Waaaaaay beyond orange

Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on August 02, 1999 at 18:41:38:

In Reply to: Color shades all some type of orange? posted by Justin on August 02, 1999 at 18:01:52:

I've seen henna go all shades from lemon to black naturally. If the
color is on a maple leaf in the fall, henna will potentially go that
color.
What makes the difference?
1) Freshness of your henna powder. Fresher is better! I get great
results from henna from www.castleart.com . (Deep burgundy, chocolate,
sometimes black naturally. I can email you pictures if you wish.
Just ask)

2) Time. You will get better staining the longer you leave it up to 8
hours...beyond that may be superfluous...but at least 6 hours really
helps.

3) Acidity and dye release. Hennotannic acid is released from henna
most efficiently in an acid recipe. The dye release begins one the
henna powder is moistened with something acidic, and continues for a
while until dye release peaks...then the reactivity slacks off. This
is subject to a great deal of variation depending on heat, and your
henna. Experiment....and check the recipe at the link below.

4) The henna paste has to remain slightly moist on your skin. A wrap
is very helpful to accomplish this. Again, see link below. There are
many different wraps and seals that will hugely help your henna
color...experiment to find out what's best for you!

5) Different parts of your skin stain differently. The thicker and
more calloused parts of your skin take henna much darker than the
rest. Think of where Black people have pale skin. That is a
different sort of skin that takes henna wonderfully....palms and
soles, and up a bit around the sides. Henna is staining dead skin.
Where your skin is thin or new, henna will not take well.

6)Heat. Henna releases dye far more effectively in heat. Heating
pads, bonfires, hot weather, ....dancing, imbibing....all of these
help henna get really dark! Sweat and grunge which leave a high ph
film on your skin are very helpful too!

• Mehandi from the TapDancing Lizard

Follow-ups:

• Speaking of heat... Anoise 19:39:19 8/02/99 (1)
  • Re: Speaking of heat... Catherine Cartwright Jones 13:39:01 8/03/99 (0)