Mehndi
Also called: Mehendi and Henna
The South Asian name for henna body art, often used for the dense, detailed style of design associated with Indian and Pakistani weddings.
Mehndi and henna are the same thing: the same plant, the same paste, the same stain. Mehndi is the Hindi and Urdu word, and in Dubai it usually points to a style as much as a substance. Mehndi designs tend to cover more skin, with fine fill work, paisleys, lattices and figures, often running from the fingertips to the forearm and over the feet.
The process is the same as any henna. The paste is piped from a cone, left for several hours and removed, and the stain darkens over a day or two. A full bridal mehndi with both arms and feet can take several hours; a lighter design on the hands takes under an hour. The stain lasts around one to three weeks.
If you have a particular tradition in mind, show your artist reference pictures and say which elements matter, such as a hidden name or a motif. Ask what is in the paste: natural henna only, never a black paste.
Hamd Beauty draws mehndi as part of its henna services for the hands and for brides.
