White Henna Tattoo - Is not Henna Tattoo - It is Gilding.

I had a phone call today from someone asking me if I did "white" henna tattoo. I appreciate that many people do not understand what henna tattoo is, and so they can be misled.

Henna tattoo is made from the crushed leaves of the henna plant - you can refer to the Wikipedia notes on henna for a deeper understanding. True henna tattoo will always be a shade of reddish brown, red, brown, perhaps a pale orange if the powder is very old.

By definition, you cannot have "white henna." However you can have "gilding." Gilding is a process that uses a henna cone, usually a hair gel of some kind, and a glitter powder. The gilding can be any number of colors - white, blue, green, basically any color of body glitter can be used to make the paste. Again, here is a link to buy the ingredients you need to make a white tattoo.

The gel paste may be applied using a cone - which is a similar method to henna tattoo - however it is not henna tattoo, it is white gilding and will last as long as you do not wash the gilding off. Perhaps people are using a fixative to keep that gilding on a bit longer, or mixing some new ingredient into the paste to make it last longer.

It is traditional to gild a finished henna tattoo so that the bride can have her authentic henna tattoo embellished to match her outfits. There are photos of gilded henna  in a variety of colors, including white on my website. Just click the link above to see examples.

As a gilded design is a short lived design in general, and as there has not been much demand for gilding, I no longer offer it on a regular basis. If you would like white guiding, in a traditional henna pattern, I am happy to oblige.

Gilding - temporary body art for children and adults.

Here is a photo of gilding using turquoise, white and green glitter gel to match a little girls dress. Tubes of glitter gel are usually available at the henna table at The Midnight Sun so that children can enjoy the henna experience for a day... without any worries about smudging the pattern or staining their clothes.

In this example, the design is a traditional flower pattern. The colors used in this temporary body paint make the simple pattern shine. For those new to henna tattoo, please note this is not a photo of a henna tattoo. Henna tattoo is not available in colors... however, it can also be gilded.

To see samples of gilded henna tattoo, visit The Gilded Henna Tattoo page on my website.