Gorgeous!

Very pretty! Happy Eid!

Absolutely stunning! Enjoy the celebrations!

Eid Mubarak!

This is particularly timely. My son made me buy him a henna cone because he saw a friend using it. I am worried about the mess and stains and am waiting for a warm day so I take it outdoors. I am particularly curious about the bandage.

I love mendhi but I’ve stopped wearing it too because it so often contains harmful dyes. So glad you found a natural option that still gives you the colour!

Beautiful and good that they found a natural option. I have seen this at weddings a couple of times and it is stunning in person.

@slim cat Thanks - I like nail polish but don't apply it often because I like to let my nails breathe, plus I'm not patient enough to wait for it to dry between layers (before applying the next coat) so it ends up smudged & I 'have' to start all over again (I'm a perfectionist when it comes to 'decoration' (as @FashIntern put it) body art, since it lasts a while lol).

@RainB Exactly - when I was getting married, it didn't feel like my wedding was coming up until I started getting my intricate bridal henna done (I didn't have a traditional Mehndi ceremony, but my sister applied it for me when the Parlour's version didn't work out). That's when I started bawling like a baby, because it finally all felt 'official'

@FashIntern Oh wow, less than an hour?! Was the final stain deep, or still light/ orange? It's also possible that the henna plant in Ethiopia produces naturally darker (& therefore 'stronger' staining) leaves. They told us we need to leave it on for a minimum of 4-6 hours (when I got it done this time), but I suppose leaving it on for a shorter time is also possible - it just means the stain won't last as long, since it won't be as deep.

Yes, henna has a different effect on different hair - the ends of my hair are chemically dyed still, so I could apply henna over the top but it would just create a more subtle 'ombre' brown than golden (like in your case). People tend to use it in my culture to cover greys because the orangey brown colour blends well into naturally black hair. But when your hair starts to move from grey to fully white, henna has the tendency to turn it full-on orange instead. Elderly men with full-on orange beards is a common sight

Ramadhan does make it easier to connect with other folk because it means they're awake at more manageable times with the timezone difference (let's just say it was definitely preferable to talk to my parents whilst it's still afternoon here (early morning for them) during Ramadhan, rather than usually spending my Saturday night sat at home waiting for their call lol).

@Sal @rachylou @RoseandJoan @Brooklyn @Staysfit @Runcarla @Synne @catherine @Cardiff Girl @Isabel @Lucy @Jonesy @Firecracker @Helena & @Shevia - Thank you all

@Jessikams Thank you - we couldn't last summer but thankfully we were able to gather on Eid day this year (albeit socially distanced). Yes, 100% natural henna will have that 'earthy' smell. I say it's like marmite - you either love it or hate it My brother hated it so much his wife actually applied her bridal 'Mehndi' with eyeliner lol! Did the smell persist even after drying etc? It didn't stain your towels etc after it set, right?

Thanks @Bijou - I was initially unsure when the lady wanted me to change to a different design on each hand, but I appreciate how she tweaked the design to make it 'go' with the left hand instead of being completely asymmetrical (e.g. the paisley pattern placement). Just goes to show that professionals know what they're doing more than we do

Yes @kkards I never grew up doing a lot for Eid anyway (by virtue of being in the UK) but you're right, these little things do help to make HK feel a bit more like 'home'. My husband is starting to understand this more now too, which also helps

@chewyspaghetti I'm sure you can find a Mehndi artist in your area - I actually found this henna supplier & applier duo over Instagram, of all places I plan to learn henna application myself, & have heard people often practice it on glass. You could also try it that way - it would make great home decor until you pluck up the courage to practice on skin?

Aww @suntiger Sounds like you could have done with some Mefix tape too Sadly I have no idea where my lady got hers from, since I've never seen bandages that are sticky on one side before that day, but suppliers for it must exist somewhere!

@Sisi & @Angie Thanks - my mother-in-law says I have carrot-shaped fingers, lol I used to be very self-conscious about my hands (I have a scar that I asked them to cover up using the henna) but now I like that my hands look 'soft' if that makes sense. Before COVID, I used to accessorise them with rings & nail polish more often.

