(Audio is very muddled for first 60 seconds
rest of audio there is a lot of background
noises which makes audio difficult to hear
and transcribe)
.. A lot of religious groups and cultural
groups use kind of for their bridal nights,
a small tree that grows in many countries.
It grows in East Africa, the Middle East,
and South Asia.
There are many words for Henna, mehndi, campfire,
and hopfer.
The word for the art forming is the same as
the word for the plants, so you often hear
henna plant and henna body art.
So you hear the forms are usually the same.
You get the best stain concentration with
henna, the higher the concentration of dye
in the leaves actually during the droughts.
Here is the information, some technical information
about how at night, below 50 degrees F. Henna
will dry in the summer heat, when it’s really
hot.
You know growing and such.
All this information I got from Dr. Catherine
Cartwright-Jones Henna page at http://www.hennapage.com,
it kind of helps us to really understand it.
This is a very (?) color, henna has (?) and
it breaks down the components of it.
She has done a lot of scientific research
on henna and it’s cultural uses and the
science behind it.
It’s a red orange dye which binds to the
keratin, which is our skin, is the reason
by it dyes it.
So you probably notice I have red tips on
the fingernails, is the henna growing out
of my finger nails.
You can dye your hair with it.
It also stains our skin.
So, lodestone is the red die that is contained
in the leaves, bonds to the Keratin which
is in our hair, skin and nails.
It says it will safely stain a red to red
orange color.
But you can see the bottom is different varying
degrees of henna color.
The longer you leave the henna on your skin,
the better the stain.
Henna from Lawsonia inermis makes the darkest
stains.
Often you will find henna from Mauritania
style henna or Moroccan style henna, really
just dark in using stains because they come
from hard dryer regions.
There is a nice example of a mature henna
stain on the skin.
It has this beautiful red color to it.
The reason why the henna stays fast, like
the hands and feet, the soles of our hands
and feet is because the skin is actually thickest
there.
So the thinner your skin is, the least it
will stain.
Because the layers of skin vary on different
parts of the body.
So say you want to try henna someone’s face,
you may get a fait henna stain.
Or if you henna someone’s hands, because
they are calloused or thicker you will get
a deeper henna stain.
The henna stains exfoliate from the skin in
7 to 30 days.
On average, the average henna stain will last
7 to 10 days on most people, some are up to
2 or 3 weeks depending on their after care,
how they take care of it.
And everyone’s exfoliation process.
It’s important to know that henna is not
the same thing (?) see that I stress that
I don’t call it henna tattoos, I call it
henna body art for a reason, because there
is a difference.
Tattoos are impregnating and implanting the
dye under the layers of skin permanently,
henna just lays on the skin and stains the
various skin layers.
So there is a difference.
You see people calling it henna tattoos, it’s
a misnomer that people think it’s a tattoo
they expect it to be like a tattoo.
It’s not painful, it doesn’t hurt, and
it’s not actually permanently leaving a
design on anyone’s skin.
Actual henna doesn’t do that.
So it just kind of goes over the differences
that tattoos are made by piercing the skin
and putting pigment under the layers of skin,
henna stains the outer most layer of skin,
it does not penetrate the skin, it does not
hurt, it feels cool on the skin.
What we tell children during fairs and festival
times is that henna feels like cool pudding
on the skin.
It’s the weirdest ever reference.
That it is actually a cooler and refreshing
experience to put henna on the skin.
It’s a natural coolant, so it actually feels
cool on the skin, it actually feels cold on
the skin, and is a pleasant experience.
Henna will stain the outer most layers of
skin as the exfoliate and as the tattoos are
permeant, you can exfoliate all day long with
your body poof and you will have the tattoo
for the rest of your life.
The henna will exfoliate and fade away.
Can dark skin people use henna?
Absolutely, this is kind of like a strange
little thing I get asked a lot during my fairs
and festivals during the summer season.
People with dark complexions will ask me,
can I get henna too or is there henna in different
colors.
Henna stains any complexation.
Any fresh natural henna powder can stain anyone’s
skin, from the darkest ebony to the fairest
light color skin.
This is the way it reacts to the skin naturally.
So people of all skin colors can use henna.
This is a great example of a woman with beautiful
brown skin here and you can clearly see the
henna stain on her skin.
She doesn’t need to use any chemical laden
black henna to get the beautiful henna design
on her skin.
It can stain anyone of any color.
This is the science behind it.
This is the cool little reference here.
Just imagine the different layers of your
skin and the green bump on the top is the
henna paste, as if you are piping the design
on top of a cave.
So the henna, where the skin is the thinnest,
like a diagram of an ear skin, would only
be about 7 layers deep.
