You may have seen the eccentric brown designs that stain the bodies of women in Northern Libya and North India. This is called “Bridal Mehndi,” also known as henna tattoos. Many women in these cultures have the henna plant based paste draw onto their skin prior to their nuptials and are stained with the flowering designs it leaves.
Henna tattooing was offered as an activity recently in Balentine Hall on campus. With about fifteen students in attendance, the art seemed to be quite popular with the male crowd as well. I myself had a tattoo design drawn on the back of my neck as well as drawing a small peace sign on the inside of my wrist. The art lasts on the skin for about a week as the brown stain slowly fades away.
While the paste used was already prepared in a henna tattoo kit, women in the Indian culture who receive them for social and holiday celebrations make the paste themselves from the crushed leaves of the henna plant. After applying the paste to the skin in the desired pattern and letting it dry, a citrus juice is used to speed up the absorption process. A few hours later, the paste crumbles off and what remains is the artistic red-brown stain.
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