Persian Flowers
Moisten an area that you want to stain blue. Moisten only the area where you want indigo, otherwise it will feather. Rub some refined, pure indigo onto the moist skin.  Spread the color evenly with a stiff brush.  Continue rubbing in dry indigo onto damp skin until the skin is deep blue.  This is similar to applying eye shadow.  Rub in the color, rub in more, spread it out until you have it the way you want it.
Moisten a stiff bristled brush with water and dip it in turmeric.  Brush that onto the skin, and push and rub turmeric into the skin.  Let it dry.
As the indigo and turmeric dry, brush away the excess with a hard cotton swab.  Rub in more indigo and turmeric if you think the skin can hold more color.
To make green leaves, rub a little indigo onto the skin with a cotton swab, and let it dry.  Then, rub a little turmeric over the indigo with another cotton swab.
Continue filling in the areas. If you mix turmeric and pickling lime together, you'll get orange or red orange.  Pickling lime can sting the skin, so use it carefully, or use another source of red.
When all the areas are dry, buff off the excess with tissue.  Don't get your hand wet for 12 hours.  Indigo and turmeric will stain your skin gradually.  The colors will mellow during that 12 hours!
16 hours later,  the color had mellowed, and had stained the top layer of my skin.   I rinsed my hands with water, and there was no change in the color!  I rubbed wine dregs onto the turmeric/pickling lime areas in the middle of my fingers  to get a rose color. 

Want a henna pattern book that has patterns that use henna with shading, turmeric and indigo?
Get Jewish Patterns from Kurdish Folk Art by Alex Morgan



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