@LaPed That's great - it's actually a big reason why I want to switch to henna from chemical dye! Also because I initially went to my hairdresser asking only for 'dark chocolate brown' colour (just to add some 'dimension' to my naturally black hair) but now every time I go for my roots touch-up, he keeps insisting I should go a little lighter each time (I think in his mind I'm just too 'shy' to go for a lighter brown, rather than it's such a common look here in HK that he probably feels that's what I 'should' be going for. Unfortunately for him though, I prefer 'subtle' over obvious colour lol).

@Janet That's a lovely design - it's always interesting to me to see how different cultures apply henna. Arab designs tend to have more 'lantern' style motifs rather than the typically South Asian paisley (e.g. you can see the 'chandelier crystals' kinda 'hanging' at the bottom of your wrists in that photo, if you know what I mean).

I'm with @bj1111 in that Morocco is definitely on my list of places to visit someday - I have friends from Tangier & Casablanca, but Fez also looks interesting. If only I had the money (& time!) to visit every city in the world, lol!

@Ryce & @Roxanna I was especially impressed that this supplier makes all the henna from scratch - she's currently in her third trimester, so I know she absolutely walks the walk when she says it's 100% natural & useable on both children & pregnant folk. Watching the way its stain developed has made me realise how much henna that's marketed as 'natural' isn't actually so ...

@elpgal Nice! How old is your son? My husband had a little henna design applied (for the first time) to the palms of his hands for our wedding. When it's wet, the main issue is not smudging it on anything (or yourself!) but once it starts drying, that's when you need to watch out for crumbling. Unfortunately I don't know anything about the Mefix tape (tried searching for it online but to no avail) but if you're interested, I'd be happy to buy some more from her & then send it over to you from HK? COVID permitting, of course (I don't know where in the world you're based, but feel free to PM me).

How cool about the time zones & Eid! This weekend I woke my parents up—I somehow forgot about time zones, whoopsie! But it was nearly 8:30 their time, so not so tragic.

Morocco is one of the places I thought we would visit when we moved here.

Lol I have my phone set to automatically Do Not Disturb at the same time every night to avoid this issue - ah, the trials & tribulations of an international family

Hopefully you'll get the chance to go eventually! My parents visited in the beginning of 2020, just before lockdown lol.

Zaeobi, how kind of you to offer! My son is 8 and he’s seen cousins in India with henna (both boys and girls) and wanted to try. His patience for it lasted about as a long as a movie, so we did manage to get a decent bit of color without tape or wetting it, so he’s pretty pleased with it

We bought a henna cone from the Indian store and I suspect it has something else mixed in because the color was way more intense than what I remember.

About the henna varieties—it’s been so long I really can’t remember how long I had to let it set or how long it lasted. They propped me up with a bunch of pillows, and I might’ve managed to sip some tea that way. I was going to a wedding in London a week later, that’s why we had it done. I know the patterns were still very clear then, think it was over a week after the wedding before it began fading. The design wasn’t paisley or anything else familiar to me, but my friends the bride & her sister, who are Libyan, recognized them immediately as wedding patterns. I thought that was cool, such an international thing.

Eid Mubarak - enjoy cookies, your Eid Mehndi is ovely.

@elpgal Aww that's cute - so long as he's happy, that's the main thing (& that he didn't make too much of a stained mess elsewhere, lol!)

Yes I remember it never used to be like that but my guess is that shops have started to do that as the demand for a deep, long lasting stain outweighs those who are willing to compromise on the stain a little for natural materials (or at least to wait patiently for it to develop).

@FashIntern This is what mine looks like after just over a week - it usually ~ 2 weeks when I apply chemical henna, so I'm ok with the quicker fading here around the areas of my hands most exposed to water/ skincare & cleaning products etc in daily life.

That's cool that they were able to recognise the patterns as bridal! For us, the differentiation also comes from the bride having henna applied up to her elbows & shins (some go even further) whereas the others at the Mehndi ceremony usually just have it done over a smaller area.

@April Thanks lol, I could do with a cookie right about now