Introduction

We have complied a book of best advice on different uses and preparations of making pure Henna powder into decorative Henna Paint.

We acknowledge that there are a large variety of procedures, influenced by the skin/ hair color, your desired result and the quality of the Henna powder. For the purpose of this guide we assume that you have access to high quality pure Henna powder. As such we disregard the pre-colored and tained mixes of powder and Henna solutions. It is unfortunately common to add extremely damaging additives such as phenylenediamines (PPD) to give the henna a black color. This type of henna should never be used as research indicates that it may cause cancer, asthma and allergy. Most common are severe allergic reactions such as skin rash and inflammation. Once an allergy has manifested it is a chronic (lifetime) condition that will flare up whenever your skin get in contact with any product containing traces of PPD (e.g. hair dye).

Select your Henna supplier with care. Even Henna advertised as "naturally colored" or "refined" may contain PPD. If you are in doubt it is not worth experimenting with your health.

We stress the importance of using pure Henna and encourage you to experiment with the unprocessed powder and other natural ingredients such as paprika, clove, beet-juice and amla powder to provide variation in the natural shade of Henna.

The Henna Paint guidebook provides basic procedures for mixing the Henna powder into Henna Paint and its use for body decoration and hair dye.

We encourage you to share your experience and make this book the Ultimate Book of Henna Paint.