 hour
than I lower the heat to low so it's hot but
not bubbling at all. I leave it like
that for another couple of hours then remove
it from the burner and leave to sit
overnight. If it cooks down too much add
more lemon juice at any time.
Tuesday - First step of mixing henna
I strain the tea mixture (I actually use the
same nylon that I use for straining my
henna). I typically start with two 20 gram
packages of henna which will make about 4
cones. Mix in the tea mixture just like you
always do, keeping the paste thicker than
you need. Apply plastic wrap over the henna
so that the wrap is actually touching the
henna and put the henna inside a kitchen
cabinet (or any dark place that doesn't get
too hot or too cold).
Take any left over tea mix and freeze it in
an ice cube tray to make it easier to make
your next henna mix. Once they are frozen I
put them in a ziplock bag labeled with the
date and ingredients.
Wednesday - Adding oils/sugar
Stir your henna mix and add sugar (2 or 3
teaspoons). Add your oil. I've been loving
tea tree and lavender lately. I
typically use about 10 or more drops of oil.
Add additional lemon juice if you need to
further thin the henna. Put plastic wrap
back on henna and put it back inside a
kitchen cabinet (or any dark place that
doesn't get too hot or too cold).
Thursday - Ready to use
Strain your henna, add it to an applicator
and you are ready to go! I use the
carrot bag from straining the henna paste to
put the henna in cones to freeze. Two
20 gram bags of henna will make about 4
henna cones. I label the henna cones
with the date and ingredients before
freezing. It takes about 2 hours for one
cone to thaw.
Tea Henna Mix Jr.
Similar mix but much quicker...
Monday - Make the same lemon tea mixture
(use whatever you want, it doesn't have to
be those exact ingredients, I sometimes add
red wine). Simmer the tea for an hour or so
(add more liquid when needed) and set aside
to cool. Once cool, strain the tea and mix
your henna, just like the Tuesday
instructions above.
Tuesday - Use the Wednesday instructions
above and add your sugar and oils. If you do
this in the morning, you can use the henna
in the evening, otherwise let it sit until
Wednesday.
Hope these new henna mixes do well for you!
Email me with your mixes and I'll post them!
5/02/2008
Lavender & Tea Tree Oil Available
I
have recommended adding tea tree and
lavender oil to your henna mix for a long
time. I've been hearing from customers
that they have a tough time finding high
quality oils and when they do, they often
have to pay high shipping costs.
Alright, you got it! I've found a
great supplier of high quality Australian
tea tree oil and a very high quality French
lavender oil and am offering it to you!
Now you can get your
essential oils for henna when you get
your Beachcombers! henna and you can add it
to any order for no additional shipping
costs.
Each bottle is 5 mL and is dark glass, so
they will store well for up to three years.
Five mL is about 60 drops of oil. Each
bag of henna needs about 2-5 drops of oil,
but you can add more or less depending on
your tastes. The oil is 100% pure
uncut, so a little goes a long way.
BTW, we are also offering a new
Henna Straining Kit so that you can
strain your henna. We found that
people were having issues getting all the
different components of the kit without
spending excessive money so we put a kit
together for you. It contains 2 nylon
stockings, 4 extra strong carrot bags, and a
spatula.
I hope offering these oils and the straining
kit is a convenience for you! Continue
to let us know what your needs are and we'll
stock what we can.
5/01/2008
Henna Really is a Natural Sun Block
You may have heard me mention that henna
is a natural sun block in the past.
Well, here is proof!
If you look closely at the foot on the left,
you can see the reverse of the henna pattern
that was on the skin before a couple of days
vacationing at the beach. The henna
stain was barely visible when the wearer
went on vacation to the beach. The
henna was done by Courtney, and she was kind
enough to send pictures of the ultra cool
sunblock results.
Thanks again, Courtney!
4/29/2008 Henna Travel Tips
Last week we went to a eCommerce
Business Summit in New Orleans, LA.
Aside from the fact that the summit itself
was a wealth of information, allowing us to
continue to improve your shopping experience
with Beachcombers! Bazaar, I also did some
henna testing!
