Re: Henna Stamps
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on April 04, 2000 at 13:01:57:
In Reply to: Henna Stamps posted by Devaprem on April 03, 2000 at 23:09:31:
Henna artists in the US have to do things slightly differently than
rural India, for two reasons. As of yet, we have no way to get
perfectly fresh henna. Henna is not yet widely grown here ... and
certainly not available in every other family shrubbery. Without
henna straight off the bush, many things are not possible .. like
putting the paste on for 10 minutes and having a cherry red stain.
If all the college students started cultivating henna bushes in their
closets instead of other plants that can get them two years to life
in the state pen .... or if tobacco farmers could switch over to henna
..... well maybe in a generation, we will have as wonderful henna as
India, Iran and North Afica. Until then ...... we have to deal with
the fact that our henna is less than perfect. One of the ways we can
do that is NS, wrap, latex, heat, and a long set on the skin.
Another difficulty in most of the US is climate. In India, heat and
sweat help henna stains enormously! Here, our skin is adapted to
(comparitively) cool weather and a sort of cleanliness obsession.
These deter henna staining. Again .... the answer here is wrap, NS,
heat ... all that.
Beyond that .... in NYC, you may find that everyone and his dog wants
to do henna at a street fair. (So I have heard.....I'm in Ohio). In
situations like that, it's a race to the bottom for cheapness, and
expedience, and the #$%^&s that are using ppd will corner all the
business in a heartbeat (damn shame that ppd is toxic and they're
endangering the health of all their clients and their own too ....)
Stamps certainly have been used for henna for about 9000 years ....
and there is good to them . Make your own ... or learn to freehand,
which is vastly preferable.
For more info on mixing and applying (in English) link below.