The hand skin, on the right there, is about
20 layers.
So you can imagine the different concentrations
of colors that you will get from different
parts of your body.
And how quickly they will exfoliate at that
time.
When you put henna paste on the skin, it also
penetrates and saturates the top layer of
the skin so it’s just a drop of ink kind
of saturates the layers of paper.
Like if you have ever written on paper with
Jell ink pen and it kind of soaks in and does
that.
It’s the same premise.
Henna stains will darken.
In the first 48 hours after application, the
most saturated part of the henna stains oxidize
or darken.
Henna will oxidize after it’s been exposed
to oxygen in the air.
So there is this funny little experiment,
I got my twin sisters over there she knows
I have slept with henna on, like a crazy person
I’m sure, and as I remove the henna it’s
bright orange.
It develops into a deep red/ reddish brown
stain after it’s been exposed to the oxygen
and is allowed to darken naturally.
So in the first 24 to 48 hours, the first
1 to 2 days, your henna stain will actually
darken.
So everyone who decides to get a henna sign
done today, you will notice that after you
remove the paste, the paste will be bright
orange.
It’s natural, it’s supposed to look like
that, and over the next 1 to 2 days, everyone
else will vouch that it will darken naturally
on its own.
Which is a neat little thing.
Why does your henna fade?
Every body’s skin exfoliates, it’s a natural
process.
Henna stains appear to fade away in 7 to 30
days, depending on everyone’s chemistry,
everyone’s bodies are different.
People may exfoliate more, you know from their
own beauty regiments, or skin conditions.
The stains skins exfoliate are replaced by
unstained cells growing under the skin, that
is the natural exfoliation process.
New skin is being developed under it.
As your own skin sloths off.
It’s why it has an appearance of the fading
design on your body.
It kind of stains fingernails as I’ve shown
you.
Henna strengthen skin and fingernails and
deters drying and cracking, so it’s actually
a natural kind of medicinal purpose that people
have done for a long long time in many countries.
Is they will stain their finger nails naturally
with henna so Henna has some antibacterial
antifungal properties.
If people suffer from like finger nail or
toe nail fungus they will apply henna as a
medicinal use because it’s a natural product.
Henna is also a sun block.
This is a natural thing.
If you have ever gotten henna done in the
summer time I’ve had clients contact me
back that they get a ghosting affect to myself
as well.
I’ll henna my hand and driving all summer
long and it finally fades and I have a white
design on my hand, so it leaves a ghosting
affect because.
Henna is a natural sun block because it’s
saturating your skin cells protecting it from
UV rays that the UV rays cannot penetrate
the skin cells and darken them.
So it’s a natural skin block as well.
It’s kind of an interesting neat little
process.
Henna stains hair reddish, makes it stronger
and silkier.
It’s a natural conditioner.
It’s affective against ringworm, dandruff
and other fungal disease.
It also goes into the long history of medicinal
purposes that henna has been used for.
Anybody varying from different color hair
tones like silver hair or bright red.
The rest of my hair is dark brown, so I have
this beautiful auburn color.
So you get natural variations of highlight
colors in your hair from using henna.
So anyone from blonds to red and black hair
can actually use henna to condition their
hair and let it grow a little longer because
it does the same thing, it bonds to the keratin
that is in your hair.
It thickens your hair a little bit.
So if you are suffering from weak hair, thin
hair, it can thicken and strengthen it a little
bit naturally.
Where do you get something like this to make
it yourself?
You can make henna paste, the actual dye though
for your hair?
Is it a different philosophy or does it follow
along?
It’s he same recipe we use for body art.
Where does henna grow?
Henna grows usually as you can see on the
map here, Henna grows in the hot dry zone
from the mid Atlantic to the Pacific, the
yellow and orange areas of the map.
Henna will die in cold weather.
Henna gets stale during transfer.
So henna traditions are primarily in the hot
dry areas.
Henna is as a plant is perishable.
Just as you would have a can of vegetables,
there is an expiration date.
Henna has one as well.
So if I would get a little henna kit and haven’t
used it in a couple of years, is it probably
bad?
It’s probably bad.
It may stain light or not at all.
Henna is a perishable product.
So when I mix my henna, I often import my
henna from reputable suppliers where I can
import it myself and mix my paste in large
batches.
I cone and I freeze it.
It’s good for up to a year I the freezer.
Because it is perishable.
The henna stain will demise after a certain
period of time in the paste.
So if I were to keep taking that same cone
and keep taking it out of the freezer or the
fridge and try to use it every time, the henna
stain would get lighter and lighter and would
be ineffective after a certain point in time.
So that is like when you get the henna cones
that are sitting there in lots of different
markets.
