So I am super happy and having fun making small fresh batches of henna for the Madison Eastside Farmers Market and other wonderful events where I am able to share my henna designs and art. Making henna can be a little messy, but smells great and is not too hard to accomplish if you have the right desires to do so.
I pick a perfect bowl to do my mixing, a mixing utensil (for some reason metal is not recommended), and got my creative juices going to figure out a recipe to mix up. There are many tea options that people use to hydrate their henna powders (organic and body art quality powders finely sifted are all that I will use). Some people like coffee, others a tea, maybe cloves or other secret ingredients. You also need a nice acid to break up the henna fibers so they will release dye, I like to use lemon juice. It can take 24-48 hours to break down the henna plant to release dye. Each powder is slightly different so making henna a few days in advanced of when you will use it is best. A nice essential oil to assist in that process and to invigorate wonderful smells into your henna is also a plus. Some of the oils I have seen recommended are cajeput, tee tree, and lavender. Lastly a sugar helps the henna in the drying process to have a nice “crust”. I like to use maple syrup cause nature made it perfectly already. Add a bit of liquids and then stir, stir ,stir… continuing the process till you have the consistency you like to work with, the set it aside so the mixture can make its magic.
I have been hand rolling cones of a mylar like consistency for using with my henna. It keeps me using my henna in a few weeks also as the acids can potentially break down the cone or any dyes on the mylar, so less dyes the better here also. Filling the cones is probably the messiest part of the job, but so worth it. I usually use a make shift pastry bag to fill the cones. Make sure to push the initial dollop all the way down to the tip of the cone before filling it completely. Then enjoy!
Journey with a Karmic Flower 