August 9, 2010
The art form of applying henna / mehndi varies from region to region.
The art form of applying henna / mehndi varies from region to region. The varying designs can mean different things to each culture, such as good health, fertility, wisdom and spiritual enlightenment.
It spans different cultures and religious traditions, thus making it possible to recognize distinctions in cultural style. Arabic mehndi designs are generally large, floral patterns on the hands and feet. Indians doing mehndi use fine, thin lines for lacy, floral and paisley patterns covering entire hands, forearms, feet, and shins. African mehndi patterns are bold, large geometric designs, usually black. After the henna paste is removed Africans apply a blackish paste of ashes, ammonia compounds and other corrosives to get the henna stain to turn out blackish. This is poisonous and is not a recommended procedure as there have been reported deaths from this procedure. We can only assume the reason they would go to these risky lengths is the natural color that henna stains, dark brown to dark orange, does not show up as well on very dark skin.
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