Re: Application Methods
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on March 04, 1998 at 02:58:37:
In Reply to: Application Methods posted by Alana on March 03, 1998 at 21:37:47:
The more acidic your henna paste, the more the dye will be
released....henna must be more sour than ph5 to release it's
color....the next considerations are the time allowed for the chemical
reactions to take place, one in the paste, the other with your skin.
Because the dye is bound up in a lot of plant material, trying to make
dark henna stains with thin henna is something of a non-starter. The
more heavily you can lay it on, the more dye will be available to
react with your skin. You can get a more "paintable" texture of
henna if you sift, sift, sift it...there's an astonishing amount of
grit and grunge in henna powder....then when you mix your paste you
can put in a bit of grenadine syrup, or you can use "sugary" very
strong black tea,...these make the paste more gooey and less clumpy
and prone to flaking... and a few drops of clove or eucalyptus oil
makes it dry a little slower, and flake much less. On the whole,
think of henna as something closer to egg tempera, slip glazes or
impasto, or cake frosting....less like ink. Once you get used to
working with henna, and it's artistic limitations, you'll be fine.
The 3-dimentionality of the medium throws most graphic artists at
first....email me through www.mehandi.com if I can help more.....