Or you get the henna kits.
You don’t know if there are any preservatives
or dyes or chemicals that are keeping the
henna.
Henna naturally fades, it’s perishable,
it doesn’t take or dye quickly on the skin.
If anyone tells you, that you can get a henna
stain and it stains in 5-30 minutes are lying
to you.
Henna take hours for it to develop on your
skin naturally.
And here is this little camel here with a
bunch of henna. (?) on his back, farmer is
growing henna in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen
and Morocco.
You have it in North Africa and the middle
East and the Asian sub continents.
Who uses henna?
Women use henna for weddings, celebrations
for births, birthdays and any other special
occasion when they want to feel beautiful.
Men use henna for weddings and circumcisions
but not as much as women.
So there is some history behind all of that.
And also sometimes they will henna their horses,
donkeys and dogs for celebrations as well.
Because henna naturally stains anything containing
keratin, like hair or dog hair horse hair
and things of that nature.
Is Henna sacred?
I get asked a lot of times.
They say are you Muslim, or Hindu or is it
sacred practice to use henna?
It’s not really sacred at all, it’s a
cultural practice that a lot of people use.
Someone who is not from this cultural religious
background you are not offending anyone if
you want to use henna or receive henna.
People who are Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jews,
Christians, Buddhists and some other religions
have all used henna at one time or another.
People used henna for various holidays, but
henna is not part of the religious celebration.
Henna is part of the social celebrations of
these holidays, as Christmas trees are social
and not sacred to Christmas.
So you are not offending anyone by wearing
henna on your body.
This is a great little thing of how do you
make Henna paste?
First part of quality henna powder, don’t
use henna hair dye powders.
Just mix in lemon juice.
Cover the paste and let it sit for the time
it takes for the henna dye to release.
So you can see that it says let it sit for
12 hours.
You can imagine the process of making natural
henna.
Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming.
My sister knows very well.
Sometimes it takes me up to 2 days to make
henna for a certain event or celebration that
I have to go to.
So it’s not a quick overnight process.
There is different hennas from different regions
that have different dye release rates.
Like Moroccan henna has the fastest dye release
rate.
You can usually use Moroccan henna powered
in 2 to 4 hours.
Some henna, like Jamila henna from Pakistan
takes anywhere from 8 to 12 hours.
And Rajasthani henna from 8 to 14 hours.
So depending on when you mix it and when the
dye releases from the crushed leaves, which
makes the powder you can be able to use the
henna paste and begin decorating the skin.
These are things that some people add to henna.
They add coffee, tea, sugar, and other things
to henna paste after they mix it.
It will get darker stains if they add tea
tree essential oil or lavender essential oil
to the henna paste.
You can add sugar or dextrose to your henna
paste to make is smoother, also it helps it
stick to the skin better to prevent it from
flaking off faster.
Mixing a liquid into the henna paste to make
it the texture of yogurt.
The texture is very important to applying
the henna to the skin.
You can see she is demonstrating there are
different tools from different regions to
apply henna to the skin.
I use a cone.
I prefer the method.
As you can see here to the right, on the right
hand side image, this is like a bottle, cake
decorating bottle with a metal tip on there.
In other regions, this is also straining henna,
they also use twigs and henna syringes.
Like when my sister and I went to Morocco
for a few weeks, they use a blunt tip syringe,
they take the tip off, suck up the henna paste,
put the tip back on, and literally pipe the
henna on your skin.
Different places will use different tools
of applying the henna to your skin, from a
twig, blunt edge syringe, a henna come or
the bottles, the squeeze bottles with the
metal plastic tips.
Letting the paste dry on your skin and then
sealing it.
Henna has to stay on the skin, undisturbed
for several hours or overnight to make a dark
stain.
That is extremely important to realize that
henna, because it’s a natural product, it
takes time to develop.
Just like you wouldn’t plant a seed in the
ground and wait for it to grow.
Henna is the same way.
It takes a while for the stain to be absorbed
by the skin and also to develop on the skin.
It’s not going to develop very quickly.
This is just different ways that people seal
their henna to prevent it from flaking off
that they want to wear it for a little bit
longer before taking it off.
Like a lemon sugar sealant, a pump spray hair
jell or gluten water mix.
Things that help the henna stay darker besides
leaving it on the skin for a longer period
of time.
Steam or heat will actually intensify the
henna stain.
It’s not like essentially cooking it, but
it will intensify the henna stain to give
you a darker stain.
You know you can see the toilet paper wrap
like a mummy.
This is important.
I will just share this with you.
There is a handout that everyone has about
black henna.
Henna is not black.
Henna as we have seen in the diagrams from
before anywhere from an orange to a dark brown
or red.
