Henna paintings

I love henna body paintings.
My first henna body painting was done in Penang, in August 2010.
Then when I was in Jeddah for my Umroh trip, I had a simple one again. Unfortunately, it lasted only 4 days because the artist said after 15 minutes I can wash my arm. I should have let it just dry.

I had henna on my nails as well. And it lasted 6 months! Can you imagine that!

So yesterday I went to Bekasi Square to attend Womanpreneur event. They had competition for ladypreneurs and  there were many booths for them to display and sell their products.

I found that at one of the booths there was this henna artist, Ms. Annas. Well, I could not resist. I checked out her catalog and asked her to start paintings.
It only cost IDR 35,000.

Got henna painting in Penang

I was in Penang Malaysia for office duty on Aug 20-22, 2010. We had ASEAN Operating Room Nurse gathering there.
At the dinner event on our first night, while waiting for Buka Puasa, the hotel provided henna painting artist for us. I decided to get the painting after the dinner, when I didn't have to wait for the long queue.
There were my colleagues and several of nurses.
The artist name was Dayang, she was with her fiance who is a photographer.
She was pretty. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me because the battery power was low, otherwise I'd take picture of the process.
She applied a kajuputih oil on the site of my hand which will be painted. She said it was to make the skin clean and brighter.
She used henna paste in tube. It took her around 10 minutes to draw the painting. I had to wait til it dries before I could take my shower. I ended up taking shower at 11 PM! She said it needs 10 minutes to dry, but in reality it was almost 1 hour before I can put my hand under the water.

It didn't last long for my painting. It's the fourth day, and some part of the painting has been washed away.
Dayang said the handmade henna paste will last longer.


I and my friend cloncluded that the darker the skin, the longer it will last, and the brighter the color appeared.

So here are the pics taken the day after painting made:

My henna painting

Upper: my friend's hand

Henna Painting no. 2

Henna Painting no. 3 and 4

Speaking about henna, henna is a naturally occurring dye traditionally used in fabrics and temporary skin designs. Henna tattoos are a popular option for people who are interested in body art but don't want to commit to the permanence or pain of a tattoo. Henna ink can be applied to the skin where it is absorbed over a period of several hours.
The henna painting is not just in Indian or Pakistan culture. Indonesian also has similar culture.
Usually it's done to a bride to be, the night before her wedding day.

For example, you can see here, the picture of my niece's wedding. Check out her hand.