Henna is considered a basic element for women’s make-up. It’s made from leaves of the henna tree which women usually collect, grind, and smooth before mixing with hot water and leaving for fermentation. Henna can also be bought ready-made from salons.
Henna normally requires several hours to give the sought colour to the hair and make it more lustrous. Henna used for make-up is usually mixed with dried lemon that should be crushed and boiled and when it cools, it must be mixed with the henna to provide the best outcome.
Henna enhances the beauty of women. It is particularly used during special occasions such as engagements and weddings and Eid. Brides are decorated with the chemical-free product on their hands and feet.
There are several types of henna decorations including Al Ghammsa, which is hand painting up to the elbow. Al Gessa lines the whole fingers with henna until it reaches the centre of the hand, Rawayab colours the first tip of the finger and draws a line that goes to the middle of the palm.
The Al Jutti style tints two joints of each finger while Biarreej draws triangles on the hand. The Bittat is a style that is formed of four triangles with small dots drawn on the palm of the hand. Flowers or stars are also used in this style. Plus plenty of designs can be easily obtained either at home or in henna salons.
It needs two to four hours to dry then oil must be applied on the hands and feet and should stay for three days so that the henna prints becomes dark. Bedouin women frequently used henna on their hair and used to apply gasoline to make it darker. However, today women add herbal ingredients instead to get the wanted colour.
A wedding is a time when henna comes into its own in countries in the Arab world. The bride gets her hands and fingertips decorated with henna at a party attended by the bride’s relatives and a woman called Al Muhanniya, who has knowledge of henna styles and colours, who applies beautiful designs of henna on the bride’s hands (extending to the arms) and feet (extending to the legs).
The henna used to decorate the hands and feet should be fluid whereas henna used for dying hair is usually thicker. The decoration process is done using a small cone that has a small hole from which henna comes out when pressure is applied. Most women prefer the red coloured henna to colour hair, this is prepared with water and sometimes lemon and olive oil and occasionally with tea, it depends on the woman’s choice. It is left for a day for fermentation and then should be applied for four hours on the hair until the preferred colour is obtained.
-Agencies