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The Henna Muse How-To Section Applying Sealing After Care Creating Traditional Bridal Designs 101 How Essential are Essential Oils It is very important for beginners to understand the importance of choosing the right henna. The most important thing to considder when shopping for henna, is that is must be fresh. Henna powder will lose it's staining powder if it's too old, or if it's been exposed to too much heat, sunlight, or moisture. Make sure to buy your henna from a supplier who imports henna regularly and stores it properly. Henna Muse, of course, is one of those reliable suppliers! There's more to choosing a henna than just quality. Climate, weather, soil and means of processing all affect the personality of a henna. Hennas ground in stone mills, for example, will rise like dough while they stand due to a reaction of the acidic lemon juice and particles of lime stone left in the powder from the mill. Sandstorms can turn entire crops into a gritty mess. Some locations like Morocco are known for producing henna of a particularly stringy nature. Carefully read descriptions of different varieties of henna to find the best fit for you. Your supplier should be able to offer detailed information about the quality, sift, and texture of each henna they carry. Jamila brand henna is an excellecnt starting place for a beginner. Most hennas are simply named for the region in which they were grown. This means that a Rajasthani henna form one supplier could be completely different from another Rajasthani. Jamila on the other hand, is a name brand. This means that the quality is consistant no matter where you buy it. Jamila is know for being smooth, well sifted, as well a giving great stains. It's also not one of the stringy varieties. Stringy hennas are great for making very fine lines, but they take some time to learn to manage. Many hennas will need to have the larger particles and bits of stem sifted out of them before they are fine enough to go through any applicator for body art. This is especially true for those who use bottles. The only henna offered at henna muse that needs sifting is the Moroccan. You can learn how to make a small sifter at the Henna Page. It's reallly hard to find a henna recipe with exact measurements. It's usually "a little of this, a bit of that," and it can be very frustrating for beginners. There is a good reason for this though. The perfect recipe is different for everyone. It depends on your climate, the consistency of paste that your prefer and more. For these reasons, most learn to mix by trial and error and over time have come to a mix they like by eye. The following reciepes are starting points. You almost certainly will change them a bit to make them your own.
Sraining is like sifting, but after the mixing. Those who prefer bottles should always strain their paste to help prevent clogs. For cones users, Jamila does not need to be strained. While Rajasthani is finely ground and sifted, I still suggest straining because lumps of powder tend to become suspended in the paste. Straining will break them up. Always sift AND strain a new henna until you learn it's personalilty. You can see the easy way to strain at the Henna Page.
More to Come The New Henna Muse Site will be complete by the end of June 2007 Thanks for your patience. | |||||||
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Urania welcomes you to the How To Pages | |||||||
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