How to Apply a Henna Tattoo: Free Tips for Applying Henna Tattoos & Body Art

Video Transcript

"Now we’re going to begin applying the henna tattoo. First of all you want to make sure that the hand is clean, and you want to get as much of the oils off the skin as possible. Henna does not tend to adhere well to skin that has a lot oils, either from lotions or body oils or from the skin itself. I’m just spraying the hand with some alcohol and wiping it with a cotton ball. At this point while you’re doing this it would be a good idea to ask if the person to which you are applying henna to has any allergies to the ingredients that you used in your henna paste. I’ve already asked the person I’m applying to if she has allergies to lemon juice, a citrus oil, henna or sugar. She’s told me she doesn’t so we can begin. Using the henna cone we’re going to begin to apply the first elements. She’s chosen a very simple design to go on her hand. It’s not really hard to do henna and it could be very relaxing. This is why many women in other countries use henna as a bonding method. They will frequently once a month go and have henna applied to their hair as well as to their body. During this time they will bond with one another and discuss various elements that are going on with their lives. During a wedding, henna would be applied not only to a bride, but to her bridal party and all the women that are close to her, her relatives. Usually the groom’s family doesn’t take part in this as much. It’s almost like they’re sending the bride away and they want to send her with their best wishes. Henna’s also very forgiving in that if you happen to make a mistake you can easily fix it. If the line is too light you can trace back over it. If you put henna someplace where you didn’t mean to, like that, it can easily be removed using a little bit of alcohol and a cotton ball. It is important to remove it quickly though because if your henna paste is very fresh and very pungent it will quickly stain that skin. The quicker you remove it the more forgiving it will be to you. While applying henna you can tell the person to whom you are applying it how to take care of it, how long it will last, maybe give them some little facts about it. People frequently just see it as just something pretty to do and don’t know the elements about it. Talking about the history of henna, it’s uses, how functional it is as well as beautiful is often very inspiring and amazing to people. And there you have it, a very simple and very pretty henna design. "