Henna Tattoo is not offered during downpours! We can be rained out.

Spirit Vision Henna will not be offering henna tattoo today. It was just raining in Murray Hill and various weather forecast services promise rain, severe weather, or more rain for henna time in Five Points. Rain is not good for a happy henna day. 

Many people do not know that henna is a heat activated body art and that the preparation of a good henna paste requires heat and dry weather. 

Our henna is cured outside on a lovely porch. I leave it on the ledge the first day. I will bring it in to rest, and essential oils and put it out to release the dye again the next day.

Just as we were putting the fresh paste into a henna cone, down comes the rain! 

At Spirit Vision Henna we want you to have the best possible outcome. We feel that  applying henna tattoo during a rainstorm is a waste of your money. 

If you are new to henna, you may not know that you have to wait 10 - 20 minutes for your paste to dry. (Humid days the paste takes longer to dry than on the bright sunny ones.) 

Applying henna paste in humid weather really doesn’t work as well as applying henna  in the Summer Sun. The paste seems to absorb water from the air regardless and this results in a poor quality stain. 

If you come in for a henna tattoo, spend time and money to buy a lovely design, Spirit Vision Henna wants you get the best color possible. We want you to take your henna tattoo out in to the sunshine and allow it to cure for several hours.  

Drying your henna in the sun helps you get good color. The hotter you get, the more you perspire, the more your pores will open. This allows the paste to penetrate deeper into your skin. 

Spirit Vision Henna artists do not want to send your new henna tattoo (paste on the skin) out into the rain! Henna will smudge when it is wet. Rain is wet. Getting rain on your new henna can cause the paste to run, and this paste will leave stains we don’t want! 

Henna designs will take 48 hours to develop. After you scrape the paste off your skin you will keep a light layer of oil on the design area to keep henna in and water out. 

To get a good stain there are steps you can take to keep your henna hot while you stay cool:

1. After you scrape the paste from your skin, you may choose to wear a glove to keep your henna warm.
2. Please keep oil on your henna tattoo to keep the heat in and water out. 
3. You may choose to use a blow dryer to heat your henna up from time to time.
4. If you got henna on your wrist or inner arm, you may also use a plastic film to trap heat and help the color develop. 
5. I am hoping next week we will have good weather!

We look forward to a bright Sunny Saturday next week. 

See you soon. 

Spirit Vision Henna.

Henna Time!! Finally it's hot enough to get a good paste & dark stain!

Here are a few photos from henna this season. Many people do not know:

1. Henna is a heat activated body art. 
2. The dark paste you see on the skin is Not the finished tattoo.
3. Henna stains darkest on the hands and feet.
4. Henna paste must stay on the skin at least 3 hours to give a dark stain.
5. Real henna is always a shade of reddish brown. 
6. Henna stains all skin colors. 
7. Everyone will have a different finished color. 
8. It takes 48 hours for your final color to show.
9. If you keep vegetable oil on your finished tattoo your color lasts longer.
10. Natural henna will last 7 to 10 days.     
11. An experienced artist can apply a good design in 10 minutes. 
12. Lemon sugar spray helps the paste stay on the skin. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Henna Tattoo & Those Patterns from the Internet!

Recently I had my first ever (in 18 years ) client walk out with out paying for their completed art work. I was pretty amazed. (Photos on this page are all those from that day. You can see they are bold designs and each client was happy with her purchase.) 

I do custom freehand henna. When I began to learn the art form I was happy to copy patterns from a book of a photos. However, it is quite clear to any henna artist that working from a pattern is not as easy as creating an original design. 

The purpose of henna is to make a woman’s hand (or hands and feet) more lovely. I will ask if you prefer floral, tribal, or traditional henna, or I may ask you to show me samples of styles you like. 

Every hand is different. Every batch of henna paste can be different due to the henna crop, the recipe, the acidity of the lemons used to make the paste or the age of the essential oils.  Sometimes the paste may come out a bit thicker than I like. 

