What is Henna? What does it do? The answers, I hope, lie in the paragraphs below.

Henna is a plant, that is grown in India and many parts of the Middle East. The plant is dried and ground into a powder which is then made into a paste which will stain the skin, or hair. To bring out the staining properties of the powder, several things must be added to the powder. First somethng acidic is required, this can be in the form of lemon juice, lime juice, coffee or tea. The Tipsy Turtle primarily uses lemon juice for this stage.

The second process of preparing the henna paste requires the addition of a essential oil. This can be in the form of lavendar oil, tea tree oil, geranium, cardomom, clove or many other oils. We primarily use lavendar, tea tree or a cardomom/clove mix.

Other things can be added to the past to potentially enhance the staining power of the paste. Some people swear that adding items to the paste helps, others do not. Some items that can be added are black walnut, black pepper or fenugreek.

Once the henna paste is applied to your skin, the stainingg process begins! The henna permeates and stains the top layers of your skin. Places where your skin are thickest will last the longest. Hands and feet are the best for staining, places such as the lower back or chest will stain but as the skin is thinner there, the stain will last far less time.

In order to obtain the best stain possible, it is advised to leave the paste on as long as possible. Many people wrap their design and sleep with the paste on, this is a great idea for those intricate hand patterns that you want to enjoy as long as possible  Adding moisture to your paste every so often until it falls off also can help the staining process. Henna will stain in as little as a hour, but the darkest longest lasting designs require a little care. As your skin goes through its natural exfoliation process the henna slowly begins to fade. The darkest color for your design willl appear about 24-36 hours after paste removal.

The color of your stain can vary depending on many factors. Humidity, Temprature, mood, hormones, and age can all affect the color. No two people will stain exactly the same. The majority of folks get a color ranging from pumpkin to dark cherry and any variation in between.

Dependent on many factors, including weather, humidity, care and location of a design, your henna can last anywhere from 3days to 3weeks.
The feet tend to last the longest followed by the palms of your hands, the back of your hands, then forearms and calfs. Chest and backs typically last about a week. Henna on the face typicaly will only last a few days.