More About Your Henna Experience

A non-refundable Cone Prep Fee is required when booking. This fee covers product prep and is credited toward the total of your appointment.

No-Shows and cancellations are not offered a refund of this fee. If you contact me before your appointment time, i will gladly reschedule your apponitment once with no additional fee.

Cone Prep Fee

Prepare for your Henna

GENERAL PREP

Avoid all oils and/or lotions in the are you want henna

Arrive with clean oil-free skin (but not freshly exfoliated)

If you use Heavy body butters, try to avoid using it for one to two days prior to your appointment. It can take time for body butters to clear out of your skin. Henna stains best on clean dry skin.

Avoid self-tanners before you appointment. Henna has trouble bonding to skin with self-tanners

Wear comfortable clothing that exposes the area you want henna. Henna will stain clothing

FEET

Consider wearing thin-strapped flip-flops/sandals that I can henna around so you don't have to leave the studio bare-foot

BELLY/TORSO

For Henna Belly consider wearing a loose dress with a pair of shorts under it. You can pull up the dress and pull down the shorts while I work. When the henna is done you can carefully pull the dress down without harming your fresh henna

Henna Aftercare

Ingredients and Safety

Good henna Aftercare is important for color and longevity of you henna body art

Be careful while the henna is fresh and wet. It should be dry to the touch on average 15-30 minutes.
Leave your henna on as long as you possibly can to allow the oils to get good penetration. ( I usually recommend at least an hour)
- It will start to flake off on it's own when it is fully dry. try just rubbing or flaking it off when ready vs washing it off with water.
Avoid water on your fresh henna for as long as possible, preferably the rest of the day.
Keep the skin warm while the paste is on it.
Avoid scrubbing/exfoliating the area. (including swimming)

The longer you keep the henna paste on your skin the darker and longer-lasting the staining. The longer you avoid water, the better the henna will oxidize.

Henna is technically a permanent stain. The henna doesn't fade away, your skins cells exfoliate it off which causes the henna to "fade." Anything you do that exfoliates the skin will "fade' it faster. This includes swimming, scrubbing, clothes/jewelry rubbing, or anything else that exfoliates the skin.

Yes, my henna is safe**. I mix my henna myself and use only safe ingredients from trusted sources that contribute to a great henna stain. My henna paste leaves a natural reddish brown stain that takes a couple days to darken.

Allergies to natural henna are very rare. Below are the ingredients I use in my henna. Make sure to check to make sure you don't have an allergy to any of my ingredients.

Henna Ingredients
- BAQ ORa Henna powder
- Lemon Juice
- Sugar
- Lavender Essential Oil*
- Tea Tree essential Oil*

*Mixed at 1 total oz essential oil per 100 grams of powder

Anytime you get henna from anyone, your artist should be able to tell you what's in it. The henna should never claim to stain black or any other unnatural color. This indicates something else has been added. Natural Henna should always take time to go from an orange to some shade of reddish brown.

**Age restriction. Though my henna is safe, I do restrict henna to ages 6 years old and up. Younger children can have more sensitive skin and a higher chance of reacting to essential oils. I do offer a henna alternative for younger children which is a gilding paste made from cosmetic grade mica powder and Got2b hair gel. It dries on top of the skin and can last from 1-3 days depending on scrubbing or peeling it off.

Color and Longevity

How Long will your Henna Last and what color will it be?

The color and Longevity of your henna depends on several factors

How long you keep the paste on your skin
Which part of the body you decorate
- Areas like the hands and feet (rougher areas) will tend to stain darker, while areas that see less sun/softer stain lighter
The cleanliness of the area
Your own skin chemistry
- this is why staining is different person to person even if the same area of the body is henna
Body temperature
How you care for your henna

Henna starts off a bright orange after the paste is removed and over the next couple days it darkens to a reddish brown. The hands and feet tends to stain the darkest and the further you get from those the lighter the staining (generally)

On average you can expect good color for 4-10 days with the best color being from 2-3 days after application. Your Henna will generally last 1-3 weeks ( with the average being 2 weeks).

Fresh Stain

24 hrs After

48 hrs After

Paste On

Design Options

Who is my Artist

You can have nearly anything you want. I do custom free-hand work. I like to get an idea of what style you like and create something just for you.

We will talk about what you'd like before any henna is applied. I have lots of examples to inspire you in the studio and a quick design book for walk-ins.

You are welcome to request something specific or bring photos for inspiration.

If you have a specific design you want:

email the design you want to me, twisteddreamsdesign@gmail.com after making your appointment and I will add it to my practice before hand. I will stick as close to your design as I can, while still having my own artist "handwriting"

Currently, all Henna appointments are done by me, Erica, a professional henna and design artist. I have been doing henna off and on since about 2000 and devoting my time professionally to it since 2019

I love and am fascinated by henna! I have studied several henna cultures and patterns (especially love Moroccan) and the influence can be seen in my other artwork as well.

I love being able to share this beautiful body art with others and playing with a mix of traditional patterns mixed with modern designs.

I personally mix my henna paste that I'll use on you and any cones that I have for sale.

You can learn more about me and other artists that have pieces in the studio on our about us page