People who use Para-phenylenediamine to make
black henna the PPD is what we called it.
This can cause severe allergic reactions in
the blood stream and permanent scaring.
If you were to Google black henna or black
henna scarring you will see lots of reports,
lots of pictures of these bad reactions that
people get from chemicals in the paste.
Whether it’s the preservative, that high
concentrations of PPD, which is used in black
hair dyes that people put into the skin so
people get an instant black stain on their
skin which is not natural.
So I wanted to stress that importance to you
so you guys know and you can share this information
with friends and family.
Ask the artist what is in their paste.
I personally put in natural henna powder,
lemon juice and essential oils.
Best leave the henna on your skin for 3 to
4 hours or for as long as you can humanly
possible to stand it.
The longer you leave it you will get a great
stain.
You won’t get a stain in 5-30 minutes of
wearing henna.
Heed the warning, don’t ever get a black
henna tattoo, get a natural red/brown henna.
I think that would (?) there is a cool little
design in the corner.
I think that would conclude this presentation
for henna.
Does anyone have any questions?
(?)
Not really, if you are allergic to any of
the ingredients, you can always look at henna
artists now, like if anyone has a citrus allergy,
which is very rare, you could say anyone would
know if they had a citrus allergies, grapefruit,
orange juice, lemons anything like that would
upset your skin an can be made with distilled
water.
So you wouldn’t get it or have to worry
about it.
Or the essential oils that paste and help
the henna stain the skin.
The most thing that you would get a reaction
to would be contact would be a red reaction.
Like a mosquito bite or something.
It would be a red raised where the design
was, it would be uncomfortable.
That is the most anyone has ever gotten from
natural henna.
No one has got any blistering or scaring from
any natural hennas
I actually got henna before at a renaissance
festival and it was in Arizona, so it’s
like after they did it they put stuff on it
and had me put the body part in the sun it
was so hot, it was summer time.
it’s actually perfect but I never realized
why.
Why they sealed it, I understand now.
there is a science behind it.
Good artists will know it.
I was wondering if it was the Moroccan more
expensive because it works faster?
Not generally, it’s about availability.
The more henna crop is available, the cheaper
it would tend to be.
Yemen henna is actually the most expensive
henna because it’s hard to get out of the
country with the issues that are going on
right now, with the government and shipments
being seized.
It’s the most expensive henna to get, and
it leaves actually very red red color.
Not necessarily, I think the ease of henna.
Yemen henna is not easy to work with.
I’ve worked with different kinds over the
years.
I prefer anything from Moroccan henna for
the quick dye release.
But I prefer Indian or Pakistani for anything
else.
They are less stringy to work with.
They leave a beautiful red to maroon color
stain on the skin and they are pretty consistent
with dye release they don’t have to worry
about oh is this going to work today or not?
It’s pretty consistent across the board.
Where Moroccan tends to be gritty and hard
to work with.
You know it stains and you have to triple
sift it and grind it down very fine and sift
it out to get the particles out so you can
work with it.
Do you get it right out of the country.
Or do they bring it here and then it’s like?
We ship directly from the country and the
distributors.
Different countries around the world.
People that we know and talk to.
Does anyone else have any questions?
Do you just want to touch quickly on the laws?
Recently on the noble prize award this year,
the interesting thing that she did with her
henna because of the education she was trying
to achieve the rights for education for girls
and women in her country, she would henna
algebraic equations on her hands for her friends
so they could learn.
And it was also a quiet sign of protest saying
we are still learning, you cannot take it
off because it does take time for it to fade.
But I thought it was really interesting and
brave aspect and interesting use of using
henna verses the traditional ways for Malala
using henna.
That people are used to as a form of protest,
that they were going to learn whether they
tell us we can or cannot.
Putting the algebraic equations on her hands
and other things that they are trying to learn
in secret or anything like that.
Was there anything else you wanted me to add
about Malala?
No, I think it seemed that it was a sign of
all the girls in the school they all do the
same thing.
Thank you so much for your presentation.
It looks like we have 25 slots, we still have
slots open if anyone is interested in having
some henna application.
But we also have a variety of different cookies
and frostings because we talked about this
and we talked about we can do henna esc designs
on sugar cookies, so I got a variety of different
tips so we will have that as well for those
of you who are waiting to have your henna
application.
So I will take the board of where you signed
up for henna.
And if you haven’t signed up we will call
everyone by name, and I will be sitting in
the back there and I will just be executing
some quick designs or if you had an idea I
can do a design for you.
And there are the cookies lined up over there
that you can attempt to henna yourself.
We will bring them to you.
Is there anyone not signed up that wants henna?