We
drove from Orlando FL to New Orleans in an
old Miata with no air conditioning.
This means my henna was in a hot car
for more than 10 hours! I
always tell people to put their henna in a
cooler when doing henna outdoors to keep it
fresh, but I purposely did not do that with
my henna. I never dreamed that the
henna would still leave color after that
kind of abuse, so I was pleasantly surprised
to find that after 10 hours of driving in
the trunk of a car in Florida, the henna
still left color! It wasn't great
color, but it was acceptable color.
< The picture to the left is of the henna
the day after it was done. The color
changed from orange to a darker brown the
next day, but I don't have pictures of that
day. The skin was not cleaned before I
did the henna, but I was able to use a lemon
sugar sealer. Certainly NOT the best
conditions to do henna, lol!
The heat did cause the henna to separate,
and luckily I had a toothpick long enough to
properly mix the henna in the applicator
bottle.
I was reminded of how important it is to
completely clean applicator bottle tips.
I thought I may be able to get away with
using a straight pin to clean my
stainless steel applicator tips without
water, but I started getting clogs as the
fresh henna mixed with the dried henna that
was clinging to the inside of the tips.
I used hot water from the hotel tap and a
straight pin to properly clean my henna tips
and the clogs stopped.

Many thanks to my two guinea pigs...
Clarissa of
TattooApparel.com and Andy of
Debnroo.com.
4/17/2008 Henna Tattoo Tips
Vitamin E Oil
Courtney (Orlando henna artist) has been
using Vitamin E Oil
to keep her henna design moisturized.
We have likely learned by now that henna
likes nice dry skin to develop color, but
once your tattoo is set, if you don't keep
the henna tattoo moisturized, the skin cells
exfoliate quicker, thus fading your tattoo.
Henna Notebook
I always encourage people to keep a henna
notebook. I use mine to...
-
Keep detailed notes on
every batch of henna I make. You'd
be surprised how quickly you forget
exactly what was in that last batch of
henna that left really great color.
-
Write down new henna mix
ingredients you'd like to try out.
-
Doodle henna designs and
try out new designs. My henna
notebook is my little brainstorm
area.
- Sometimes, people
want a specific design hennaed on them.
I let them draw it out in my henna
notebook. I'll also pre-draw out a
design for a customer if they are a
little unsure of what they want.
This gets them excited about their henna
tattoo!
I found some great
notebooks for henna at Michael's Crafts
for only $.50
in their clearance section! They are
8.5" x 5.25", spiral bound, and have a great
paisley floral design. The notebooks
are lined so it can help when drawing out a
symmetrical design for the first time.
They also had matching note cards and Post
Its.
Tea Tree Oil & Lavender Oil
These are my two favorite terping oils for
henna and I suggest them often.
Apparently they are not always easy to find,
so we've decided to start stocking them for
you! Keep your eyes out for us to add
high quality tea tree and lavender oils to
our site. If you have not already
signed up for the
Preferred Clients list, I encourage you
to do so, in order to get an email when they
are available.
3/30/2008 Henna Tips From
Beachcombers! Henna Workshop Participants
First, thank you all for coming to the
workshop! It was a great success and I
had more fun that I thought possible while
"teaching", lol! I promised to create
this follow-up info so that you'd have
access to some of the things that came up in
class, so here it is.
[
Colored Self Adhesive Wraps
SureFlexx Self-Adhesive
Elastic Bandage
Courtney showed us a fantastic product to use for
wrapping your henna, a self-adhesive elastic
bandage called SureFlexx. It's
a great way to wrap your henna without
looking like your broke something, lol!
It comes in a great selection of colors and
is found at feed stores. Apparently it
is used for horses. I found some
online sources for it,
Provico, and
ValleyVet. I have not ordered from
them, I just did a Google search to find
them.
Courtney found a local supplier
here in Orlando that sells SureFlexx for
$2.25 each or if you buy 4 or more rolls the
price is then $2.00 each.
