Mehndi is the traditional art of painting the hands, feet or body with a paste made from the powdered, dried leaves of the henna plant . It stain's a usually cherry-red to brown color but this can vary with time left on and a range of other factors. Coffee, lemon, tea, and essential oils are sometimes added for texture, smell or to help the stain. Mehndi started in the Middle East and Northern Africa over 5,000 years ago. It has been used for artistic, ritual and ceremonial use. Archeologists have even found mummies with hennaed hands. It's becoming popular for a pain free, temporary body art here in the states.
MEHNDI is an ancient form of body art that has been practiced in the Middle East, India and parts of Africa for thousands of years. Mehndi is often viewed as a woman's practice though it has indeed been practiced by men. Mehndi is the art of applying designs to the skin through the application of pastes made with henna powder on different parts of the body. Henna was most often applied to the hands and feet.
