Re: henna - eastern or western?
Posted by Jeremy Rowntree on March 31, 2000 at 10:40:22:
In Reply to: Re: henna - eastern or western? posted by Kenzi on March 23, 2000 at 22:37:01:
: For me, I was exposed to travel, languages, foreign cultures etc.
: from a young age, so it was a part of my life to explore and be
: curious. I wonder how others came to their interest in henna. Talk
: amongst yourselves...
Well, my first introduction to henna is documented at the link below.
But that only really covers why I got interested in henna as a
general concept. Fiona, my wife, had henna done by a Jenny, who we
first met on the Marrakesh trip mentioned in the Intro. Both Fiona
and Jenny do Middle Eastern dance, so for us it is the dance which
binds everything together. After all, that was why we were in
Marrakesh in the first place.
It wasn't until various henna suppliers started sending me henna kits
as samples that I developed an interest in applying and wearing henna
myself. Up until then, I answered all emails with a brief "I know
nothing about this other than I run this web page". But once I got
interested in how to get the best out of henna, and discovered that
my friend Alex was also intrigued by this, we started experimenting
with the various kits and trying out different bits of advice from
the forum. I was hooked.
We spent about a year playing around with recipes and things,
culminating in heading out to Sirius Rising last summer, where things
really crystalised. Since then, I've focussed more on developing
application skills, than on recipe tuning. In fact, I now just use
Amy's henna and lemon juice, having found that this works quite well
enough and avoids all allergy risks.
At this moment I have 7 separate henna designs on me and will
probably stay that way for much of the summer. It just brings out a
previously hidden "arty" side, plus I enjoy the interest from others
who wonder what it's all about. It is nice being able to point people
here when they want to learn more.
I must admit I don't pay a huge amount of attention to where the
designs I use come from. My favourites are mostly Celtic, though I'll
pick and choose from the entire range of Catherine's excellent round-
the-world pattern tour. It is interesting figuring out which patterns
avoid looking too feminine.
OK, ramble mode off. I'm going home. :)
