Henna Tatoos

I. Henna is a florwering plant, the sole specie comes from lawsonia which is found in the family of Lythraceae.

A. Henna plant is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, South Asia, and Northern Australasia in semi-arid zoned.

B. The plant Henna comes from is a tall shrub or small tree, 2-6m high which is glabrous, multibranched with sine tipped branchlets and the leaves of this plant are exact opposite, entire, glabrous, sub-sessile, elliptical and broadly lanceolate, having depressed veins on the dorsal surface.

Transition Sentence- Now that we have seen what Henna is and where it is found let's move on to the cultivation and uses of Henna.

II. Henna prudces a red-orange looking dye molecule which is called lawsone which has an affinity for bonding with proteins.

A. Lawsone has been used for many years to dye skin,hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool.

B. Henna has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age and in Morocco, wool is dyed and ornamented with Henna.

Tansition Sentence- Now that everyone knows what Henna is and what it is used for lets move on to the preparation and application of Henna.

III. Henna has to be applied to the skin through a paste so that the Henna is broken down because unbroken henna leaves will not stain the skin.

A. Henna powder is made by drying the henna leaves and milling them to powder, then the powder is sifted,

B. The powder is then mixed with lemon juice, strong tea and it can be mixed with eucyliptis oil which makes henna to come out darker when applied to skin.