Importance of Mehndi In Indian tradition...

Mehendi represents the bond of matrimony and is thus, thought-about a shagun (sign of excellent luck). It signifies the love and fondness between the couple and their families.

Here are some fashionable beliefs that are related to this tradition:

The darkness of the mehendi color on a bride’s hand represents the deep love between the would-be-couple.

The mehendi's color additionally shows the love and understanding between the bride and her female parent.

The longer the mehendi retains its color, the a lot of auspicious it's for the newlyweds.

Mehendi is additionally deemed to be a representational process of fertility

Mehndi.... Sign of Beauty

Mehndi is contemplating the sign of beauty. its the golden words for everybody. Everybody has its own perspective to understand the style. There are totally different meanings of words using English. so beauty contemplated the style and new appearance or superb Quality of something that inspire by their look. Mehndi is thought as ancient henna fashion that facilitate to appear lovely. It's vital in each form of fashion that it's taken as considerable.

Floral Design

Simple but amazing floral Design.....

this kind of design mainly for young college girl.. who always wants simple and elegant design...

this design features a flower with beautiful triangle shaped patterns.. which add extravagant appearance to the design. moreover, the design drawn in this art is very sophisticated and accurate...Simple to try yet elegant..people please try this design and share your photos with us.. and don't forget to like and share your views in a comment.

love you <3 <3

Trending Now: Amazing body Art

American travelers and backpackers have known of henna body art for years. Many would return to the United States from their wanderings in the Middle East and India with faded temporary tattoos covering their hands, palms and feet.They weave around a wrist like iron lace, along the edge of a foot like an embroidered hemline, spiral the palm like a branch shadow projected by the sun.

Today, mehndi kits are widely sold in craft stores, hobby shops and on the Web. Mehndi artists are as common as tattoo artists, and superstars like Madonna have exposed the masses to henna tattoos on album covers and MTV.

Mehndi, an ancient art form used commonly by two of the cultures featured in The New Americans (Indian and Palestinian), is used to create intricate, ephemeral designs resembling gloves and slippers. The designs are applied to the skin with a thick paste made from the ground leaves of the henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) and have been used by desert cultures throughout the Middle East, Africa, India and Egypt for thousands of years.

The reddish brown stain is most often used to decorate the skin of hands and feet, but is also used to dye nails, clothes and hair as well as for its medicinal properties. Americans usually use the Indian word, mehndi or mehendi, to describe henna body art, but each culture has its own term: hinna in Arabic and Egyptian privet in Egypt.

While it is believed that henna has been used for decoration and medicine for at least 5,000 years, according to Carine Fabius, author of Mehndi: The Art of Henna Body Painting, the practice of mehndi began as a way to cool off in the hot Indian desert. These peoples found that they stayed cool by dipping their hands and feet into a paste made from the ground leaves of the henna plant even after the paste had been scraped off. Over time, this practice evolved into an art form of delicate lines and dots painted on the hands and feet.

Henna is known as much for its apothecary powers as its magical properties. And depending on the culture, these henna-based talismans conjure spirits, celebrate prosperity, ritualize nuptials, offer protection or serve as intimate, erotic love charms.

Mehndi is traditionally used for celebrations and rights of passage: betrothals, weddings, births, religious holidays and festivals. Moroccans paint doors with henna to bring prosperity and chase away evil. The foreheads of bulls, milk cows and horses are sometimes decorated with henna for protection. Indian mehndi designs feature fine, lacy floral and paisley patterns, while Arabic hinna is usually made up of large, floral and vine patterns. African henna art is bolder and more geometric.

While mehndi is currently all the rage with actors, artists and hipsters across the United States, new Americans like Naima and Anjan are integrating their traditional customs into their new lives, adding another square to the American cultural quilt.

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.

Henna Body Painting: Guide

Never mind that mehndi art (or henna painting) has been part of rituals in India, Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years. It's been a fashion trend across the United States the past year.

So it is no surprise to find kits (available at some beauty supply stores) and how-to books such as Mehndi: The Art of Henna Body Painting (Three Rivers Press, $11) by Carine Fabius.

A native of Haiti, Fabius is a co-owner with her husband of a Los Angeles art gallery and mehndi studio. She received so many requests for information, she writes, she was driven to produce the book that offers a history of the art and facts such as: In India, widows are forbidden from wearing henna because they are never supposed to have fun again.

Henna, which grows on bush or shrub with bright green leaves, is seen in some cultures as a lucky charm, with the power to protect and ward off evil spirits. Fabius says it's magical. The high interest now comes at a time when tattooing and body piercing among the cutting edgers are getting, well, old. And in the fashion arena, austere minimalism is being nudged aside by more elaborate, decorative embellishment.

Fabius provides a recipe for the paste using powdered and sifted henna, black tea and eucalyptus oil. Once the design is applied and dried, the paste should be left on 12 to 20 hours during which time you apply powdered sugar and lemon and stay warm in the sun or by drinking hot tea. She also adds illustrations to consider.