Body painting is probably operated since there are people. For the use of henna as a cosmetic, dyeing and curing agent, the oldest evidence from ancient Egypt exist.
The symbols applied to the body with henna have their own meaning and should usually promise happiness and health. According to the religious and traditional backgrounds, the patterns differ from country to country. For example, fine lines characterize the Indian henna painting and structures, usually floral or paisley patterns are chosen.
In addition, whole body parts are painted here, which is not so common in other countries. In southern India, often a circle pattern is painted on the palms. In addition, the fingertips are colored.
Islamic henna art
In Islamic henna art, painting is usually limited to hands and feet. While in India quite figurative representations such as human faces, birds and other animals are common, the Muslims avoid them because they are forbidden to wear them while praying on the body. Popular for this are large, floral and geometric designs. Frequently, the patterns cover almost the whole hand, with the fingertips and nails also being stained with henna.
Henna art in Sudan and North Africa
In Sudan, one finds very large-scale motifs, which are usually applied with black henna (Saumer), which is used almost exclusively by men. African henna painting is characterized by broad contours that are mostly geometric figures.
In North Africa, there are once again elaborate patterns on the hands, which at first glance look like lace gloves.
Indigenous people paint at weddings
Some indigenous people apply henna to the skin without any pattern. Here the healing power of henna is in the foreground. The painted skin is thus protected from excessive sunlight and the disinfecting effect of the plant extracts accelerates wound healing in case of possible injuries or burns.
Body painting with henna at weddings plays an important role.
For the Hindus of Northern India, a wedding without the traditional Mehndi ritual is hardly conceivable. On the eve of the wedding, the wise women of the place, the female members of both families and the girlfriends of the bride gather in their house to decorate the bride accordingly.
After the bath, the women paint together the bride’s hands, forearms, feet and lower legs with the selected patterns, congratulating each other.
One of the designs often includes the groom’s name, which he then has to find on the wedding night, which can take a long time. A custom that serves to break down inhibitions and eroticism. Tradition has it that the very first Mehndi point is applied by the future mother-in-law to the hand of the bride, the point is considered a symbolic blessing, which is of great importance to the bride. In some regions of India, the groom is also decorated with Mehndis. In certain areas of Kashmir and Bangladesh, there are even very special motifs, which are reserved exclusively for men.
Similar to India, the Gulf region of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Emirates are also affected. However, the Mehndi celebrations begin here a few days before the wedding. Even with births and baptisms, body painting with henna plays an essential role here. In Morocco, there is a beautiful custom to decorate the groom with henna tattoos during the bachelor celebration, which are painted by his groomsman, who must be unmarried.
Celtic tattoos
Celtic tattoos have been in fashion for some time now. These are applied to washable patterns with other colors such as textile dyes, water-soluble face paints or liquid tattoo inks by hand or with the airbrush method, but have now also found their way into henna art. The Celts did not use henna as color, but “Waid”, a blue dye. There is also a tradition that the Celts were painted in a particularly colorful way, with a design rarely consisting of more than four colors, all of which were plant-based.
There are many happy occasions when henna is used as a sign of celebration. Hence there are thousands of ways to use henna and has different amazing designs such as floral, geometrical shapes, artistic designs and many other from which one of the hot favorites is heart shape designs which is very famous among bridals and girls around the world.
Here are some of the best simple designs of henna that have hearts in it. Check them out and apply for the next occasion.
We bet you will like all these henna designs with simple applications.
30+ New Mehndi Designs Collection 2023/ 2024
