Cool Henna Designs For Your Bare Feet (and Hands)

Henna designs are mostly used on the body as a temporary tattoo which wears off on its own. The advantages of using henna designs are first, they are not permanent so that you don't have to be stuck with a tattoo if you should ever regret it later and second, you don't have to endure pain to have your body decorated.

Many barefooters like to decorate their feet to tell others that they're not ashamed of their feet; in fact, they're proud to show them off, and docorations such as toe rings, ankle bracelets, and henna designs make their feet look even more attractive. So, if you go barefoot a lot (even if you don't, but like wearing flip flops or sandals), henna designs (or henna tattoo) would certainly look natural on your feet and yes, make them look more exotic! Of course, you can also apply them on your hands and other parts of your body.

Some interesting facts about henna body art

If you have ever had the privilege to visit certain parts of India you would have come across an art form that is still used by millions of women there to adorn their bodies. It is known as henna and is also called mehndi or mehandi in India and Pakistan. Indian henna designs are legendary and sought-after world wide. Good henna designs do much more than beautify the hands and feet of the wearer.

Most festive occasions all over India warrant the application and display of henna designs on the hands and feet of the women. Most marriages in the northern states of India feature henna designs as an essential part of the bridal attire. Several studies have also shown that henna designs contain certain medicinal properties but we won't go into those because that's not the purpose of this page :)

Side note: besides body art, henna is also widely used for hair coloring as well as decorations on lamps and bags but again, that's another topic for another site :)

So, what goes into the making of good henna designs?

The ingredients

To start with, it's crucial to have the right ingredients. Good henna is a must for great henna designs. The henna leaf needs to be sourced when it is just right. Only then will the henna designs get the rich color that they are so renowned for. Thus, finding reliable growers who don't pluck the leaves off the branches when they are either too young or too old is very important.

The next thing about great henna designs is the other ingredients that go into the mixture. Some practitioners of henna designs swear by the use and efficacy of lemon juice, strong tea or coffee, and essential oils such as eucalyptus, clove, and lavender. Other designers sing the praises of materials like sugar and lime while yet others claim that good, clean, potable water makes for the best binder. These ingredients are poured into well ground henna paste and mixed to get a pasty concoction.

In today's fast-paced modern world where time is often a precious commodity, a type of henna powder has emerged as an alternative to the freshly ground paste. However, traditional henna design practitioners will never use the powder if they can help it. Whatever the case may be, different practitioners of henna designs have their proprietary methods and swear by them.

The henna design artist

Finally, the one thing that makes for cool henna designs is the artistic capability of the henna design artist. A skillful artist can make even the most simple of henna design appear fantastic while a bad artist can make even the simplest henna pattern a disaster. One problem with henna designs is that once the paste has been applied, it leaves behind a reddish shade that will not disappear for days on end. So, getting the application right the first time around is critical to say the least.

A few things about henna worth mentioning

Natural Henna designs are harmless for the most part and although on rare occasions they can cause allergic reactions, they don't typically cause serious problems. The symptoms such as mild itching, shortness of breath, and/or tightness in the chest are usually a reaction to the essential oil used by the artist and they appear within a few hours.

Unlike natural henna designs, some products known as black henna, created by the addition of a substance called "paraphenylenediamine" (PPD) - traditionally used in black hair dye, can cause severe allergic reactions that can take between 5 to 15 days to appear and can result in permanent scarring and may even be life threatening.

Henna designs should not be applied on people, especially little kids, with a condition known as "G6PD deficiency" (read this MedlinePlus article if you care to know what the heck that is) because they can have a really bad reaction.

Those are just precautions to ensure beautiful and safe body decorating, and are not meant to scare you from getting henna designs. If you have any concerns you should consult your health care provider.

Otherwise, why not flaunt those beautiful bare feet, hands, or body of yours and add some cool henna designs to make them look exotic? :)

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