Monday, April 1, 2013

Source(google.com.pk)
Henna Design Tattoos Biography


Henna is a tall shrub or small tree, 2.6 m high. It is glabrous, multibranched with spine tipped branchlets. Leaves are opposite, entire, glabrous, sub-sessile, elliptical, and broadly lanceolate (1.5–5.0 cm x 0.5–2 cm), acuminate, having depressed veins on the dorsal surface. Henna flowers have four sepals and a 2 mm calyx tube with 3 mm spread lobes. Petals are obvate, white or red stamens inserted in pairs on the rim of the calyx tube. Ovary is four celled, style up to 5 mm long and erect. Fruits are small, brownish capsules, 4–8 mm in diameter, with 32–49 seeds per fruit, and open irregularly into four splits.[2]
Cultivation
The henna plant is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia in semi-arid zones. Henna's indigenous zone is the tropical savannah and tropical arid zone, in latitudes between 15° and 25° N and S from Africa to the western Pacific rim, and produces highest dye content in temperatures between 35 °C and 45 °C. During the onset of precipitation intervals, the plant grows rapidly; putting out new shoots, then growth slows. The leaves gradually yellow and fall during prolonged dry or cool intervals. It does not thrive where minimum temperatures are below 11 °C. Temperatures below 5 °C will kill the henna plant.
Uses
Small Henna plant

Henna has been used since the Bronze Age to dye skin (including body art), hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. In several parts of the world it is traditionally used in various festivals and celebrations. There is mention of henna as a hair dye in Indian court records around 400 CE,[3] in Rome during the Roman Empire, and in Spain during Convivencia.[4] It was listed in the medical texts of the Ebers Papyrus (16th c BCE Egypt)[5] and by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (14th c CE (Syria and Egypt) as a medicinal herb.[6] In Morocco, wool is dyed and ornamented with henna, as are drumheads and other leather goods.
Lawsone, an active compound in Henna
Use of henna for body art has enjoyed a recent renaissance due to improvements in cultivation, processing, and the emigration of people from traditional henna-using regions.[7]

For skin dyeing, a paste of ground henna (either prepared from a dried powder or from fresh ground leaves) is placed in contact with the skin from a few hours to overnight. Henna stains can last a few days to a month depending on the quality of the paste, individual skin type, and how long the paste is allowed to stay on the skin.
Henna also acts as an anti-fungal[8] and a preservative for leather and cloth.
Henna flowers have been used to create perfume since ancient times, and henna perfume is experiencing a resurgence. Henna repels some insect pests and mildew.
Henna's coloring properties are due to lawsone, a burgundy organic compound that has an affinity for bonding with protein. Lawsone is primarily concentrated in the leaves, especially in the petioles of the leaf. Lawsone content in leaves is negatively correlated with the number of seeds in the fruits.[9]
Preparation and application
Body art
Henna powder
Video of Henna being applied

Whole, unbroken henna leaves will not stain the skin. Henna will not stain skin until the lawsone molecules are made available (released) from the henna leaf. Fresh henna leaves will stain the skin if they are smashed with a mildly acidic liquid. The lawsone will gradually migrate from the henna paste into the outer layer of the skin and bind to the proteins in it, creating a fast stain.
Since it is difficult to form intricate patterns from coarse crushed leaves, henna is commonly traded as a powder made by drying, milling and sifting the leaves. The dry powder is mixed with lemon juice, strong tea, or other mildly acidic liquids to make a preparation with toothpaste-like consistency, which can be used to make finely detailed body art. The henna mix must rest for 6 to 24 hours before use, to release the lawsone from the leaf matter. Essential oils with high levels of monoterpene alcohols such as tea tree, eucalyptus, cajeput, or lavender will improve skin stain characteristics.

The paste can be applied with many traditional and innovative tools, including resist, a cone, syringe, Jac bottle or fingers. A light stain may be achieved within minutes, the longer the paste is left on the skin, the stronger the stain will be, and should be left for several hours. To prevent it from drying or falling off the skin, the paste is often sealed down by dabbing a sugar/lemon mix over the dried paste, or simply adding some form of sugar to the paste. It is debatable whether this adds to the color of the end result; some believe it increases the intensity of the shade. After time the dry paste is simply brushed or scraped away.
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images
Henna Design Tattoos Henna Tattoo Indian Arabic Design Pictures Pics Images

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