1820 Lee Road
Orlando, FL 32810
407-295-0331
When using this to wrap your
henna design, seal your henna, wrap with
tissue/bathroom paper, wrap with plastic
wrap, and then cover with SureFlexx.
[
Essential "Terping"
Oils
When using oils in your henna mix, be sure
you are using pure aromatherapy grade oils.
some oils are pretty harsh so be sure to
test new oils before applying them in large
quantities or on others. Cinnamon,
clove, and black pepper are examples of
harsh oils. Lavender and tea tree are
mild oils.
I get my henna oils from Leaves and Roots
on the East side on Orlando on Colonial Dr.
They have a huge selection and have a great
website if you know what you are looking
for.
Leaves and Roots
9434 E. Colonial Drive Orlando, FL 32817
Phone: (407) 823-8840
Store Hours: Monday to Friday - 10:00am to
7:00pm
Saturday 11 am to 5 pm Closed Sunday and
Holidays
Susan and
Nikki mentioned Sun's Eye Oils as a potential source
for essential oils. You can visit
their website at
SunsEyeStore.com
or they can be bought locally at
Avalon located on Hillcrest at Mills
or
Spiral Circle
located on Thornton near Colonial.
[
Gliding Powder for Gilding Paste
We briefly talked about decorating your
henna with
glitter paste and gilding paste.
I talked about using eye shadows and theater
powder make-up to make your own gilding
paste. You just mix the powder
with hair glue or very thick hard hold hair
gel. The gel should be thick enough
that when turned upside down a slow bubble
will work itself back up. It should
not be "pourable" gel.
Eyegasams
Gilding Powder
Susan makes the very best gilding
powder (Eyegasams) I've found and at a much
better price than theater makeup. Each
pot of powder is only $7.50 each! She
is working on getting a
website up soon,
but you can
contact her via email here. If you
dance at the YOU Center with Lacey,
Susan always brings her powders
to class so you can arrange to purchase them
there.
If you are interested in loose glitter
to sprinkle over your henna, I've found that
extra fine scrap booking glitter work really
well. Don't use craft glitter that is
made of metal because if it gets in your eye
it can actually cut your eye.
The scrap book brand
Stampendous has non-metal glitter.
I've bought this brand at Michaels Craft
Store in the past, but the last time I was
there I didn't see it. I've emailed
the company to ask where else we can get
their glitter.
From
Courtney...
Glitter globs...
I used the glitter paste yesterday and got a
little overzealous with it!
It started to run and bleed the henna
pattern. Boo Hoo! So, keep in mind that a
dab will do ya and then use a skewer
or toothpick to push it around. Be careful
not to get it too close to the henna and
remember it will spread to fill in the holes
To save your neck...
If doing an ankle design or the side of a
foot, flip a small trash bin up-side down
and have them prop their foot on that. It
brings your work surface to eye-level when
sitting on the ground and will help with
neck strain.
Doodle designs...
Instead of drawing stick figures or smiley
faces at your next boring business meeting,
doodle out some henna designs! Practice the
basic shapes (bumps, clovers, waves, etc.)
repetitively on paper until you can easily
draw them in a pattern. This will help with
size control, symmetry and placement when
using henna.
Be on the look out...
If you are in need of design inspiration,
look all around you! You'd be surprised at
how many designs you can find in ordinary
items we see everyday. Look at your
calendar, magazines, the shape of a vase or
even the pattern in a bed spread. There is
inspiration all around and things may start
looking a little different when you start
looking for it. Now that you know just how
simple henna designs can come together,
start searching for anything that can be
combined with the basic shapes to make
beautiful works of art!
No photographic memory here...
Be sure to keep a journal of your design
ideas as well as recipes. Sketch, doodle,
take photos or simply describe in words what
you see, what you have used in the past,
what works or not, what clients like or
dislike or what you want to try next. Refer
to this information when making your own
designs or elaborating on the good
'ole standards. It's really fun to look back
through the pages as your henna skills
improve to see just how far you've come!
Have fun, make mistakes, learn from them and
let the creative juices flow!
- Courtney
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