I have become good at creating a consistent paste that is easy to work with and often gives a very fine line.  Sometimes if I add another brand of henna to the paste it may be harder to work with for some patterns people bring in. 

Lately clients have been coming in with photos from Pinterest. Some of those photos show henna tattoo, many are photos of Jagua ink which is a very different product.   

Many of these photos show very lovely but very complex and time consuming designs that do not cost $15.

Most people choose a design style that costs between $15 and $30 dollars. These designs are original, fit the hand, match the style requested and all can be accomplished in 5  to 15 minutes. 

As there is often a line for henna, I do not offer complex art on Saturdays. I do take private appointments for complex henna, but I need several days advance notice. 

To the story - the woman who did not pay for her art did so in a very cunning way. She came in with a photo from the Internet. It was a photo of art that was too big for her hand and too big for the paste I had that day.

I explained that I could not do that pattern, but I would use that pattern to a design that was as close to her request as was possible. She agreed. I was sure to stop after each element of the pattern was completed to ask if she liked the design.

She agreed with each choice as we went on. I explained that due to her small hand size the flower she wanted would not fit as was shown in the photo and that it would have to be drawn closer to her thumb than was pictured.

When the design (from the Internet) was complete, a $30 design, she said “I don’t like it.”  I have never had a client say “I don’t like it” to me before. 

I advised her that if this was true she had best hurry to a wash basin and get the henna off her skin at once! I had made a very fast staining paste.  She was going to have a henna tattoo on her skin no matter what. 

I was using Jamila henna and some from Yemen. The Yemeni henna was more coarse than I expected, and so I did many bold designs that day.

If you are new to henna, the time to say stop is when you first notice you don’t like the design. There is no point in continuing as henna must be washed off very quickly to prevent a stain on the skin.

I would never use a paper towel or tissue to remove the paste for a complex design that ran from wrist to fingers! That  would have left a smeared stain. 

I take pride in my work and could not bring myself to “take my art back.”  I advised her of the location of the closest clean bathroom and watched her walk away, out the door and to her car!

She made no effort to hurry to remove the paste. 

It was an odd experience.  I really do not know what to think, however, I will now be quite sure to refuse to do a henna tattoo from a photo when I see that the pattern will not fit the hand. 

I realize many people in my town are not familiar with henna tattoo. They think the paste on the skin is the finished product. Some think the henna paste on the skin is black henna. Many do not know that the paste stains the skin and takes 48 hours to develop.

I hope the woman enjoyed her art. Perhaps she did not understand that what you see (paste on skin) is not the finished product. I suspect I will never know. 

I offer Walk-In henna every Saturday during the warm season in Jacksonville, Florida. I am happy to work from Midnight Sun in Five Points between 12:30 & 5:00 PM. Please feel welcome to come in, and to bring that photo from the web. 

We will work it out. However, henna will always be different that the photo. Always. Promise! 

© copyright Ann George Studios, Inc. All mehandi by Ann George. 

Some patterns are from the web! (yep, it can be done.) 

Do Henna Designs Mean Anything?

Here is a henna tattoo design that does have a meaning. It is a bride and groom in an embellished heart.

Although in this case, the tattoo is done as a small decorative jewel in the palm, it could easily be incorporated into the more extensive or elaborate Bridal Henna.

The images here are very traditional in that the man is wearing a head dress, the woman a nose ring that is often worn by Hindu brides.

The best color always happens in the palm of the hand, and if you have a bit of patience, and perhaps a friend who will drive the car, you too can enjoy the rich deep red color that comes from placing henna in the palm.

The color of love......... this is a photo of the paste, which appears black, on the skin. When the paste is removed, the finished color develops over the next 48 hours.

Stop by the Midnight Sun this Friday for some Henna!!!! It will be First Friday, but henna will be offered from 1PM  until....... Best to call for an appointment if you plan to come in the late afternoon.