I audited a class on Henna at Gulf Wars.  Somehow, I had no idea it was herbal, or just hadn't really thought about it, before the class.  Now I find it of interest and would totally do it!  Anyway, here are my notes.  I scratched them down inside my class booklet so I thought I should put it all out somewhere it made more sense, so I can remember later.....

First, there are 3 terps (contain terpinol) that darken the colors: cardamom, lavendar, and tree tree oil.
Also added are lemon juice (no pulp!), sugar (it binds it), for darker stain, and of course the henna powder.


Mixed together, this should be about the consistency of stiff mashed potatoes. 
As you stir your mixture together, just add henna powder to thicken it if needed. 


It takes 24-48 hours for the color change to occur.  The dye will change, and this change varies based on every person's individual body chemistry.

The henna is applied with either jacks or cones.

You can add essential oils.  Make sure it's the real body-grade essential oil, not fragrance oils. A bit of something calming like lavender soothes the subject.

You can freeze leftover mixture for up to a year!  Just store the finished cones.  You can always reconstitute them all together later and have a nice batch of henna ready to use.

Where to get good quality henna?  www.thehennapage.com
hennapages.com has good info.
It should be a fine powder, soft is desired.  It should NOT be black henna.  This is not real.
"Black" henna is PPD and should be avoided!!!
*Side note, henna powder is soothing to the skin! You can add it to soap and prevent razorburn!

You can apply henna to non-skin, too!  You can paint with it.  Add some food coloring to the henna for colors.  Apply Mod Podge over it when finished to seal and protect it.

Now, to put henna art on a person.  Place the arm or subject you're working on upon a pillow.  This gives the part stability, plus you can move it around more easily as needed.

You can put henna in your hair and it makes a beautiful natural stain.  It's also incredibly strengthening and makes hair soft and smooth.  Leave in hair 4-5 hours and apply heat.  It repairs damage, helps strengthen, and also helps with dandruff.  Real henna will end up black/brown to blood red, purple, chocolate, orange....

It will last 1-3 weeks on skin, 4 months on hair.