13 Facts About Henna

Henna is a dye prepared from the plant Lawsonia inermis, known as the henna tree, the mignonette tree, and the Egyptian privet, the sole species of the genus Lawsonia.

Henna can refer to the temporary body art resulting from the staining of the skin from the dyes.

Henna has been used since antiquity in ancient Egypt and Indian subcontinent to dye skin, hair and fingernails, as well as fabrics including silk, wool, and leather.

Henna stains are orange when the paste is first removed, but darken over the following three days to a deep reddish brown due to oxidation.

Henna can be mixed with other natural hair dyes, including Cassia obovata for lighter shades of red or even blond and indigo to achieve brown and black shades.

Related searches

Henna has been used to adorn young women's bodies as part of social and holiday celebrations since the late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Henna was regarded as having Barakah, and was applied for luck as well as joy and beauty.

Nqaasha, the low-end Henna specialists, are known for attracting tourists, which they refer to as gazelles or international tourists, in artisan slang.

In Sudan, Henna dyes are regarded with a special sanctity in Sudan and for that reason they are always present during happy occasions: weddings and children circumcisions, in particular.

Henna has been part of Sudan's social and cultural heritage ever since the days of Sudan's ancient civilizations where both would-be couples get their hands and feet pigmented with this natural dye.

Henna parties were commonly practiced in Turkey similarly to Arab countries.

Henna is known to be dangerous to people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, which is more common in males than females.

Henna imported into the US that appears to be for use as body art is subject to seizure, but prosecution is rare.