Originated in India and known as henna, or mehndi (in Hindi) or inai (in Arabic) is usually apply on body during celebrations such as weddings, Diwali, Id al-Fitr as a blessing. In weddings, it is said that the longer the henna stain stay on the skin, the bride will receive more love from husband and mother-in-law.
After contacting a few henna artists, we went for Rabia Husain who is from Dubai and currently based in Malaysia. You can look up her Facebook (Noora's Henna & Makeup Art- Malaysia) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rabuhusain/) for her fantastic henna work! :)
On April 5, we went all the way to International Islamic University Malaysia (UIA) right after we finished our Tuesday class. We were supposed to go to Gombak campus but instead, we went to PJ campus .... (My fault for wrong navigation -_-) ... So our journey for the day was like this:
UTAR Sungai Long campus -> UIA PJ campus -> UIA Gombak campus
Nevertheless, we made it!
This is just the entrance. UIA Gombak campus is so damn huge I have to say. (My groupmates said this is how an university should look like... LOL). We kept asking the students around to guide us the way to meet Rabia who had a booth in Edufest 2016 event. UIA students are very friendly (For real, thumbs up!).
Ta-da, our lovely henna artist! :D
She has a sweet voice and speaks fluent English!
Although we did a lot of research regarding henna, but we are just a bunch of kids that newly exposed to this traditional art (seperti rusa masuk kampung!). We got so excited choosing our henna designs as it was our first attempt! (Rabia said COOL!)
While we flipping through the henna designs showed in the folder, Rabia explained how the changes of henna stain on our skin from within few hours to a few weeks. She said we can choose the designs available from the folder or we can Google the design, she can do it for us.
Before began the interview, we asked her whether she is able to answer questions while doing henna for us. Yeah, it was a concern as we scared she couldn't focus, especially the drawing part requires a lot of attentions as henna is known as intricate art. She said no problem. Really appreciate how nice she is! :)
Henna-ing while interviewing!
Rabia Husain is a self-taught henna artist. She has been doing henna since her teenage years. Her henna design inspirations came from herself, she loves drawing! She has weekend booth in The Curve there. Other than that, she also been receiving calls from universities to set the henna booth as it represent culture.
I would said the interview session was quite a thrilling process. It was like putting all the information and facts we got to a test! However, the outcome is a little different to our expectations. She practices Arabic style, so she only know whatever information she got from her side of influence. But since she's been doing henna in Malaysia, so we still manage to gain many information from her.
Here's some fun facts we managed to get (which is not part of our findings)!
1) Men love women with henna! They think it's beautiful, elegant and romantic. The fragrance spread from henna is also nice to be around! (For your information, the floral or mint scent)
2) Wearing henna can ward off the evil?? No such superstition! HAHAHA
3) In Arabic style, the groom has to find his name in bridal henna?? In fact, JUST FOR FUN! They usually hide his initials within the design, the groom has to find it to prove their loves. So if the groom takes longer time to complete this task, the higher chance of the bride get upset! :P
We often see the henna paste selling in the market or Indian grocery shops. But do you ever wonder how it was made?
Rabia told us. Crush the henna leave into powder (Rabia uses the powder imported from India), mix it with essential oil, sugar and lemon juice, then keep it in warm temperature. Cover the henna in a plastic bag and do not let it mix it with air. Put it outside, wait for it to release the dye (The lemon juice is added to release the henna dye). Leave the henna dye outside for 24 hours to two days for better results. After that, can start to make the cone, fill the henna dye inside and tie it up. (P/s: If the henna paste is not in use, keep it in the freezer for many months and still have good colour!)
Other than that, Rabia emphasized the importance of natural/homemade henna paste. The instant henna paste (black, white, blue or other colours) that contains chemical substances are actually health-risking, which will eventually lead to skin problem like allergy. Although it looks nice, but you have to bear the responsibility. On a side note, it's NOT the traditional henna.
White henna... don't do this!
It's easy to identify whether the henna paste is natural or instant. The smell will do! As what I mentioned above, the natural one comes with floral or mint scent. The instant one, oh no, smell like ink!
She told us that we have to wait for one to two hours to let the henna dry. After that, you can peel the harden henna off the skin. But if you want darker colour, you can leave it on skin for longer.
The most common body parts that people get their henna is on their backs, hips, inner arms, outer arm, belly button, thighs, neck and chest. The face is not very common yet. Our henna artist also mentioned that henna is also painted on the heads of cancer patients because they lose hair. The cooling effect can make them to feel relax and calm. Worth a mention here, Malaysian henna artist Karthine Maniam did this too!
There are so many henna designs that capture our eyes. Rabia said the peacock or other flower designs used to be popular but people nowadays prefer roses.
She can complete simple henna designs within 5 minutes while the more intricate designs will take hours to get it done. The only tool she uses is the henna cone (cone-shaped funnel).
Talk about the difference between henna and bridal henna... Normal henna is just for casual and fun. Bridal henna is more elegant and sophisticated and involve more designs. Rabia joked no bride will goes around showing people that she has bird designs on her hand, "Hey, I'm getting married!"
Men usually do not wear henna because it seen erotic, except for weddings. Speaking from Rabia's experience, she said there was once she attended a henna conference, the men there was curious about it and wanted to give it a try. They totally in shock when Rabia told them that men in their culture don't do it. But since they came so far to the conference, she still did henna for them :)
Although henna is getting more popular (includes the improper one LOL), Rabia promotes this traditional art form through social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Her booth in malls and universities also part of the strategy because these are where youngsters around.
Isn't our henna beautiful? YESSSSSSSSSSSSS :D
By the way, Rabia said the bird designs (Pek Fong and Yee Ling's) are more casual while the rose (Yee Hang's) and bracelet-design (Mine) henna are more traditional. She said the henna artists in Emirates don't do my design anymore.
While I'm getting my henna, Rabia asked me why I got interested in henna. I like the geometrical lines, it looks simple and nice. That's my answer to her :)
Meanwhile, this is the process of getting henna done on our hands!
Mad love for my henna! It looks so elegant on a not-so-elegant-person HAHAHA! But now it faded completely... (Time for second henna?)
We took photo together after the henna session and interview! Smileeeeee :D
To conlcude, henna is a traditional, beautiful, temporary and painless skin decoration. A wonderful experience indeed! (My groupmates like it too!) I have never thought of experiencing other people's culture. Previously I only have a general view on henna (as in you got henna, erm, ok), now I got to learn more in-depth about it culturally (new knowledge gained!), and I got beautiful henna on me! YAY!
In other words, I have another option from temporary tattoo sticker! :P
For our presentation, we had a FOC henna session! Our beloved lecturer Dr Carmen had her first henna experience with us! WHEEEEE :D
Even our classmates got so excited to try it on their own! Hehe :D
Nishi Metha with her team Henna by Nishi is a team of professionally trained best henna artists in Dubai that crave out some of the most beautiful Dubai Arabic Mehndi Designs.
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