Mendhi is the usage of henna to decorate one’s skin in South Asia. Henna is a small tree that is considered very auspicious.Henna is also used as a medicinal plant in some countries.
The usage of henna goes way back to the 1600 BC when the Egyptians dye the hands and hairs of their Pharaohs before they are mummified. In these days, menhdi is applied on a bride during a wedding, birthdays and during the celebration of the completion of 7th month pregnancy.
There are many traditional Mendhi designs. For example: Arabic floral designs, geometrical floral designs, designs using fine lines, Arabic leaf designs. However, in these modern days, people use any type of designs that relate to their culture. Chinese will use their symbols, whereas new age Americans will use some spiritual designs.
During weddings, Mendhi is applied on the bride’s palms with fine lines and figurines that depict a wedding ceremony. The mehndi sometimes extend till the forearm. It is applied on the feet as well and sometimes extends upwards to the knee.
In order to prepare to Mendhi, the henna’s leaves are taken and dried. Next, you have to ground it so it turns into powder form. After that, the powder is turned into paste form. Then add half a lemon’s juice, a few drops of eucalyptus oil, cloves paste and 2 tablespoons of coffee. Mix the mixture evenly and transfer them into the Mendhi cone. Make a hole at the end of the cone so that the henna mixture is able to come out.
Then, you can freely design on someone’s hand as if you were decorating a cake with cream. It is better that you keep the tattoo moist for as long as possible after applying Mendhi. You can do that by applying a mixture of sugar and lemon juice on the Mendhi. When it dries up, clean up the caked Mendhi. Unless your Mendhi comes into contact with water, its color will continue to darken.
If you would like to remove the tattoo, you can wash it under hot water if it has just been applied recently. For at least 10 minutes, soak the affected area in a hot, soapy water. Then scrub the henna away with a brush. This only brushes it off the surface as some of it may have penetrated into your skin. In order to completely remove it, continue soaking in a hot water with bleach and scrub it. Repeat till Mendhi tattoo is gone.
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