Mehndi Designs

Mehndi is a temporary body tattoo skin decoration that has been used in India for many centuries. It is used by women to adorn their hands and feet, especially during festivities, such as weddings. The way it works is that a thick paste is made from Henna, which is a plant, and that paste is applied in decorative mehndi designs directly into the skin. Once complete, the design is left to dry and sugar dissolved in lemon juice is applied to the drying design, to keep it wet longer as the longer it stays wet, the more color from henna is released. The mixture also helps deepen the color. After a few hours, the dried paste is washed off and the beautiful mehndi design is left behind on the skin.

Creating mehndi designs is an artform, just like body tattooing. But with mehndi, the body tattoo is temporary, it fades after a few weeks. The color and how long the design lasts depends on the quality of the henna, sometimes if the henna is poorly made, the design will only last a week or less.

Although mehndi designs are traditionally only done on hands and feet, it's pretty cool to create mehndi tattoos on other parts of your body, just like regular tattoos.