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Where do you go to get good
henna?
How do you
know if the henna's good?
Can you get
good henna
at the local store?
You can find henna supplies at
your local Indian or Middle Eastern grocery store. However, henna
is perishable (its powdered dried plant leaves), and if it's been
sitting on the shelf a long time, it may have lost it's dye
strength. It might never have been good in the first place.
Sometimes you can find good henna on a store shelf, other times you'll
be disappointed! Store shelf hennas are often not only stale, they may
be very poorly processed, with adulterants, and may be poorly
sifted. Even if you go to the effort to sift henna you've found
at a bargain, it may be impossible to use if if it's the
notorious Karjackistan brown twig henna*.
If you order from The
Henna Page Suppliers, you can be more certain of getting fresh body
art quality henna! All of the henna suppliers listed in The
Henna Page Suppliers are specialists in henna body art, sell good
henna.
There are other henna suppliers on the internet, but those listed on
Henna
Page have signed a statement assuring their ethics and product
quality.
Those who didn't meet the terms of the statement didn't get listed.
Shop
at Henna
Page with confidence! If you're wondering about a particular
henna, ask on the Henna
Page Forum!
Is "greener"
better?
Many people believe "greener"
henna
is better henna. This is just a marketing ploy. In India and some
other countries, shovelfulls of green dye and green dyed sand are
tossed
into henna to give it more "eye appeal". See: Green
Dye in Henna for more information. In the Indian henna
industry, this is referred to as "polishing" the henna.
Similarly, in the USA, apples
are coated with wax and oils to give them "eye appeal". Neither
the
green dye nor the wax have anything to do with the quality of the
original
product. Of all the hennaes photographed above, the one in the
middle
of the bottom row gives the best stain. You just can't tell by
looking
at the powder what the stain is going to be like. If you want to
know if your henna is dyed green to make it look good, mix henna with
lemon
juice and put it between two sheets of glass and leave it there for 15
minutes or so. If the exporter added green dye, you'll be able to
see the bright green dots appear in the henna. They may be large
enough for you to see without a magnifying glass. If you want to
see what henna has green dye and what the green dye is, go to "Henna
at 60x"!
How long will
henna
last?
If you find a henna you love,
buy
plenty and store it! If you put your henna in an airtight,
light-proof
container in your freezer, it'll stay good for years! If you
leave
your henna in the light, in an opened box, or in a hot place, it will
lose
its dye potency!
Which henna
should
you buy?
Henna is a large bush
that's
pruned back several times a year to harvest the henna leaves. The
best crops come after a prolonged drought and high temperatures, when
the
rains have just begun. Yemeni, Indian, and Pakistani crops that are
harvested
soon after the beginning of the monsoon rains are usually the best of
the
year. Moroccan crops harvested after the early spring rains are
usually
the best of the year. Dryer climate, hotter temperatures usually
make for higher dye content in the henna! The
Henna Page Suppliers generally know where their henna is from and
when
it was harvested, and can show you results of the most recent
crop.
You're not going to get that in a shop. Buy from The
Henna Page Suppliers! Different hennas are ....
different.
Everyone has a favorite. Try a few and find out what works for
you!
How do you
know if
the henna's good?
"Good" depends on what you want from your henna. Different hennas are
"good" for different purposes. If an intense stain is your
first concern, you'll just have to test the henna, or ask on the Henna
Page Forum what people are presently using. Henna harvests vary
from
one year to the next, and what worked last year might not work this
year.
You can't tell stain by looking at the powder. You've got to try
it out, or ask someone who has tried some. Everyone has a few
favorites, ask!
If you want more than just good stain, if you want a fine
sift, no green
dye, and no grit .... have a look through a microscope!
You'll be amazed at what you find out by looking close up at different
henna powders! Want to look at henna close up? Go
to "Henna at 60x"!
Sift
chunky henna:
Very few henna powders are perfectly sifted. Does your henna
glop, clog, and jam when you try to apply it through a fine tip?
Grit and plant scrap are getting stuck in the tip! Here's how to
sift chunky henna for smooth paste that doesn't argue with you:
Got
some henna? Take the Next Step!
Back
to "How"
Can't find what you want
here? Try The
Henna Page
main "How" Index
Still can't find what you
want?
Try The Henna
Page
Main Index.
*OK .. once in a while I have to lighten up and have a sense
of humor, otherwise I'll take myself too seriously, and other people
will too (which is pernicious and dangerous). There is no
Karjackistan, and there is no brown twig henna, but there are hennas
out there that are totally useless, but if I listed them by brand name,
I'd be lawsuit central. Understand? Hint?
Catherine Cartwright-Jones
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