Scandinavian Henna Tattoo

One of my favorite summer pleasures is giving myself henna tattoos.  I prefer not to have a set pattern and just do it freehand, because it is more fun to see how they turn out.  I never know what I am going to get!  With my Scandinavian heritage, I sometimes feel like a bit of that influence presents itself.  Then again, it could come from my German heritage.  As I have done both rosemaling and bavarian folk painting, it is probably a mixture of both.

It took me awhile to figure out it is pretty easy to make your own henna paste from powder.  (I order it online from hennacaravan.com).  One of the best assets of mixing your own is that it is fresh, and the fresher the paste the darker the henna stains, in my experience.  You also have the freedom to add the essential oil(s) you prefer.  My preference is always eucalyptus.  I like the cool fresh feeling it has on your skin, the aroma, and I think it makes the stain darker than other essential oils.

The other thing I like about mixing my own paste is the left over lemon rinds you end up with if squeeze you own lemons.  I just pop them in a glass pitcher of water in the refrigerator to pour up for fresh, cold, lemon water.

Ah...it is not summertime here yet in MN, but it is a nice hot day.  Even the humidity feels good after our long winters.  The phrase "suck it up" can be negative in some instances, but not in this one!

UPDATE:

I am often asked the question, "How long do henna tattoos last?"  As I have photos of a few days already, I thought I would post them here so you can see what it looks like from day to day.

Photo 1:  Henna paste on and drying.  (I try to leave the paste on at least 6 hours.  When it really starts to crumble off, I put some oil on it to wipe it off.)

Photo 2:  The stain results the next morning.

Photo 3:  The stain results the 2nd morning.  (It changes from orange to a deeper brownish orange.)

As far as after care, I simply put oil on it when I take a bath or shower, and try to keep in from soaking or soap.