Harquus

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Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on December 15, 1999 at 15:28:20:

I've been looking at harquus as it parallels henna (since about 3000
BCE or so) and the patterns..... why it's done, traditions associated
with it, I've found 100 or so patterns, and lots of descriptions of
ingredients, but I havn't really tried mixing, making and applying.

The medieval recipes that I've found involve carbonizing fragrant
woods (your source of black ... soot) and mixing them with myrrh,
ambergris or other perfume oils and henna. I'm guessing that the
myrrh is very gently heated till it's just liquid, then the soot and
a tiny bit of perfume oil are added, so it will be a sort of paintable
resin - based ink. (Not entirely unlike lac) There's a little henna
paste in there too.... I've just been using waterproof eyeliner to
try out the harquus patterns on myself..... They're sooooo beautiful!
I'd love to see them cross over into contemporary cosmetics ...
especially as they're damn near extinct in their home countries.

Any feedback? Anyone got a recipe?

(Yes, if you want 3 sheets of harquus patterns, just email and ask,
they're free. If you can do winzip, that's easier for me....)

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