First Post!

I have officially completed all of my hours with my mentor. Throughout these hours, I have learned many essential things that are a part of the process of a successful henna tattoo. The first thing that I learned on my very first meeting with my mentor, Courtney Zepeda-Hawkes, was how to make a henna cone. Mrs. Zepeda Hawkes made it look so easy! I had a really hard time with it at first, but after a LOT of practicing (about two hours at work the next day) I finally got it. The key to a great cone is to create one with a sturdy body and an extremely small, needle-size hole for the henna to be squeezed out of. A cone is made of a simple plastic freezer bag cut into four triangles. The cone is held together with clear packaging tape. A good cone is the first step to a good tattoo, because without a good cone one cannot get a thin, straight line.

The second step I took in the process was to sift the henna. This was EXTREMELY messy, so I did it outside. My hair, hands, and pants ended up being completely covered in yellow henna powder. Sifting is important to do before mixing the actual henna paste because henna powder is created by grinding up the plant into a fine powder, which in turn leaves debris in the powder. I sifted the henna by pouring it into a cup along with a few quarters, pulling knee-high panty hose over the cup and shaking it into a bowl. I sneezed a lot.
I then began mixing my own paste. The recipe I used was 4 tablespoons of henna to every tablespoon of tea mixed with a tablespoon of sugar. I used an electric mixer to mix the henna. It was really messy and really stinky. Many recipes suggest using essential oils such as lavender or tea tree oil to add to the henna to help nourish the skin along with masking some of the smell. Mehndi artists are weary of which oils they use because many people are allergic to certain oils. Then I squeezed the henna paste into the cones I had previously made. The pictures below are of me using some henna that my mentor had made earlier that day for a job she had.