During the summer holidays, whilst at home from school, my children and I are always on the lookout for fun and funky things to try and often find ourselves experimenting with temporary hair colours, transfer tattoos and henna.
My 15yr old daughter Millie had a henna tattoo at a family fun day a few weeks ago by a wonderful lady who showed us pictures of her bridal henna and many ornate designs. Millie absolutely loved the henna design that she had on her hand before it naturally faded and washed away. This lovely experience with henna has given her the confidence to try it out on herself at home for the first time, and so we’ve picked up The Best Seller Henna Kit from Mihenna!
This kit has everything that we need to DIY our own henna tattoos at home and comes with a wide selection of henna stencils including Aria, Dahlia, Marah, Passion Fruit, Pearl, Phoenix, Starry Eyes and Yang. Henna is suitable for children, teenagers and adults alike and is a temporary tattoo that colours the top layers of the skin only. Because of this you can test out patterns, designs and placements for future real tattoos or simply enjoy having temporary body art for a special occasion or celebration of self expression and style.
The kit contains full instructions and diagrams to achieve professional results, along with a USDA-certified organic 30g henna cone and vial of coconut oil to moisturise and protect the henna from water exposure. Once opened, henna can be stored in the freezer for up to three months for multiple uses which makes it ideal for the summer holidays and beyond.
Millie wanted the convenience of using henna stencils to ensure that she could have very precise and intricately fashionable designs, along with the ability to freehand her own body art and express her creativity by taking inspiration from other peoples henna pictures shared online and making it her own, so this kit is perfect as an all rounder for first time henna users and professionals alike.
How To Use Henna Stencils
Henna stencils are incredibly quick and easy to use and making applying henna at home such a fun and beautiful experience, even if you’ve never tried it before! Unlike traditional tattoos, henna is a natural and temporary form of body art which typically lasts for 1-2 weeks depending on the location of the art, how often you exfoliate and frequency of exposure to water.
If your henna cone is frozen you simply need to defrost it for 20mins before use, or if it’s a new cone be sure to pop it into the freezer after you’ve finished using it to store it for later uses. It’s best to shower before applying henna as it will help to minimise the exposure to water and allow the colour to develop properly. Before your first application of henna, hair dye or any beauty products, it is always best to test it on a small area of the body to ensure that an allergic reaction doesn’t occur, as if it does you must discontinue use. Reactions are rare and henna has never been a problem for us, despite having pale and sensitive skin in some areas. It feels cold when it is applied but does not irritate, burn or tingle.
Henna paste can be left on the skin for up to 24hrs in order to achieve the deepest colour possible and increase the duration of the results. Henna is darker on thicker areas of skin such as the palms of hands and feet and so this is an ideal location for henna art. It is recommended that you leave the henna on the skin for 2hrs if possible but it can be rinsed off after just 30mins if you’re in a hurry. We assigned an afternoon during the summer holidays to enjoy using henna on a day when we would be relaxing at home without any plans so that it could set for a few hours before being washed off.
To use a henna stencil you simply choose the one that you like from the kit and cut it from the contact sheet. It peels off of the contact paper just like a normal sticker but has cut out areas for where the henna design will touch the skin. Because it’s important to ensure a close fit to the skin to prevent henna from travelling under the stencil, you can cut slits in the stencil edges to help it to fit around the contours on the body, such as the wrist and hands so that the stencil can lay flat in all areas and doesn’t have any bubbles.
Applying a medium pressure to squeeze the henna cone, it’s incredibly calming and therapeutic to trace out the stencil in henna, smoothing it over with the spatula provided to create an even thick layer which has the delicious natural fragrance of florals and spice.
You then want to try to keep the area of the henna still for around 30mins to allow the henna paste to dry to a crackly texture, as once this has occurred you can cling film it to protect it if you’d like to leave it on overnight, return to moving freely or wash simply it off and carry on with your day. We decided to do the 2hr wait time to leave the stencil and henna intact before rinsing.
The high quality intricate stencils have a firm grip to prevent slipping or migration of colour and once peeled off you can remove the dried henna paste with a paper towel and coconut oil that is provided in the kit – as you cannot use water or it may affect the colour of the results.
Henna Aftercare
To begin with, after removing the henna paste, the henna tattoo will appear orange and gradually develop in intensity to a dark brown within 24hrs with the final results depending on the amount of time that the henna paste was left to sit on the skin before being rinsed off.
Coconut oil is moisturising and helps to protect the henna from water exposure which you should try to avoid for the first 5hrs after paste removal.
Whether you are new to henna or have used it for years, this kit has everything you need for yourself and family to use, enjoy and love your henna experience from home!
