Eid-ul-Fitr will be on this Thursday for me. Just wanted to share the Mehndi I had done on my hands, since this is the first time I've managed to find someone who supplies & applies 100% natural henna here (I have sensitive skin).

I've been reluctant because I had a bad experience getting it done for my wedding, since their 'natural' henna was so light that it showed up even lighter than #3! For those who don't know, Mehndi is a stain made by the leaves of the henna plant - the deeper it is, the longer it will last (usually 1-2 weeks, depending on how often you wash your hands etc). So you want it to be dark!

The process (in photos):
#1 is what it looks like with the paste freshly applied (no smudging!)
#2 was when I applied a special 'bandage' (sticky on one side, but not overly so) after the paste had dried - you don't want it to start crumbling away too quickly because the stain won't have time to develop. So I sprayed the dried paste with rose water, let that dry, then used this tape to keep it in place overnight (before peeling it off).
#3 was taken ~24 hours after initial application, having scraped off the paste with a spoon (lol) & some oil to help (some people use lemon & sugar, which gives me an adverse reaction).
#4 was taken ~48 hours after initial application, having applied some rose balm to #3 & used minimal water for the first 24 hours (I didn't apply any to my palms or fingertips for this reason).
#5 nails painted & ready for Thursday

Henna is also used to dye hair - I want to make the switch from chemical dyes, so will try it out on my grey roots at some point as well Happy to have finally found 100% natural henna (made from scratch!) that I can apply to my hands & head without worrying