Henna Artistry FAQ

• How old do you have to be to get henna? We work on children over the age of 6. Children younger than 6 can have a hard time leaving the paste on long enough, that is why we offer the sparkle tattoos for the wee ones.
• What colour henna do you have? Henna powders all come from the same plant. Henna is only ever reddish brown. Depending on placement of the design and aftercare, it can get almost mahogany colour. Any other colours are not henna and may not be safe.
• How do I get a dark coloured stain? There are a few factors that influence the stain. First, the paste should stay on at least 6 hours. Once it has dried and started cracking, take the cotton pad you were given and dab/press the lemon juice and sugar mixture onto your paste. This forces moisture into the drying paste and the stickiness also helps the paste stay on longer. Second, remove the paste when you are ready by picking/scraping it off. Do not wash it off with water, in fact, if you can avoid contact with water for the 24 hours following paste removal it will help. If you have to shower, simply rub some vegetable oil or lip balm over the design to protect it. Finally, where you have had the henna applied also contributes to the stain, The closer one gets to the fingertips and toes, the darker the stain simply because we have thicker layers of skin for the henna dye molecule to penetrate.
• How long does it last? Again, this depends partially on placement as well as aftercare. You should get a week of nice colour and a week of fading, but frequent exposure to water will make your stain fade more quickly.
  
• Why does it look orange when I take the paste off? Your henna stain needs to be exposed to the oxygen in our air to oxidize, turning it from orange to brown. After paste removal, henna stains can take up to 48 hours to reach their peak. It does take some patience!
  
• What do you put in your cones? Our henna cones are filled with a few simple ingredients. We use powdered henna leaves, sugar, lemon juice and/or apple juice, water and some essential oils. The essential oils help the paste smell fantastic, as well as helping to make sure that you get a nice dark stain.