Tips on mixing mendhi

Even though there are so many brands and ready made mendhi cones on the market these days, sometimes its nice to mix your own. There are a thousand different methods of mixing mendhi, everyone has their own but I'd like to share the one that has worked best for me. The darkness of your mendhi primarily is dependant on the quality of the raw mendhi you have used because if you use old mendhi, once its mixed it may not stain as well. So the mendhi powder that you use must be fresh and of good quality. When I first started to do mendhi I never understood this so I would just use leftover mendhi found lying in a cupboard and always used to just add water. Never quite understood why it wasn't staining as well as the ready made cones.

The Basic Recipe

The amount of liquid absorbed by the mendhi powder depends on the type of powder used. The recipe given below is approximate, and the important thing is to achieve a paste with consistency of toothpaste.
Ingredients:

5-6 tb spns Mendhi
6-8 Cloves
5 drops Eucalyptus oil
2 Tea bags
2 tsp Coffee
2 tsp tamarind paste
425ml Water
1 tsp ground cloves

Equipment:

Old Saucepan
Sieve
Mixing Bowl
Spoon

Instructions:

1.Place the tea bags, coffee, tamarind paste, the ground and whole cloves in the saucepan. Pour in 425 ml ( 3/4 pint) water, mix the ingredients together and bring it to the boil/ Allow the mixiture to simmer for about an hour and then leave it to cool. ( the more you boil the water, the stronger the mix will become.)

2. Sieve the henna powder into a glass, ceramic or stainless steel mixing bowl. Strain the cooled mixiture, add a little and stir it well. Gradually add the rest of the liquid, stirring all the time, until the paste is the same consistency as toothpaste.

3. Make sure there are no lumps in the paste, then add the drops of eucalyptus oil and mix well to form a thick lotion

4. Cover the mixture and leave it for about 12hours to allow the natural dye to precipitate from the henna.

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Mahanoor the mendhi artist

Mehndi Artist in Bradford

Welcome to Mahanoor Professional Mendhi Artisry

As a professional Mendhi artist in Bradford, I produce stunning, intricate temporary skin decoration for clients from across West Yorkshire, offering both bridal and party mendhi application.  I began Mahanoor Professional Mendhi Artisry in London 12 years ago before bringing my skills to Bradford in 2007. The Mendhi that I use is a special blend imported in from the far east which is free of any chemicals and artificial ingredients.

The other service that I provide is an online Fashion & beauty website selling good quality products at reasonable prices, check out our website www.mahanoor.co.uk. We are also a UK stockist for the famous Coastal Scents range and stock the popular Coastal Scents 88 Original palette.

I like to meet my customers face to face and discuss the style of mendhi they require so if you would like to arrange an appointment, or to discuss my stock of jewellery, call me on 07885 387 718. You can also e-mail me at advertising@mahanoor.com at any time. I look forward to hearing from you if you need a Henna artist in West Yorkshire.

Also Sneak Preview of upcoming posts:

• Tips on how to prepare mendhi
• How to make a mendhi cone using a mylar sheet
• Different designs

Other Posts:

• Weekly Style Flash & great products by Mahanoor.
• Wedding Directory

Mendhi

History of Mendhi

The art of applying henna to the  hands and feet is known as mendhi ( or Mehndi) and it is a very old custom and ancient art form of the Asian subcontinent. The propagators were the Mughals. The Mughals taught us all about the history of Mendhi and introduced it to India during 12th century AD, where the royal and rich decorated themselves with it. The patterns were intricately made by the artists or the beauticians in this day and age an Asian wedding is incomplete without a mendhi ceremony. This ritual is now followed in many countries where the hands and feet of a bride are intricatly decorated with the green paste to reveal a beutiful rich red- brown colour.

Henna has the power of medicine and was also used as a cosmetic and for it's healing power for ages.The beautiful patterning present today has emerged only in the 20th century. The art of Mendhi has existed for centuries. No exact place of its origin is identified because of people in different cultures moving through the continents and taking their art forms with them and therefore sharing their art with everyone along the way.

The bushes can be grown in dry and hot conditions. The leaves are processed as a skin conditioner and as a reliever for rashes. The henna used for mehndi comes from a bush which is grown in the Africa and India called Lawsonia Inermis in the Middle East and other hot and dry places. Henna is used for hair dye and as a conditioner. The art of Mendhi is referred to as henna or mehendi

Mendhi is a substitute for tattooing for people who are too scared to tolerate the poking of a needle.
  Henna patterns will be beautiful and have four different styles.

1. The Middle Eastern style is mostly made up of floral patterns similar to the Arabic paintings.
2. The North African style follows the shape of the hands and feet using floral patterns.
3. The Indian and Pakistani designs include lines patterns and teardrops.
4. The Indonesian and Southern Asian styles were a mix of Middle Eastern and Indian designs using blocks of color on the very tips of their toes and fingers.

Mahanoor has been mendhi'ng for the past 18 years and 12 years professionally and as you will see in the next posts there is so much more to this then meets the eye.

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Also have a look at our other blogs:
Wedding Season 
Coastal Scents 88 Original Palette