How to get Beautiful color of Henna?

Henna/Mehandi has a lot of significance in India and middle-east. It is like a tradition in India, and it is even believed that the women whose mehendi has left a dark color will get immense love from her husband! While there's another school of thought which believes that the darker your mehendi is, the more love shall be showered upon you by your mother-in-law!!

Well, perhaps this is the reason why women go crazy to darken their mehendi and try all sorts of things to get the darkest possible color.

I have listed a few tips that can be done by anyone to darken their mehendi hands. All the tips mentioned below are very easy and use ingredients easily available at home. Believe me, it's no rocket science and anyone can achieve that!!!

1. Leave henna for a longer time:Wash off the henna after 7-8 hours. If you can afford to keep it longer, leave it for about 12 hours. Do not wash with water; instead scrape it out by rubbing your palms together till the dried henna falls off! Within a few hours you will see the rich colour develop
2. Dab lemon sugar mixture couple of times:Boil some sugar in water and allow it to cool. Now decant this mixture into a bowl. Add a few drops of lemon juice and apply the lemon sugar mixture a couple of times on the henna once it has dried. The sugar keeps the mehndi in contact with the skin for deeper penetration, while the lemon juice acts as a catalyst for dye release and deep penetration of colour.
3. Wrapping up the designMany also suggest wrapping the henna design as it gives a rich and darker colour. While you can do the wrapping yourself, but there is a danger of spoiling the design. It is best you ask the artist to do so, or have somebody else do it in her supervision. You can use medical paper tape to gently wrap up the mehndi.
4. Run your hands over the fumes of the cloves:Try ‘bhaap’ for a splendid and rich penetration of the mehndi design on your palms. Before you hit the bed, first apply the lemon sugar mixture mentioned above. Now heat a few cloves over a tawa and run your hands over the fumes of the cloves, but carefully! Let the fumes dry up the lemon and sugar mixture. You can either scrape the henna off after this, or leave it on until dusk.
5. Apply balms after scrapping the crust:Indian brides use balms like Vicks, or Tiger Balm, on henna after scrapping the crust off. It is said that these balms stimulate the colour development and penetration into the skin
6. In the meanwhile, you can also do a 'long bhaap'. Basically get a pan on a stove and warm it up and put a few cloves in it. Keep your hands a few inches away and let the smoke come upto ur hands
7. Apply a tiny amount of cooking oil to your palms before applying mehndi.
8. Design of the Mehendi also plays a big role in determining the final shade. The thicker the mehndi design is, the more there is color.

Don’ts:

• Do not wash your hand with soapy water, doing so can lead to your mehndi fading in portions and will look ghastly.
• Do not shave your hands after henna application as it may scrape the upper layer of your skin and also the mehndi.
• Do not wash your hands immediately after application. Steer clear of water for a good 6 hours. If possible avoid a shower for at least 12 hours post application.
• Do not over use the sugar and lemon mixture; else the mehndi will turn a deep brown colour.
• No matter what, do not use a blow dryer to dry the mehndi on your palms and legs! This may make the henna bleed and ruin the design.
• Avoid drinking too much of water or any juice just before application.
• While good light is necessary for the henna artist to see her strokes, avoid sitting under direct sunlight.